How does a fuel cell work?
A fuel cell is a device that produces electrical energy through chemical reaction. This energy conversion process involved in a fuel cell is known as electro chemical energy conversion. The simplest form of electrochemical device that we use in our day to day life is a battery cell. A fuel cell is different from a battery cell in so far as reactants are constantly supplied to a fuel cell making it an open system whereas a battery cell is a closed system that stores the reactants within it. A fuel cell works as long as fuel is supplied to it where as a battery cell requires regular replacements.
In electrolysis , water (H20) is broken down to form hydrogen (H2) and Oxygen (02) using an electric current. A fuel cell does exactly the opposite by putting hydrogen and oxygen back together to form pure water and in the process, chemical energy bound in the hydrogen is converted directly into electrical energy. This direct conversion of energy means that fuel cells can be at least twice as efficient as an internal combustion engine with zero levels of pollution. Fuel cells are currently prohibitively expensive. Hydrogen is a gas with low energy density. To be able to store sufficient hydrogen to power a motor vehicle, large quantities of hydrogen are compressed and stored under pressure in cylinders. Hydrogen has been used in this way in many cities throughout Europe and the US in hydrogen bus trials. Public acceptance of fuel cell buses by regular commuters has been high due to their quiet, pollution free operation. See http://www.eere.energy.gov/ Model Fuel Cell car on display ot
A fuel cell is a device that uses hydrogen (or hydrogen-rich fuel) and oxygen to create electricity by an electrochemical process. A single fuel cell consists of an electrolyte and two catalyst-coated electrodes (a porous anode and cathode). While there are different fuel cell types, all fuel cells work similarly: • Hydrogen, or a hydrogen-rich fuel, is fed to the anode where a catalyst separates hydrogen’s negatively charged electrons from positively charged ions (protons). • At the cathode, oxygen combines with electrons and, in some cases, with species such as protons or water, resulting in water or hydroxide ions, respectively. • For polymer electrolyte membrane and phosphoric acid fuel cells, protons move through the electrolyte to the cathode to combine with oxygen and electrons, producing water and heat. • For alkaline, molten carbonate, and solid oxide fuel cells, negative ions travel through the electrolyte to the anode where they combine with hydrogen to generate water and el
When it comes to eco-travel, the fuel cell has come to enjoy a reputation close to that of the Holy Grail as a wondrous, hidden device which holds the answer to all mankind’s woes – at least in terms of clean energy! Despite this almost mythical status, the science behind fuel cells is surprising simple – and the idea itself is nowhere near as modern as many people think. The reality is that this “revolutionary” technology is – at least in principle – not much more complicated than a torch battery and owes its origins to the wonderfully innovative genius of the Victorians. Fuel Cell Basics It was well know in the scientific circles of the early nineteenth Century that if you passed electricity through water, it split into its constituent elements – hydrogen and oxygen. However, Swansea-born Sir William Grove started thinking about a way to turn the whole thing on its head. It seemed to him that if it worked in one direction, it should also work in the other; reversing the idea – combin
A fuel cell is fed hydrogen and air and puts out electricity, heat, and water. The hydrogen gas going in gets split into separate protons and electrons by a catalyst, and the protons travel through a membrane that doesnt let the electrons through. The electrons must find another way, such as through a wire that is provided. The electrons traveling through the wire to meet up with the protons make an electrical current, which does work. On the other side of the membrane, the hydrogen protons and electrons are reunited in the presence of atmospheric air (a source of oxygen), which produces only heat and pure water in the exhaust. An excellent animated graphic of an operating fuel cell can be found at: http://www.humboldt.edu/~serc/animation.html.
