The more fuel cells in the stack, the greater the voltage of the electricity that the stack produces. Fuel cells are designed to be flat and thin, mainly so they can be stacked. The protons and electrons reunite at the cathode and join with the oxygen to form water, most of which become the fuel cell's exhaust. Just as hydrogen is forced into the fuel cell at the anode, oxygen is forced in at the cathode. While it's doing so, it can be harnessed to do work. The ions pass through the membrane, but the electricity has to go around. A catalyst at the anode breaks the molecules into hydrogen ions (the protons) and a flow of electricity (the electrons). Hydrogen is forced into the fuel cell at the anode in the form of H2 molecules, each of which contains two hydrogen atoms. They consist of two electrodes (a negatively charged anode and a positively charged cathode), a catalyst and a membrane. PEM fuel cells have the advantage of being light and small. The type of fuel cell used in cars is the polymer exchange membrane (or PEM) fuel cell. The other byproduct of this process is heat, so this water generally takes the form of steam. The ionized hydrogen atoms then combine with oxygen to form water. The fuel cell generates electricity by stripping the electrons from the protons and using the electrons to create a pure stream of electricity. An atom of hydrogen consists of a single electron and a single proton. As you might recall from high school chemistry class, hydrogen is the simplest of all elements. The fuel for a hydrogen fuel cell is, as the name suggests, hydrogen. You can think of a fuel cell as a kind of battery, except that while a battery keeps its fuel inside itself, a fuel cell needs to be refilled. so we know that powering vehicles with fuel cells is feasible. And then, in the 1990s fuel cells began appearing in city buses. The first practical fuel cell system was developed in the early 1960s by General Electric for use in orbital space capsules. The technology that these two inventors devised is essential to the operation of a hydrogen car. Much later, in the middle of the 20th century, the technology was further developed by the inventor Francis Bacon. He called his invention a gas voltaic battery, but today we know it as a hydrogen fuel cell. In 1839, the Welsh scientist Sir William Robert Grove took the familiar electrochemical process of electrolysis, which uses electricity to produce hydrogen from water, and reversed it, generating electricity and water from hydrogen. We'll look at those questions in the pages that follow, but we can give you one quick answer right now: Unless you happen to live in very specific parts of the country and have pockets lined with cash, don't expect a hydrogen car in your driveway within the next decade. For instance, where will we get the hydrogen? How expensive will these fuel-efficient cars be to purchase? Will you be able to find a hydrogen fuelling station to refill your tank? And, perhaps most importantly, as a fuel, is hydrogen really as non-polluting as it seems? But there are still a lot of problems that need to be overcome and questions that need to be answered before hydrogen becomes the fuel of choice for enough people to make much difference in our current use of fossil fuels. Hydrogen cars have the potential to be fuel-efficient and offer the hope of eco-friendly, green driving. A lot of people in the government and the auto industry are excited about its potential. Because it's non-polluting, hydrogen seems like the ideal fuel for the 21st century. What makes a hydrogen car possible is a device called a fuel cell, which converts hydrogen to electricity, giving off only heat and water as byproducts. These eco-friendly driving machines include the Chevrolet Equinox, the BMW 745h and the one that's currently available for lease in California, the Honda FCX. Several hydrogen cars are now in existence, but most of them are concept cars. What's new is that you might actually see a hydrogen-powered car on the road, with steam coming out of its exhaust pipe instead of foul-smelling gases. Actually, the technology for using hydrogen to generate power has been around since the first part of the 19th century - that's longer than cars have been around. And some people think that in 20 to 30 years, we'll all be driving these hydrogen-powered, fuel-efficient vehicles.Īlthough hydrogen-powered cars have a science fiction quality to them, the idea isn't really new. So what's the mystery fuel? Hydrogen - the simplest and most abundant element in the universe. In fact, it produces steam instead of exhaust. It doesn't use gasoline and it doesn't pollute the air. Of course, you can't buy one yet but if you live in California you can lease one.
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