Archive for the ‘Fuel Cells’ Category
April 9th, 2012 | 
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You might be thinking about the advantages of the hydrogen fuel cells. Look no further, here we will look at pros and cons of hydrogen fuel cells linked to typical gasoline engines, and why you must consider making use of the fuel cells to enhance the power of your car. Read to find what are advantages of the hydrogen fuel cells!
What Are Advantages Of The Hydrogen Fuel Cells?
First of all, most clear benefit of using hydrogen fuel is increase in the miles per gallon. It is reported that you will be able to get around 50% to 100% boost in mileage using this system. It means if you are running 20 miles per gallon, you will be able to get boost in the mileage between 30 to 40 miles per gallon!
This competes straight with the hybrid car as hybrids do get exorbitant mileage for each gallon. But, getting hybrid car will cost you more than $15,000 but if you purchase hydrogen fuel cell, it cost you below $200. Another benefit is able to cut down the expenses at gas station. By dropping the number of visits to gas station, you will certainly notice decrease in the gas expenditure.
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There are three main components in a fuel cell for home system: the hydrogen fuel reformer, the fuel cell stack and power conditioner. The fuel reformer extracts hydrogen from hydrocarbon fuel. The fuel cell stack converts the hydrogen and oxygen from air into electricity, water vapour and heat. The power conditioner then converts DC current to AC current which is required in fuel cells for home applications. best-fuel-cells.info has great resources about building this system in detail.
According to this news release from University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF), the fuel cell technology is becoming mature. A group at UAF is operating a five-kilowatt solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) for more than eight months now. During its 5,000 hours of production, the fuel cell stack generated 20,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity, enough to power two average houses for a full year.
“Since the biggest questions surrounding fuel cells have been longevity and reliability, this is an exciting achievement in fuel cell technology and testing,” said Dennis Witmer, director of the University of Alaska Fairbanks Arctic Energy Technology Development Laboratory which is conducting the tests.
Are you tired of high priced gasoline for your car? Or perhaps worried about the environment? For years, scientists have being working on an energy alternative that holds promises to change the way we live by changing the source of fuel for some of our most basic energy-using engines. This new technology in progress is called a fuel cell. A fuel cell supplies a DC (direct current) voltage that can be used to power motors, lights, or any number of electrical appliances.
The technical name for a fuel cell is an electrochemical energy conversion device. A fuel cell converts the chemicals hydrogen and oxygen into water, and in the process it produces electricity. Other electrochemical devices that are in use these days and for many decades is the well-known battery. The distinguishing difference between a simple battery and a fuel cell is that all the chemicals are stored inside the battery. The battery in turn converts those chemicals into electricity but in due course it “goes dead” as the chemicals are used up and at times you can either throw it away or recharge it.
Then again with a fuel cell, chemicals continually flow into the cell so as long as there is a flow of chemicals into the cell; the electricity flows out of the fuel cell. Combustion engines the gasoline engine burn fuels and batteries converted chemical energy back into electrical energy when needed. However, fuel cells should do both tasks more efficiently.
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