Posts Tagged ‘Hydrogen Fuel Cells’

Hydrogen Fuel Cell Explained – Reasons For Its Rising Popularity

Saturday, May 30th, 2009
Abhishek Agarwal


A lot of talk has been going around in this country about use of alternative fuels and particularly a lot has been said about the hydrogen fuel that runs on hydrogen fuel cells. But do we have a clear understanding of how the hydrogen fuel cell works? Definition can be made very simple or on other hand it can be explained in a very complicated terminology .In the cell the conversion of chemicals namely oxygen and hydrogen into water happens in the fuel cell and in this process electricity is produced. A battery is a similar device that works on the electrochemical principle. A battery stores all its chemical inside its compartment and conversion of these chemicals happens inside resulting in the production of electricity. After the chemical inside finishes the battery stops producing electricity and is considered “dead”. Eventually it is either thrown or recharged.

Fuel Cell: Does it “die”

Unlike the battery, in case of fuel cell the cell never dies – as long as the flow of chemical is maintained in the cell, the fuel cell continues producing electricity .Oxygen and hydrogen are the most commonly used chemicals in the fuel cell. The end product of hydrogen fuel cell is water vapor and that is a big advantage. There are many types of fuel cell which has been produced; main among them is the polymer exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC). The department of energy is concentration on this type as it has the potential of being used for vehicle applications

The positive thing about PEMFC is that it has a high power density with relatively lower operating temperature (ranging from sixty to eighty degrees Celsius or 140-176 degrees Fahrenheit) .Due to its low operating temperature it doesn’t take much time for the fuel cell to warm up and start producing electricity. That is big plus point for PEMFC.

Direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) is another promising prospect that can be used for powering the vehicles. This is another type of fuel cell that has similar feature with regard to operating temperature. But they are relatively less efficient and are more expensive. This is due to the fact that DMFC requires a good quantity of platinum to act as a catalyst

Hydrogen Fuel Cell: An Emerging Technology

Hydrogen fuel is the new generation of alternative energy. This is due to the fact that hydrogen fuel cell burns cleanly and also runs efficiently .Thus the dreams and hopes of supporters of alternative fuel energy seems to be coming alive They can see a clean and an efficient vehicle that runs fantastic and has very low and safe emission .



Hydrogen Fuel Cell – Basics

Friday, May 29th, 2009
Nick Tart


Whenever you hear a conversation or read an article about hydrogen fuel cells, you tend not to listen because you do not want your mind to be boggled. But the truth is, hydrogen fuel cells are a lot simpler than most other technology.

 

Simply put, a fuel cell is a device that generates electricity through chemical reactions. In a hydrogen fuel cell, the primary reactant is, obviously, hydrogen. As hydrogen is being pumped into the fuel cells, an electrode strips the atom of its electrons and the hydrogen becomes ionized. The stripped electrons then create an electrical current. At the same time, oxygen filters into the fuel cell. Combining with the hydrogen, the two create a chemical reaction which in turn forms water.

 

The greatest appeal of hydrogen fuel cells i that they generate electricity while causing esentially no pollution. So why not generate all electricity through hydrogen fuel cells? There are two main reasons.

 



One fuel cell does not generate very much electricity. In order for fuel cells to be useful there must be several of them working together to generate a significant amount of energy. Typically hydrogen fuel cells are assembled into a stack.

Fuel cells are relatively expensive. Compared to other sources of producing energy, fuel cells are financially impractical. Costing about $1000 per kilowatt of electric power output, not many businesses can justify using this technology.



 

However, scientists are continually working on ways to improve the efficiencies and lessen the costs associated with hydrogen fuel cells. If they are successful, hydrogen fuel cell technology will undoubtedly be the primary energy source throughout the world!



Hydrogen Car Advantages the New Business Opportunity

Saturday, March 7th, 2009
John DeLellis


Business executives in other major oil and automobile companies scrambled to create crash programs to drastically reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and fit into the plan.  The plan was to accelerate breakthroughs in how homes and businesses used energy, and how automobiles were powered. Within the next few weeks there will be some companies offering business opportunities in this new, exciting and profitable field of hydrogen conversion kits for cars and trucks.

Fuel cells are very high efficiencies in converting chemical energy to electrical energy since they not constrained by the maximum Carnot cycle efficiency as combustion engines are.  Hydrogen cars use a chemical reaction rather than a burning process for motive power Conventional cars burn fossil fuel and Hybrid Cars use smaller amounts of the same fuel to charge their batteries.  Using hydrogen as a supplemental fuel like use in hydrogen for cars concept is a safe and sound and efficient alternative that’s offered right now.  General Motors will also continue to invest in hydrogen fuel cell technology, which — when commercially deployed — will reduce automobile emissions to non-polluting water vapor.

Hydrogen cars do however; have the potential to be better cars than Hybrid Cars in several ways so we need to compare their known characteristics.  Hydrogen fuel burns both hotter and faster than fossil based fuel and is therefore much more efficient.  Hydrogen car fuel is not just a subject for exploring new energy horizons it opens up new possibilities in our mode of travel.  Hydrogen fuel generates lower engine operating temperature and there is no emission of hazardous fumes by its use.  Hydrogen fuel cells attract more attention because hydrogen is supposed to be pollution free.  Hydrogen fuel cell cars, water power cars, whatever you call them it all comes down to the same thing and that’s cheap clean fuel.

Hydrogen for cars is not a new concept, in fact it has been around for a long time, but due to pressure from the big oil companies it has been suppressed and kept out of the public eye.  The hydrogen for cars is later used by the fuel cell to transform its chemical energy into electric and mechanic energy to drive the car.  In the past people have been reluctant to use hydrogen technology, but now because of the unstable oil and gasoline prices and the poor state of the economy it seems that everyone is looking for alternative energy and cheaper fuels, and hydrogen for cars is gaining in popularity as a way to cut the high cost of motoring.



what is hydrogen energy?

Friday, August 29th, 2008
hydrogen energy
♫♪♫Lovin’ It ♪♫♪ asked:


what exactly is hydrogen energy

and

what are hydrogen fuel cells

and plz don’t copy it from some website unless it actually makes sense. =/