Online analysis of products from a direct ethanol fuel cell

Methodology for the online analysis of the main products from a direct ethanol fuel cell (DEFC) has been developed. The liquid exhaust from the fuel cell is first passed through a conductivity cell to determine the concentration of acetic acid and then CO2 is extracted into a nitrogen stream for determination with a flow-through infrared-based CO2 sensor. The other major product, acetaldehyde can be obtained by difference from the current. The continuous measurement of these products allows monitoring of changes in product distributions with time and operating conditions, resulting in a simple online system for rapid evaluation of anode catalysts in DEFCs.