Using Hydrogen Fuel Cell Technology In Our Car
Hydrogen fuel cells have been a hot topic, especially since the
increasing gas prices have made consumers more urgent than ever to
start the search for more fuel-efficient energy sources. But
the
topic isn’t a new one. Five years ago, President
Bush
announced funding for the Hydrogen Fuel Initiative and since then the
government has spent more than $1 billion working on this hydrogen fuel
cell technology.
While we may have heard the term, most of us don’t have a
good
idea of what hydrogen fuel cell technology is or what it might mean for
us in the future.
Understanding
Hydrogen Fuel Cells
Before we can understand how h2 fuel cells work, we need to understand
the four parts they contain. First, you have the anode and
the
cathode. The anode is negatively charged so that it attracts
electrons and keeps them moving. The cathode, on the other
hand,
is positively charged and attracts those electrons again.
Additionally, these hydrogen fuel cells contain a proton exchange
membrane (a type of electrolyte) which stops any negatively charged
atoms from getting through. Finally, there is the catalyst
which
makes the reaction happen and also where the negative atoms return to
form water all over again.
Water is actually important with this type of fuel cell for two
reasons. First, water is the best source for the hydrogen
which
can easily be separated out through an electric charge.
Second,
the proton exchange membrane must be wet for it to work properly.
How H2 Fuel Cells
Work
After the hydrogen and water are separated, the pressurized hydrogen is
pushed into the anode portion of the fuel cell and into the catalyst
which breaks each atom into two positive Hydrogen ions, as well as two
electrons. The anode pulls the electrons back into it then
they
move over to the cathode side. As they are pulled towards
that
side, they pass through an external circuit which converts their energy
into a useful process, such as powering part of your
automobile.
In the cathode side, the divided oxygen is also forced to pass through
the catalyst and this gives the atoms a strong negative charge which
attracts those remaining Hydrogen ions back. On that side of
the
fuel cell, everything is recombined as water.
Generally, these fuel cells would not work alone. They simply
don’t generate enough power to be valuable.
However, when
they are stacked together they can be much more powerful.
The Benefits of
Hydrogen Fuel Cell Technology
One of the benefits of using hydrogen fuel cells is their increased
efficiency. Even by modest standards, they are far more
efficient
than cars that are powered by gasoline and can be more efficient than
electric cars when other factors are taken into consideration.
There are two components to fuel efficiency: how much energy content is
turned into electrical energy and how much of that energy can be used
as mechanical work. With a hydrogen fuel cell, about 80% of
the
hydrogen’s energy capacity is utilized and about 80% of that
energy can actually be used as work. That brings you to
around
64% in terms of efficiency. While that many not seem
impressive
on its own it does stack up well against other types of energy.
When you fill up your automobile with gasoline, most of the money you
spend is being converted into wasted energy. All of that heat
you
feel coming out of your car is mostly waste and a lot of what is used
goes to powering the things, such as fans and pumps, needed to keep the
car going. Surprisingly, gasoline-powered engines only
convert
about 20% of their fuel into mechanical work.
That’s a huge
difference.
On the other hand, electric engines are more efficient than those
powered by hydrogen fuel cell technology. They usually score
around a 72% in terms of efficiency. However, you have to
take
into consideration the generation of that electric power – it
doesn’t end up in your car by magic. Some energy
sources
are more efficient than others, but if you’re generating that
electricity for your car from a power plant that relies on the
old-fashioned combustion process (which is most of the plants around)
then the overall efficiency of your car drops to around 26%.
Why Should I Care
About Hydrogen Fuel Cells?
Hydrogen fuel cell technology has great promise for improving our lives
in the future and for being a more economical way of powering our
on-the-go lifestyles. Knowing more about it today will help
you
understand the benefits when the time comes to make important decisions
about the technology and its implementation.
in fact, you can start right now to implement hydrogen fuel cell tech
into your own gas or diesel car. The water4gas
guide gives out specific and tested instructions on how to convert your
car to use the power of water to icrease your mileage by as mich as
%40! Read all about it here.
|
Water Powered Cars - Quick Links
Home
Top Water Fuel Cars Guides
Run Your Car On Water
Tutorials
FAQ
Water Fuel Car -
Facts & Reviews
Water Car Pro
Water4Gas
Run Car On Water
Half Water Half
Gas
Water Fuel Expert
Fuel Trips
Drive With
Water Fuel
Run Your Car On
Water - Top Articles
- How to improve gas
mileage and save
- Water fuel cells are
the future
- Hydrogen
fuel cell technology and how you can harness it
- Run your car on
water - is it possible?
- Convert
your car to run on water easily
- Why it's important
to increase gas mileage
- How to reduce
fuel consumption by %30
- Water fuel car
- a reality?
- How to insure you get
better gas mileage
- Improve fuel
consumption the easy way
|