Alkaline Fuel Cells - How It Works

Alkaline Fuel Cells
Alkaline fuel cell, often known as the Bacon fuel cell following the British inventor’ name. It has become the most created fuel cell systems and is the cell which traveled Man to the Moon. NASA has utilized alkaline fuel cells since beginning of-1960s, in Apollo-series tasks and on the Space Shuttle. The alkaline fuel cell has a long history in the space program. It is still used in the space shuttle in an expensive guise, producing power for the onboard systems by combining the pure hydrogen and oxygen stored in the rocket-fuelling system. (more…)

Fuel Cell Stacks: Fuel Cell Vehicle Systems Components

It is progress in the development of hydrogen-air PEM stacks that has made fuel cells a contender for powering automobiles of the future. For many years, the energy and power densities of PEM cells were so low and the amount of platinum catalyst required was so high that most commercial applications seemed out of the question. For example, the platinum requirements for the PEM cells used on Gemini space missions of the 1960s were on the order of 100 g/ kW, for a cost factor of $1500/kW (assuming a platinum cost of $15/g). A typical automotive fuel cell stack would be 80 kW, implying a cost of $120,000 for the catalyst material alone. By comparison, current automotive catalytic converters require roughly 0.05 g/ kW of platinum-group metals, costing on the order of $100 for an average car. More stringent emissions standards are pushing precious metal requirements higher, so that future gasoline vehicles may need 0.1 to 0.2 g/kW of platinum group metals. (more…)

Fuel Cell Industry in Transition – Market Research Analysis

Fuel Cell Industry
Any conversation about the search for alternatives energy in future to fossil fuels research, improve energy efficiency and reduce greenhouse gas emissions over time has the potential of fuel cells to meet these challenges. As a result of greater attention to the fuel cell industry in general there is an upward trend on several fronts, as shown in several recent reports. Lux Research Advisory firm predicts worldwide sales of commercial fuel cell will be reaching $2 billion after year 2012. It is mainly driven by applications in residential combined with commercial heating and power systems and distributed generation applications. (more…)

Fuel Cell Vehicles Commercialization Issues

Fuel Cell Vehicles

The commercialization prospects for fuel cell vehicles depend not only on their performance and cost, but also on how well they can compete with other technology options that address similar market and policy needs. While market forces have not traditionally motivated design change for reasons of environmental performance, customer values and expectations can evolve and such characteristics could grow in importance. However, inherent market conservatism will favor less disruptive ways to address evolving needs, which might be met by improved gasoline and diesel vehicles, including hybrid-electric versions. Yet looking over the long run, particularly the need to substantially reducing greenhouse gas emissions, hydrogen fuel cells may well provide a solution that is superior to other alternatives. (more…)

Fuel Cell Vehicles – How it Works?

Fuel Cell Vehicles
A fuel cell is an electrochemical device that directly converts a fuel to electricity by means of reactions on the surfaces of electrodes and transport of ions through an electrolyte. A fuel cell can be thought of as a chemical battery whose reactants are fed from external sources rather than packaged as part of the battery. A key feature of a fuel cell is transformation of the chemical potential energy of a fuel directly into electricity, a high-value form of energy that can be put to many uses from electricity conversion. The fuel cell’s direct energy unit conversion process occurs without an intermediate step of heat generation, as involved in combustion engines. (more…)

Electric Drive Systems: Fuel Cell Vehicle Systems

The primary electric drivetrain components for fuel cell vehicles are the same as those for any electric vehicle: traction motors, power electronics, and batteries. Electric drive components require their own sets of auxiliaries and management systems, for control and cooling of the equipment. A fuel cell vehicle may have a hybrid powertrain, in which the fuel cell is sized at less than the vehicle’s peak power requirement and additional power is supplied from an electricity storage device, such as a high-power battery or ultracapacitor. Although a hybrid power train is more complex than one using a fuel cell alone, it offers advantages of regenerative braking, (more…)

Fuel Cell Engine Auxiliaries: Fuel Cell Vehicle Systems

Numerous other parts are needed for a complete fuel cell engine suitable for motor vehicles. These auxiliary components include many familiar pieces of equipment, such as blowers, pumps, heat exchangers, sensors, and controls. However, fuel cells have specialized performance requirements, so substantial engineering effort is needed to develop auxiliary systems suitable for fuel cell vehicles. (more…)

Alternative Energy Forward to the Future

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Some forms of alternative energy sources are really new; while most of the energy forms are really come form in development and scientists have been investigated for several hundred years. One of the energy forms is biomass and bioenergy. Bioenergy refers to the burning of organic materials that would otherwise be simply discarded or not being considered at all. (more…)

The Effects of Hybrid Electric Vehicles to Internal Combustion Engines

hybrid-vehicles
The internal combustion engine has dominated the car and light-truck market for over 100 years. Although remarkable improvements have been made over the past 30 years to reduce air pollution problems to nearly zero and to almost double vehicle efficiency, increasing concerns about global warming and energy security are pushing vehicles toward even greater energy efficiency improvements. (more…)

Heat-Actuated Heat Pumps | Energy Application of Micro Technology

Heat-actuated heat pumps are cooling systems requiring no electricity for operation. Rather, a heat source is used, avoiding the need for batteries. This consideration is critical for portable applications because on a weight basis, a stored liquid fuel has anywhere from 35 to 300 times the energy content of batteries, depending on the battery technology considered. Thus, although the simple solution of combining an electric motor, a battery package, and a vapor compression refrigerator may sound appealing, it actually suffers a severe volume and weight disadvantage when compared with a heat-actuated system. (more…)