Fuel cells are expected to play a major role in the future power supply that will transform to renewable, decentralized and fluctuating primary energies. At the same time the share of electric power will continually increase at the expense of thermal and mechanical energy not just in transportation, but also in households. Hydrogen as a perfect fuel for fuel cells and an outstanding and efficient means of bulk storage for renewable energy will spearhead this development together with fuel cells. Moreover, small fuel cells hold great potential for portable devices such as gadgets and medical applications such as pacemakers. This handbook will explore specific fuel cells within and beyond the mainstream development and focuses on materials and production processes for both SOFC and lowtemperature fuel cells, analytics and diagnostics for fuel cells, modeling and simulation as well as balance of plant design and components. As fuel cells are getting increasingly sophisticated and industrially developed the issues of quality assurance and methodology of development are included in this handbook. The contributions to this book come from an international panel of experts from academia, industry, institutions and government. This handbook is oriented toward people looking for detailed information on specific fuel cell types, their materials, production processes, modeling and analytics. Overview information on the contrary on mainstream fuel cells and applications are provided in the book 'Hydrogen and Fuel Cells', published in 2010.

Progress continues in fuel cell technology since the previous edition of the Fuel Cell Handbook was published in November 1998. Uppermost, polymer electrolyte fuel cells, molten carbonate fuel cells, and solid oxide fuel cells have been demonstrated at commercial size in power plants. The previously demonstrated phosphoric acid fuel cells have entered the marketplace with more than 220 power plants delivered. Highlighting this commercial entry, the phosphoric acid power plant fleet has demonstrated 95+% availability and several units have passed 40,000 hours of operation. One unit has operated over 49,000 hours. Early expectations of very low emissions and relatively high efficiencies have been met in power plants with each type of fuel cell. Fuel flexibility has been demonstrated using natural gas, propane, landfill gas, anaerobic digester gas, military logistic fuels, and coal gas, greatly expanding market opportunities. Transportation markets worldwide have shown remarkable interest in fuel cells; nearly every major vehicle manufacturer in the U.S., Europe, and the Far East is supporting development. This Handbook provides a foundation in fuel cells for persons wanting a better understanding of the technology, its benefits, and the systems issues that influence its application. Trends in technology are discussed, including next-generation concepts that promise ultrahigh efficiency and low cost, while providing exceptionally clean power plant systems. Section 1 summarizes fuel cell progress since the last edition and includes existing power plant nameplate data. Section 2 addresses the thermodynamics of fuel cells to provide an understanding of fuel cell operation at two levels (basic and advanced). Sections 3 through 8 describe the six major fuel cell types and their performance based on cell operating conditions. Alkaline and intermediate solid state fuel cells were added to this edition of the Handbook. New information indicates that manufacturers have stayed with proven cell designs, focusing instead on advancing the system surrounding the fuel cell to lower life cycle costs. Section 9, Fuel Cell Systems, has been significantly revised to characterize near-term and next-generation fuel cell power plant systems at a conceptual level of detail. Section 10 provides examples of practical fuel cell system calculations. A list of fuel cell URLs is included in the Appendix. A new index assists the reader in locating specific information quickly.

Fuel cells are one of the cleanest and most efficient technologies for generating electricity. Since there is no combustion, there are none of the pollutants commonly produced by boilers and furnaces. For systems designed to consume hydrogen directly, the only products are electricity, water and heat. Fuel cells are an important technology for a potentially wide variety of applications including on-site electric power for households and commercial buildings; supplemental or auxiliary power to support car, truck and aircraft systems; power for personal, mass and commercial transportation; and the modular addition by utilities of new power generation closely tailored to meet growth in power consumption. These applications will be in a large number of industries worldwide. In this Seventh Edition of the Fuel Cell Handbook, we have discussed the Solid State Energy Conversion Alliance Program (SECA) activities. In addition, individual fuel cell technologies and other supporting materials have been updated.

Robust progress has been made in fuel cell technology since the previous edition of the Fuel Cell Handbook was published in January 1994. This Handbook provides a foundation in fuel cells for persons wanting a better understanding of the technology, its benefits, and the systems issues that influence its application. Trends in technology are discussed, including next-generation concepts that promise ultra high efficiency and low cost, while providing exceptionally clean power plant systems. Section 1 summarizes fuel cell progress since the last edition and includes existing power plant nameplate data. Section 2 addresses the thermodynamics of fuel cells to provide an understanding of fuel cell operation at two levels (basic and advanced). Sections 3 through 6 describe the four major fuel cell types and their performance based on cell operating conditions. The section on polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells has been added to reflect their emergence as a significant fuel cell technology. Phosphoric acid, molten carbonate, and solid oxide fuel cell technology description sections have been updated from the previous edition. New information indicates that manufacturers have stayed with proven cell designs, focusing instead on advancing the system surrounding the fuel cell to lower life cycle costs. Section 7, Fuel Cell Systems, has been significantly revised to characterize near-term and next-generation fuel cell power plant systems at a conceptual level of detail. Section 8 provides examples of practical fuel cell system calculations. A list of fuel cell URLs is included in the Appendix. A new index assists the reader in locating specific information quickly.

Fuel cell systems have now reached a degree of technological maturity and appear destined to form the cornerstone of future energy technologies. But the rapid advances in fuel cell system development have left current information available only in scattered journals and Internet sites. The even faster race toward fuel cell commercialization further

Fuel cells are an important technology for a potentially wide variety of applications including micropower, auxiliary power, transportation power, stationary power for buildings and other distributed generation applications, and central power. These applications will be in a large number of industries worldwide. This edition of the Fuel Cell Handbook is more comprehensive than previous versions in that it includes several changes. First, calculation examples for fuel cells are included for the wide variety of possible applications. This includes transportation and auxiliary power applications for the first time. In addition, the handbook includes a separate section on alkaline fuel cells. The intermediate temperature solid-state fuel cell section is being developed. In this edition, hybrids are also included as a separate section for the first time. Hybrids are some of the most efficient power plants ever conceived and are actually being demonstrated.

A timely addition to the highly acclaimed four-volume handbook set; volumes 5 and 6 highlight recent developments, particularly in the fields of new materials, molecular modeling and durability. Since the publication of the first four volumes of the Handbook of Fuel Cells in 2003, the focus of fuel cell research and development has shifted from optimizing fuel cell performance with well-known materials to developing new materials concepts, and to understanding the origins of materials and fuel cell degradation. This new two-volume set provides an authoritative and timely guide to these recent developments in fuel cell research.