Techno-enviro-economic comparison analysis of a PEMFC and a hydrogen-fueled SI engine

The environmental concern created by pollutants emitted into the atmosphere as a result of burning fossil fuels makes the use of hydrogen as a fuel for vehicle power systems advantageous. However, some disadvantages, such as the high production cost, the presence of polluting components emitted into the atmosphere during production, and the high system cost, make technical, environmental, and economic aspects important for selecting the appropriate power system. Therefore, in this article, a proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) with a maximum power of 1.2 kW and a hydrogen-fueled spark ignition (SI) engine with a maximum power of 15 kW are compared in techno-enviro-economic terms. PEMFC was operated under four different load resistances via an electrical load busbar connected to the power output, while the SI engine is operated in the range of 2000–2500 rpm with constant load and wide-open throttle (WOT) in order to achieve equal output power and equivalence ratio ranges with PEMFC. The technical analysis results showed that for equal power outputs, the SI engine can be operated at lower equivalence ratios than the PEMFC, and for equal equivalence ratios, the SI engine's power output is much higher than that of the PEMFC. On the other hand, for a 1-year operating period, although the SI engine is considered more disadvantageous in terms of environmental parameters, it has lower power production costs than PEMFC due to its lower initial investment cost. However, for a 10-year operating plan, the power production costs of the SI engine and PEMFC equalize after 4 years and 6 months for equal equivalence ratio and 2 years and 6 months for equal power output, and PEMFC becomes advantageous in the later period. © 2024 Elsevier Ltd