Fuel cells refuelable

Decentralised hydrogen production from natural gas for onsite applications (fuel cells, refuelling stations for hydrogen vehicles) eliminates or reduces the problems of distribution and storage. Nevertheless, current technology has high costs because it lacks economy of scale. Lower pressure and temperature and lower-cost materials are... 

In the case of hydrogen, illustrated in Fig. 7-2, the radical innovations include fuel cells, refueling systems, hydrogen detection devices, and so forth. All of these component innovations must be integrated into the fuel cell vehicle design, and a significant underperformance in any one component—onboard storage, for example—could render the entire vehicle system uncompetitive in the marketplace. Much entrepreneurial activity has already occurred here, but its future rate and direction remain unclear. 

In the United States so many vehicles operate on hydrogen fuel cells (sec Box 12.1) that hydrogen refueling stations have opened in many cities, including Washington, DC. 

Honda has built a solar-powered hydrogen station to refuel its FCX fuel cell fleet. Honda has also been testing a Home Energy Station that extracts hydrogen from natural gas, while generating electricity and hot water for home use. But, natural gas jumped from about 5/thousand cubic feet in 1999 to almost 12 in 2006. 

An onboard hydrogen tank has several problems since hydrogen leaks easily, is hard to store and hard to compress and burns quickly. Overcoming all these concerns has been expensive but most of the major auto companies has solved these problems for the most part in their prototype fuel cell vehicles. Refueling tends to be difficult although there are now a number of hydrogen refueling stations in use around the world. 

Along with refueling vehicles, the system provides hydrogen into a fuel cell stack to produce electricity for buildings on the site, which are also warmed by the waste heat generated by the power unit. 

In 2004 a retail hydrogen fueling station opened in Washington D.C. in a partnership between Shell and GM to develop hydrogen-fueled vehicles on a commercial scale. The station will service GM fuel cell vehicles. Both compressed and liquid hydrogen refueling are available. 

All controls are electronic, the driver twists a pair of handles to go, moves them to turn and squeezes to stop. The car s fuel cell produces 94 kilowatts of power which is equivalent to 126 horsepower, about the same as a Ford Focus. The Hy-Wire generates a loud whine while moving and can travel 140 miles before refueling. 

GM also announced the expansion of fuel cell development activity with Giner, Inc., to include applications beyond the transportation field, including hydrogen generation for refueling systems and regenerative fuel cells for stationary power. GM s fuel cell stack set a new world standard for power density that packed 60% more power. The new stack generated 1.75 kilowatts (kW) per liter. 

The Sequel is almost the size of a Cadillac SRX. It has a 300-mile range on a refueling of hydrogen and accelerates to 60 mph in less then 10 seconds. Other fuel cell cars have a driving range of 170-250 miles and cover 0-60 mph in 12-16 seconds depending on whether they use a battery. 

Hyundai introduced its new i-Blue Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle. The i-Blue platform incorporates Hyundai s third-generation fuel cell technology and is powered by a 100-kW electrical engine and fuel cell stack. It is fueled with compressed hydrogen at 700 bar stored in a 115 liter tank. The i-Blue is capable of running more than 600-km per refueling stop and has a maximum speed of 165-km/h. 

Fuel cells can be used to power a variety of portable devices, from handheld electronics such as cell phones and radios to larger equipment such as portable generators. Other potential applications include laptop computers, personal digital assistants (PDAs), and handheld video cameras—almost any application that has traditionally used batteries. These fuel cells have the potential to last more than three times as long as batteries between refueling. 

A fuel cell car, bus or truck is in essence an electric vehicle powered by a stack of hydrogen fueled cells that operates like a refuelable battery. A battery uses chemical energy from its component parts, while a fuel cell uses an electrochemical process to generate electricity and receives its energy from the hydrogen fuel and oxygen that are supplied to it. Like the plates in a battery, the fuel cell uses an anode and cathode, attached to these are wires for the flow of current. These two electrodes are thin and porous. 

Fuel Cell technology is a great technology but it has been designed mostly for a mature market, since it requires that a pervasive refueling station network be available before the market can accept the technology. 

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