Fuel Cells

6 Pages 1416 Words

Fuel Cells

Outline
I. Fuel Cell History
A. Sir William Robert Grove
B. 1950s being used by NASA
II. How they work
A. Much like a battery
B. Major benefits
C. Use of hydrogen rich fuel
D. Use cathodes
E. Basic chemical reaction: 2H2 + O2 = 2H2O
III. Types of fuel cells
A. Polymer electrolyte membrane
B. Phosphoric acid
C. Direct methanol
D. Alkaline
E. Molten carbonate
F. Solid oxide
G. Regenerative
IV. Bibliography

Abstract
The purpose of this paper is to discuss fuel cells. It briefly touches on the history of the fuel cell, and that it was discovered by Sir William Robert Grove in 1839, it describes in detail how a fuel cell works, and it discusses the different types of fuel cells that are being used in today’s world.

The concept of the fuel cell has been around for many years. Fuel cells were discovered in 1839 when Sir William Robert Grove noted that hydrogen and oxygen could be combined to produce water and an electric current. By the 1950s, scientists utilized this knowledge in developing fuel cells to power NASA's space exploration vehicles. Today they are being used to provide on-site power for a spectrum of power situations, in particular those which require premium power solutions. However, the interest of them being used to power cars has become more prevalent in the eyes of researchers. In the United States, several pieces of legislation have promoted the current explosion in hydrogen fuel cell development: namely, the congressional Hydrogen Future Act of 1996 and several state laws promoting zero emission levels for cars. Worldwide, different types of fuel cells have been developed with extensive public funding. The United States alone has sunk more than one billion dollars into fuel-cell research in the last thirty years.
A fuel cell is a device that uses hydrogen and oxygen to create electricity through an electrochemical process. Fuel cells are much like a battery. With fuel cells the...