Grant: Strategic Projects - Group

A typical internal combustion engine for a diesel transport truck converts about 30% of the fuel energy to moving the vehicle while 65% is lost as waste heat. We propose that this heat could be converted directly to electrical energy through a thermally regenerative fuel cell (TRFC). This device uses heat to remove hydrogen from a liquid compound and then recombines the hydrogen with the compound in a fuel cell to make electricity. It is a closed loop system in which the liquid compound and the hydrogen are continually recycled. The high electrical power loads in transports are, at present, satisfied by batteries supplied by the alternator. The relatively low efficiency of the alternator results in poor use of fuel for the electricity to the battery. Therefore, generation of electricity from the waste heat, using a TRFC, would increase fuel efficiency. Challenges in the project are both in chemistry and in engineering. The chemistry challenge is to identify a catalyst and a fluid that give very selective dehydrogenation (and subsequent rehydrogenation in the fuel cell), so that the fluid does not quickly degrade. The engineering challenges are the design of the fuel cell to handle the unconventional oxidant and the design of the rest of the system to ensure maximum heat collection and conversion to useable electricity. If successful, this low grade waste heat conversion system could find use in a number of wide ranging applications. Benefits to Canada would be increased fuel efficiency in trucks, development of uniquely Canadian energy-saving technology, and the training of HQP (4 graduate students, a postdoctoral fellow and a research associate).