Fuel cell technology can be traced back to 1839 when British scientist Sir William Grove discovered that it was possible to generate electricity by the reaction between hydrogen and oxygen gases. However, fuel cell still cannot compete with internal combustion engines although they have many advantages including zero carbon emissions. Fossil fuels are cheaper and present very high volumetric energy densities compared with the hydrogen gas. Furthermore, hydrogen storage as a liquid is still a huge challenge. Another important disadvantage is the lifespan of the fuel cell because of their durability, reliability and maintainability.Prognostics is an emerging technology in sustainability of engineering systems through failure prevention, reliability assessment and remaining useful lifetime estimation. Prognostics and health monitoring can play a critical role in enhancing the durability, reliability and maintainability of the fuel cell system. This paper presents a review on the current state-of-the-art in prognostics and health monitoring of Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell (PEMFC), aiming at identifying research and development opportunities in these fields. This paper also highlights the importance of incorporating prognostics and failure modes, mechanisms and effects analysis (FMMEA) in PEMFC to give them sustainable * Corresponding author Email address: (tsutharssan@iee.org) (Thamo Sutharssan)Preprint submitted to Renewable & Sustainable Energy Reviews November 14, 2016 competitive advantage when compared with other non-clean energy solutions.
Biodiesel from waste cooking oil offers sustainable alternative to diesel. This paper presents an experimental investigation of combustion of biodiesel derived from waste cooking oil to study the characteristics of biodiesel emissions compared to diesel. The combustion of neat biodiesel and biodiesel blended in different ratios with diesel was investigated using continuous combustion rig. The temperature of combustion gases, emissions of un-burnt HC and NO for different airflow rates were evaluated. Differences in the chemical composition between biodiesel and diesel result in different mechanisms of NO and HC formation. The results provide insight into combustion and emission from biodiesel. It was observed that the combustion gas temperature (CGT), adiabatic flame temperature, unburned hydrocarbon (HC) and carbon monoxide (CO) decrease, while nitrogen oxides (NOx) increases when the proportion of biodiesel is increased in the blend. Combustion of biodiesel blends for 2% excess O2 shows the best compromise between the reduction in unburned HC and the lowest increase in NOx. It can be concluded that biodiesel made from waste cooking oil has potential to use as alternative to diesel fuel in internal combustion engine and has significant environmental benefits compare to diesel.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.