Реферат: Fuel Cells Essay Research Paper AbstractThe purpose

was a breakthrough because the fuel cell technology was small enough to fit into a

compact car but there was still room to seat five passengers. The fuel cells were stacked

underneath the car’s floor board and the liquid hydrogen tank took up some space in it’s

small trunk (Associated Press).

The car drives like a normal car, has a top speed of 90 miles per hour and can go

280 miles without refueling. It weighs 1,100 pounds more than a typical compact

gasoline-powered car because of the fuel dell technology.

Right now, ONSI Corporation in Windsor, Conn., a subsidiary of International

Fuel Cells, is the only commercial manufacturer of fuel cells. Seventy-four of its units,

each the size of a minivan, are now in operation, often in locations such as hospitals and

remote hotels where grid power is expensive and reliability is worth a premium. Each cell

produces 200 kilowatts of power; the heat each produces can also be used to warm

buildings, an approach known as cogeneration. ONSI’s marketing manager, Gregory J.

Sandelli, states that in 1.25 million hours of total use, his company’s cells have remained in

operation 95 percent of the time–a figure that bests on-site, diesel-powered generators.

The units, which use phosphoric acid as an electrolyte, are designed to last twenty years

(Scientific American).

Phosphoric acid-based cells tend to be heavy, which makes them less ideal for use

in vehicles. Other companies are developing cells that are specifically designed for that

purpose. Ballard Power Systems in Vancouver, BC, has for several years been developing

a lightweight fuel cell, the “proton-exchange membrane” (PEM) type. In place of

phosphoric acid, PEM cells employ a thin polymer membrane as their electrolyte. By mid-

1997, Ballard planned to launch a pilot fleets of a fuel cell-powered passenger buses in

Vancouver and Chicago. The U.S. Department of Transportation is also developing fuel

cell buses.

When portability is not an issue, as it is not for municipal utilities, other

possibilities open up. “Molten carbonate” and “solid oxide” fuel cell technologies, for

instance, could bring extraordinary efficiencies to power-generating stations. These

devices run at far higher temperatures than PEM or phosphoric acid cells. Molten