Course Highlights

This three PDH course provides information about various aspects of the hydrogen-based fuel cell and an introduction to several other fuels and fuel cell technologies.  Hydrogen fuel cells present great promise for the future, and have significant advantages over the internal combustion engine or even hybrid power technologies for automobile use.  There is, however, a need for infrastructure development for hydrogen production, storage and delivery, as well as for development of the fuel cells themselves.

This course is intended for engineers in all disciplines who want to learn more about this type of renewable energy.  An attendee of this course will gain knowledge about the history of the fuel cell, basics of its operation, comparison of fuel cells with other power sources, and details of several aspects of fuel cells.

In this course, you need to review the material in "Fuel Cells Green Power," U.S. Department of Energy/Los Alamos National Laboratory publication LA-UR-99-3231 (http://www.lanl.gov/orgs/mpa/mpa11/Green%20Power.pdf).  Once you complete your course review, you need to take a multiple-choice quiz consisting of fifteen (15) questions to earn 3 PDH credits. The quiz will be based on the entire document.

Learning Objectives

At the conclusion of this course, the student will

• Be familiar with the basic history of the fuel cell and its development
• Be familiar with the basic operating principles of the PEM fuel cell
• Understand the efficiency advantages of converting chemical energy directly to electrical energy without thermal energy as an intermediate
• Be able to compare fuel cells, internal combustion engines and batteries
• Be familiar with the characteristics of various types of fuel cells
• Be familiar with alternative fuels, other than hydrogen for fuel cells
• Be familiar with the electrochemistry of the hydrogen based fuel cell
• Be familiar with the components and the overall configuration of a PEM fuel cell
• Be able to identify potential applications of fuel cells