연료전지 기술현황

The State of the Art of the Fuel Cells

Fuel cells are electrochemical devices that convert the chemical reaction energy directly into the electrical energy. In a typical fuel cell, gaseous fuel is fed continuously to the anode(negative electrode) compartment and the oxidant(i.e, oxygen from air) is fed continuously to the cathode(positive electrode) compartment; the electrochemical reactions take place at the electrodes to produce an electric current. Many of the operational characteristics of fuel cell systems are superior to those of conventional power generation system because of good efficiency, environmental protection, safty, modularity etc. From those reasons, the fuel cells are considered to be the solution to the future problem of energy conversion. The objective of this paper is to introduce the technical status of fuel cell technologies and our national project for the development of the phosporic acid fuel cell.