Fuel Cell
The fuel cell (H 2 / O 2) are one of the solutions under consideration for a clean automobile propulsion.
However the slowness of the reaction ( H 2 = > 2 H + + 2 e - ) (1) obliges to work at high temperature or to use a metal catalyst on the anode where this reaction is made.
The creation of long platinum nanowires at the University of Rochester could soon lead to the development of commercially viable fuel cells.
Researchers are reporting a significant development in their efforts to help the nation advance toward a clean hydrogen economy. Laboratory teams have announced they've achieved a major advancement in the production of hydrogen from water using high-temperature electrolysis. Instead of conventional electrolysis, which uses only electric current to separate hydrogen from water, high-temperature electrolysis enhances the efficiency of the process by adding substantial external heat ? such as high-temperature steam from an advanced nuclear reactor system. Such a high-temperature system has the potential to achieve overall conversion efficiencies in the 45 percent to 50 percent range, compared to approximately 30 percent for conventional electrolysis.
A new technology is being developed that can turn raw sewage into raw power. The device, called a microbial fuel cell, not only treats wastewater, but also provides a clean energy source with the potential for enormous financial savings, according to scientists at Pennsylvania State University. Although power output is still relatively low, they say the technology is improving rapidly and eventually could be used to run a small wastewater treatment plant, which would be especially attractive in developing countries. It also could be used to treat waste from animal farms, food processing plants and even manned space missions.
Carbon monoxide, or CO, has long been a major technical barrier to the efficient operation of fuel cells. But now, chemical and biological engineers have not only cleared that barrier - they also have discovered a method to capture carbon monoxide's energy. To be useful in a power-generating fuel cell, hydrocarbons such as gasoline, natural gas or ethanol must be reformed into a hydrogen-rich gas. A large, costly and critical step to this process requires generating steam and reacting it with carbon monoxide. This process, called water-gas shift, produces hydrogen and carbon dioxide. Additional steps then are taken to reduce the CO levels further before the hydrogen enters a fuel cell.
As temperatures soar this summer, so do electric bills. Researchers at the University of Houston are striving toward decreasing those costs with the next revolution in power generation. Imagine a power source so small, yet so efficient, that it could make cumbersome power plants virtually obsolete while lowering your electric bill. A breakthrough in thin film solid oxide fuel cells is currently being refined in labs at the University of Houston, making that dream a reality.
Environmental engineers have removed and replaced one of the most expensive parts of their prototype microbial fuel cell and the device now costs two-thirds less and produces nearly six times more electricity from domestic wastewater. Earlier this year, the team was the first to develop a microbial fuel cell (MFC) that can generate electricity while simultaneously cleaning domestic wastewater skimmed from the settling pond of a sewage treatment plant. Now, they've shown that by modifying their original MFC to make it cheaper, they can also boost electricity production from about 26 milliwatts per square meter to about 146 milliwatts per square meter.
Something big may be brewing on the sewage treatment circuit thanks to a new design that puts bacteria on double-duty-treating wastewater and generating electricity at the same time. The key is an innovative, single-chambered microbial fuel cell. A fuel cell operates akin to a battery, generating electricity from a chemical reaction. But instead of running down unless it's recharged, the cell receives a constant supply of fuel from which electrons can be released. Typical fuel cells run off of hydrogen. In a microbial fuel cell, bacteria metabolize their food-in this case, organic matter in wastewater-to release electrons that yield a steady electrical current.
On the battlefield, having a reliable source of power to operate the many advanced electronic devices a soldier carries is essential. But today's heavy and cumbersome batteries fall short in satisfying the military's needs. In search of both a lightweight and reliable alternative, the Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory has developed the smallest power system yet, all wrapped up in a micro-sized package.
Even with aggressive research, the hydrogen fuel-cell vehicle will not be better than the diesel hybrid (a vehicle powered by a conventional engine supplemented by an electric motor) in terms of total energy use and greenhouse gas emissions by 2020, says a study recently released by MIT's Laboratory for Energy and the Environment (LFEE). And while hybrid vehicles are already appearing on the roads, adoption of the hydrogen-based vehicle will require major infrastructure changes to make compressed hydrogen available. If we need to curb greenhouse gases within the next 20 years, improving mainstream gasoline and diesel engines and transmissions and expanding the use of hybrids is the way to go.
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today announced the first certification for fuel economy and emissions of a U.S. hydrogen fuel cell zero emission vehicle. This comes shortly after a Presidential commitment to further the progress of hydrogen fuel cells as a way to make the air significantly cleaner, and our country less dependent on foreign sources of energy.
In his State of the Union address, President Bush announced a $1.2 billion Freedom Fuel initiative to reverse America?s growing dependence on foreign oil by developing the technology for commercially viable hydrogen-powered fuel cells to power cars, trucks, homes and businesses with no pollution or greenhouse gases. The Freedom Fuel initiative will include $720 million in new funding over the next five years to develop the technologies and infrastructure to produce, store, and distribute hydrogen for use in fuel cell vehicles and electricity generation. Combined with the FreedomCAR (Cooperative Automotive Research) initiative, President Bush is proposing a total of $1.7 billion over the next five years to develop hydrogen-powered fuel cells, hydrogen infrastructure and advanced automotive technologies.
It's hard to imagine that in what may be Big Oil's political-clout highwater mark, anyone is talking about alternative fuel cars. But Wired does a
marathon out-take in this month's issue, delving deep behind the Oil Curtain in a mission to GM's Detroit headquarters. The magazine takes yet another look at the possibility that hydrogen fuel cell cars will appear in our lifetime. Wired even has the humility to point out where its previously breathless boosterism may have been a wee bit premature.
