Fuel Cells and Water Electrolysis

The module provides a fundamental understanding of the physical processes in electrochemical energy converters, in particular the fuel cell and water electrolysis. These two energy converters play a central role in future energy supply scenarios.

After successful completion of this module, students will be able to

• explain the underlying physical principle of electrochemical energy conversion from their own understanding.
• describe qualitatively and quantitatively the most important elements of an electrochemical cell and their function.
• name and explain the necessary auxiliary systems, calculate and interpret the characteristic curve of a fuel cell or electrolyzer.
• describe the possible processes for water electrolysis.

Module Content:

• Introduction and basics
• Potential field in the fuel cell
• Stationary operating characteristics
• Thermodynamics and Electrochemistry
• Experimental methods in fuel cell research
• Fuel cell systems and their application
• Water electrolysis ( fundamentals and variants)
• Hydrogen economy
• As part of this module, students will create a simple program to model a fuel cell.