What is a Hydrogen Fuel Cell?
A hydrogen fuel cell is a technology that converts hydrogen and oxygen into water, and along the way produces energy that can be used in other applications. Currently, most of the talk concerning the use of a hydrogen fuel cell is in the automotive industry. If the technology can be developed to the point it can be produced affordably, it may be the energy source for automobiles for the foreseeable future. Most people are somewhat familiar with “fuel cells” of a different variety, commonly known as batteries. Batteries, although not technically referred to as a fuel cell, have chemicals in them that produce an electrical current. In alkaline batteries, zinc and manganese oxide are used. However, because the batteries are close-ended systems, the materials inside cannot be replaced. Therefore, they eventually lose their ability to produce current and are referred to as being dead. A hydrogen fuel cell, on the other hand, does not have to worry about this very big inconvenience. Due to t
A fuel cell is a device that produces electricity directly from hydrogen fuel, its application can be for anything that requires power in the form of electricity, rotary power or heat. A unique characteristic of all fuel cells is that they can be made small enough to power a cellular phone or large enough to power a town, without significantly changing the design. Therefore the markets for fuel cells are virtually unlimited. Some major applications include all ground or surface vehicles, such as cars, utility vehicles, trains, boats, jet skis, snow mobiles, motorcycles, etc. There are also applications in power production, such as commercial utility power, remote power and portable power production. Fuel cells have been used to produce electricity and water in all our Gemini, Apollo and Space Shuttle missions. Now, what once was exotic technology is about to become commonplace. In the future, however, hydrogen will join electricity as an important energy carrier, since it can be made s
