Journal Archive

Improvements in the preparation and utilisation of platinum metal catalysts have now made megawatt scale fuel cell systems economically viable. The high thermal efficiency and low pollution characteristics of this novel power source are likely to result in it forming an increasing proportion of the generating capacity utilised for both peaking and intermediate applications. This paper briefly reviews the development of fuel cells; it also describes how they work, including the function of the catalyst, and indicates the more important of the many factors which have to be considered when selecting a commercial system.