Reversible fuel cell

A reversible fuel cell (RFC) is a fuel cell that is designed to consume chemical A to produce electricity and chemical B and be reversed to consume electricity and chemical B to produce chemical A. A hydrogen fuel cell, for example, uses hydrogen (H₂) and oxygen (O₂) to produce electricity and water (H₂O); a reversible hydrogen fuel cell could also use electricity and water to produce hydrogen and oxygen.

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By definition, the process of any fuel cell could be reversed. However, a given device is usually optimized for operating in one mode and may not be built in such a way that it can be operated backwards. Fuel cells operated backwards generally do not make very efficient systems. Because of this, fuel cells operated in forward-reverse mode are not suited for energy storage systems in small and medium scale. Most fuel cells operated in the reverse mode are sold as learning kits or curiosities.

See also

• Hydrogen technologies

References

• Lead acid battery efficiency reference
• Reversible fuel cell learning kit.
• Example US Patents: 4048383 , 4338167 etc.