Seebeck and Peltier coefficients of hydrogen electrodes related to the PEMFC

Abstract

The coefficient of Thermoelectric power of hydrogen electrode as function of partial pressure has shownto be negative in accordance with the negative sign of state function of entropy with a deviation of almost halfits size. The value found was -48.+/-832:2 microV/K. The intercept was found to be about 666.+-487mV/K.This value of intercept can be used to determine the Peltier coefficient. The All the Seebeck coefficientswere measured positive with reference to the hot electrode. On the other hand, this power is produced onthe cost of absorbing the heat from the environment(heat reservoir). If this is related to electrolysis devices,this means more care should be taken on the hydrogen electrode which has an endothermic reaction to avoidthe freezing of the anode electrode. In the case of fuel cell, this will mean that extra care should be takenon both Hydrogen and Oxygen electrode, since all the adsorbed heat are thrown to the other side of wherereduction occurs. These heats have been defined as Peltier heats of single electrodes. Good knowledge ofthe magnitude of these heats will save the life of the expensive materials in fuel cell and will improve thedesign of thermocells which can in turn help the efficiency improvement of those cells. The temperatureprofile of the hydrogen electrode cell was analysed. The causes for drop in voltage were properly explained.The theory of non-equilibrium thermodynamics was adopted to explain the experiment done in this work.