How Fuel Cells Work

Fuel cells may soon generate electrical power for all sorts of devices we use every day. Learn more about fuel cells in this video from HowStuffWorks.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• Fuel
• Cells
• HowStuffWorks
• How
• Stuff
• Works
• electricity
• marshall
• brain
• hsw

[TheBr0ws3r]

This is my project ...

[DrTurf83]

@alienmeetworld

Hydrogen from fossil fuels (i.e., oil) is done by a process called steam reforming, usually coupled with the water gas shift reaction to reduce the carbon monoxide content. EVERY electrochemist knows about electrolysis. Nocera’s catalyst was first published in July 2008, which was after the making of this video.

The guy is a professor working on fuel cells… do you think he has no idea about what he is talking about?

[DrTurf83]

@spectrospirit @fzeeshan

H2 gas is not everywhere. Electrolysis generates H2, but the reactions are not very efficient. Nocera’s catalysts, currently the best known, was recently reported as being ~60% efficient (according to his 2011 Science article). For every J of energy put in, only 0.6 J is stored as H2 fuel. This is far better than ANY HHO (an offensively incorrect “molecule”) device you will find online. His catalyst is very sophisticated compared to stainless steel.

[Jesus45U]

@alienmeetworld

The very first fuel cell was actually run on Methanol, all the way back in 1839, the main waste products from a hydrocarbon fuel and a fuel cell is water and CO2. And he knows about splitting water, I'm sure, but splitting water costs a lot of electricity, and once you scale it up we simply don't produce enough energy from renewable sources to make it useful.

Also keep in mind, that the latest fuel cells we have seen, wasn't around when this video was made.

Things change.

[Jesus45U]

@spectrospirit

And where does the electrical current come from ? nowhere ?

Besides, Water is jolly expensive.

[Jesus45U]

@fzeeshan

He means you cannot find it in a natural form.

I'm quite certain he knows about HHO generators.

[EpicSpaceNinja]

@fzeeshan He's a leading scientist in that field...I THINK he'll have thought of that.

But synthesizing Hydrogen takes more energy than it's used for and you'll have to use fossil fuels to get that energy so therefore it's just useless.

[fzeeshan]

Can't find Hydrogen? are you serious. Ever heard of HHO generator? what a load of BS.

[rufffendzz]

i have a question for all of the participant bloggers on this video, please can any one have the efficiency and cost comparison of feul cell and the more tradition HHO generator. My opinion is that feul cell is a much inefficient in terms of cost , it requires installing new hydroden filling station , the tech is proprioty and is controlled by few big companies and we have to put energy into water or hygrocarbons(methane) to generate hydrogen.

[spectrospirit]

@VerbalizedPhrases How about fiberglass? It's only melted sand and alchohol ;)