Abstract
This paper reports the development of a fuel cell consisting of a vanadium flow battery in which the vanadium ions are reduced by sugar (from a carbohydrate) to oxidation state +3 on one side of a membrane, and are oxidized to state +5 on the other side by oxygen. The theoretical upper limit to the conversion efficiency of the energy in sugar by this method under standard conditions is 54%. We have obtained efficiencies up to 45% in our laboratory tests. This way of using biomass for electricity production avoids the Carnot cycle losses in heat engines. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 549-552 |
Journal | Renewable Energy |
Volume | 31 |
Issue number | 4 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2006 |
Subject classification (UKÄ)
- Chemical Engineering
Free keywords
- biomass conversion
- fuel cell
- flow battery
- carbohydrate
- sugar
- vanadium