Hypotheses for direct PEM fuel cells applications of photobioproduced hydrogen by Chlamydomonas reinhardtii

In this paper it has been investigated the possibility to exploit the energy content of hydrogen released by green algae directly by a fuel cells stack. The power output can vary widely depending on the use of flow rate controls; since excessive dilution of hydrogen and power peaks can be avoided provoking a temporal delay between hydrogen production and the fuel cell stack feed. A 100m3 algae culture can give an average 240W power for 100h, taking in account also fuel cell efficiency. There are possibilities to increase the power output, overall rising algae efficiency to transform solar energy into chemical hydrogen energy.