Phosphoric Acid Fuel Cell

A phosphoric acid fuel cell, or PAFC, is a fuel cell that uses liquid phosphoric acid held in a silicon carbide matrix as its electrolyte, with carbon paper electrodes coated in a platinum catalyst, and it was the first fuel cell technology to be commercialized. The technology emerged in the mid-1960s and moved into field testing during the 1970s, and later stability, performance and cost improvements made it well suited to early stationary power applications. A phosphoric acid fuel cell operates at 150 to 210 degrees Celsius, tolerates roughly 1.5 percent carbon monoxide in its fuel stream, a level that would poison lower temperature fuel cells, and can reach efficiencies up to 70 percent when its waste heat is captured for combined heat and power use.