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Fuel Cells FAQ |
| Question: What is the advantage of fuel cells over internal combustion engines? |
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| Answer: Fuel cells are more efficient, cleaner, and quieter than an internal combustion engine. In addition a fuel cell whether it is used to power a building or a vehicle delivers quality, uninterrupted electricity as long as it is supplied with hydrogen. |
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| Question: What is a fuel cell stack? |
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| Answer: A typical fuel cell stack may consist of hundreds of fuel cells. The amount of power produced by a fuel cell depends upon several factors, such as fuel cell type, cell size, the temperature at which it operates, and the pressure at which the gases are supplied to the cell. |
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| Question: How does a hydrogen fuel cell work? |
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| Answer: Basically, a fuel cell is an electrochemical device that uses hydrogen to produce electricity with only water and heat as byproducts. In one fuel cell, hydrogen is fed into an anode where a catalyst separates the negatively charged electron from the positively charged proton. The proton then moves through the electrolyte to the cathode. Simultaneously, the negatively charged electron cannot travel through the electrode and is channeled through an electrical circuit to the other side, where the proton then reached the cathode and meets up with the electron and oxygen to form water. |
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| Question: May other fuel besides hydrogen be used in a fuel cell? |
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| Answer: Yes, but the fuel must be very rich in hydrogen. Direct methanol fuel cells (DMFC) are still in the early stages of development. The research is currently 3 to 4 years behind that of other fuel cell types. DMFCs are already powering laptops and cell phones. Processing methanol through a fuel cell does produce electricity and CO2 is a byproduct as well. Methanol is toxic so companies that develop fuel cell technology are investigating the option of a direct ethanol fuel cell as well. |
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