Comparison of On-Board Hydrogen Production From Several Non-Fossil Fuel Feedstocks

In comparison with other types of fuel cells, the PEFC is compact and lightweight because of its better volumic-power and power density characteristics.  It usually works at a temperature range from 40°C to 90°C. On the other hand, the high-temperature PEFC operating from 120-180°C is suitable for H₂ fuel produced by fuel processors, because of its CO tolerance up to 3%.  These features make it suitable for automotive applications due to requirement of fast dynamic response to the speed and power-need change. But liquid hydrogen fuel faces many challenges such as transportation and on-board H₂ energy storage.  This work compares and discusses in details for potential methods on-board H₂ production from non-fossil fuel feedstocks, such as ammonia and methanol fuels, which is useful for low or high-temperature PEFC on-board applications. Hydrogen fuel from fuel processors is one of the solutions to on-board energy storage because of the high cost and risk of liquid hydrogen or metal hydride storage.  Hydrogen fuels from non-fossil fuel feedstocks are normally from water /ammonia /methanol electrolysis, methanol steam reforming, or reforming of bio-fuels. Due to the difficulties of hydrogen storage and transportation, ammonia and methanol are two of preferred choices of hydrogen fuel sources for low-temperature or high-temperature PEFC applications because of their existing production, storage, and transport technologies.