Hydrogen Fuel Cells

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How It Works

• • Fuel cells work a lot like a battery, but can continue to run as long as hydrogen is provided.

Hydrogen is in to the anode and oxygen to the cathode. Pure electrical energy is released through one end and water through the other.

History

• The concept of a hydrogen fuel cell was invented by Sir William Robert Grove in 1839. • The term “fuel cell” was coined in 1889 by Ludwig Mond and Charles Charles Langer

Uses

• The hydrogen fuel cell can be used in a variety of ways. Because it produces both electricity and pure water, it is used by NASA to provide power for the ships and also clean water for the crew.

• The energy produced by a fuel cell is highly electrical and can be converted into many different forms of energy, such as heat and motor power. • There are several cars being developed that use hydrogen, but at this point they are too expensive for commercial use.

Throughout History

• A hydrogen gas mixture was used for street lamps in the 1880s.

• Throughout the late 1800s and into the 1900s, many scientists worked on improving the fuel cell, including Sir Francis Bacon • In the 1960s, NASA used General Electric fuel cells to produce their electric power systems.

• In 1999, the first commercial hydrogen fuel station opened in Hamburg, Germany.

Cost

• Hydrogen engines are currently expensive. They cost $225 per kilowatt. • At this point, it costs about $3.51/kg, but is highly efficient, getting 58 mpkg and producing zero emissions.

Efficiency

• While all fossil fuels release a lot of pollutants into the environment, the only waste product in hydrogen fuel cells is water. Even if natural gas is used in a hydrogen cell the waste products would only be 1% of what an internal combustion engine releases. • In typical combustion based energy plants energy efficiency is only about 33% to 35% effective, while fuel cell systems can reach up to 60% efficiency. • A gasoline engine has less than 20% efficiency, while a hydrogen fuel cell powered vehicle has about 40 60% efficiency.

• It also produces electrical energy straight from the cell

Location

• Because hydrogen is extremely abundant, fuel cells can be used anywhere on earth. A reformer is used to pull hydrogen from any number of sources, most of them being natural gases.

Positive Effects

   Per mile traveled, a fuel cell electric vehicle running on compressed gaseous hydrogen produced from natural gas could use about 40% less energy and emit 45% less greenhouse gasses Fuel cell buses have a 30-141% higher fuel economy than diesel buses and natural gas buses.

Fuel cells can help airplanes reduce CO 2 and other pollutant emissions replacing fossil fuel generators that were previously used to start the engines and power on board electrical needs.

Positive Effects

• Will not cause an environmental disaster if it spills or leaks because it is a non-polluting and disperses quickly • Can be produced using renewable energy

Negative Effects

• • Most of it today is produced from natural gas It is also highly explosive.

Future

• Manufacturers in Germany have signed a joint statement that says that by 2015 they will have fuel cell car dealerships. • U.S. Department of Energy has made funds to speed up the use of fuel cells that will probably be first used in backup power , forklifts and afterwards possibly in transportation. It has also provided funds to place fuel cells in several companies like Sprint, FedEx, AT&T, and Coca-Cola.

Future

• The U.S has given more than one billion dollars for fuel cell research and development. Most research being made is to find future processes in which hydrogen production is both cheap and efficient. A new process that has been tested is called Hydrothermolysis, which uses ammonia borane. Very little is needed to store a large amount of hydrogen, and can therefore produce a lot of energy. This process is very promising for the hydrogen production and usage in car and portable electronics.

Why should humans use hydrogen fuel cells?

• Decreases pollution. Hydrogen is a clean fuel that produces pure water as a byproduct.

• Alternative to burning fossil fuels for energy • Other low-cost energy sources will soon be depleted • We need to decrease or dependency on oil and other countries which threatens our economic security • Inexhaustible, environmentally safe, and is always available.

• • • • • • • • • • • Works Cited Bellis, Â. (n.d.). Hydrogen Fuel Cells - Where Do We Go.

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