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FUEL CELL
Green gas!
What do a rocket and this "battery" have in common?
Answer: They both run on hydrogen!
A Mouth-Watering Motor
Hydrogen is the most abundant element in the universe,
and an excellent source of energy. A number of countries,
with Canada leading the way, have been putting a reaction
that combines hydrogen gas and oxygen from the air to
work as a way of powering "green" cars of the future.
The result is a "hydrogen battery" or more accurately,
a fuel cell. Not only is it twice as efficient as a
gasoline engine, its only "exhaust" is water vapour!
Filling up with hydrogen
A fuel cell is based on a simple reaction:
hydrogen + oxygen = water vapour + electricity
The fuel cell consists of two electrodes, coated with
a catalyst and separated by a membrane that allows only
H+ protons through.
1) Hydrogen fuel flows through channels on one
side of the membrane and oxygen from the air flows through
channels on the other side of the membrane
2) When they come in contact with the catalyst,
the hydrogen molecules (H2) separate into protons (H+)
and electrons (e-)
3) The protons (H+) can pass through the membrane,
but the electrons (e-) are forced to take the long way
around through an external circuit, providing the power
for the car's electric motor
4) Once they reach the other side, the electrons
(e-), protons (H+) and oxygen (O2) combine to produce
water vapour.
It won't be long.
If predictions are accurate, we'll have hydrogen fuel
cell-powered cars on our highways by 2010. All around
the world, researchers are hard at work trying to improve
the proton exchange membrane fuel cell engine and find
better ways of storing and distributing hydrogen. It's
all giving a real boost to a technology that had been
languishing on the shelves for 160 years!
Thanks!
The Fuel cell cell is on loan from Ballard Power Systems
Inc.
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