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Fuel Cells

            The scope of this report includes an outline of what General Motors corporation is developing in the field of fuel cells. GM has spent large sums of money developing what they hope will be the next big step in automobiles. At the moment they have three different vehicles that they have developed. They are the Chevrolet S-10 pickup, Autonomy, and the Precept.
             The Chevrolet S-10 pickup is powered by a reformer. The onboard reformer extracts the hydrogen from methanol. This truck has the potential to obtain forty percent overall energy efficiency. This would be about fifty percent better than the conventional internal combustion engine. The reformer technology would be much easier to integrate than hydrogen cars because if you had to set up a hydrogen fueling station infrastructure it would cost billions. The truck's electricity comes from the Stack 2000 system. The truck generates 25 kilowatts, which is equal to about 33 horsepower. .
             Autonomy is a low slung platform with four wheels attached. This base would contain not only the fuel cells but also the entire power train. It is possible to put fuel cells into a combustion engine compartment but with this technology you can make the automobile safer for anyone riding in the vehicle. The Autonomy's base is only six inches thick. This technology will allow many affordable passenger compartments to be attached to the base for the consumer's needs.
             The Precept is vehicle that uses a high ride hydrogen fuel system that can deliver up to a 500 mile range. The precept shows a useful way to store electrical power and hydrogen in a vehicle. This technology would help lower the costs to about $2,000 to $3,000 per vehicle, which is just about equal to the cost of today's combustion engines. The Precept is a midsize sedan that can hold five people. It is predicted to be able to accelerate from zero to sixty in nine seconds and go 120 miles per hour while still achieving 108 miles per gallon in everyday traffic.


Essays Related to Fuel Cells

1. Fuel Cell Technology

... is suited for a different type of energy production, with different benefits, and different problems. Figure 3 shows the operating characteristics of several common fuel cells. Popular Fuel Cells Alkaline Fuel Cells Alkaline Fuel Cells have long been used in space shuttles by NASA. For example, an Alkaline Fuel Cell was used on the Apollo aircraft for powering small devices and creating drinking water. This device operates at about 150-200 ... polymer poly-perflourosulfonic acid. This is beneficial because it reduces carrions and is very easy to manage. The only disadvantage of this fuel ...

  • Word Count: 4076
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  • Grade Level: High School

2. Fuel Cells: Alternate Energy Source

... future, an alternate source of energy will be needed, and a cleaner way to produce the energy. One possibility for an alternate energy source would be Fuel Cells. Fuel cells have been around for much longer than most people realize. Fuel cells have been known to science for around the past 150 years. In 1838, William Robert Grove had an improved wet-cell battery, known as the ... , and about the year 2010 before mass production will start. Until then, scientists will continue to work with and study ways to better improve fuel cells, and make it easier to deal with the hydrogen storage an...

  • Word Count: 879
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  • Grade Level: High School

3. The Growing Technology of Fuel Cells

... will end the depletion of natural resources, such as fossil fuels, by using and re-using only hydrogen and oxygen, elements found in nature. Using fuel cells also reduces the number of pollutants, addressing such global concerns as global warming and the greenhouse effect, among others. Instead of using limited resources which ... point that other, more limited, resources are no longer needed to power the society of the twenty-first century. The use of fuel cells range from small to large scale powering projects; from powering personal objects as small as hearing aids to larger projects ...

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4. Hydrogen Fuel Cells: The Future of Automotive

... a way to go before it can completely replace the internal combustion engine as the main means of transportation. Good Efficiency The main advantage would have to be efficiency (Iovine, 2001). Fuel cells are approximately two to three times as efficient as internal combustion engines and as technology advances will only become more and more efficient. With the proper improvements to the automobile ... solved in order get the process of replacing the internal combustion engine started (Jenson, 2000). Storage Storage of hydrogen is probably the biggest problem holding back the growth of the...

  • Word Count: 2188
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  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: High School

5. Chemistry Assignment - Fuel Cells

... of applications. From high efficiency to scalability, fuel cells provide a distinct advantage over incumbent energy generation technologies, which is why top companies, governments, and the military are adopting fuel cells for everyday use. There different types of fuel cells. A few of them are listed below :-- 1. Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells 2. Direct Methanol Fuel Cells 3. Phosphoric Acid Fuel Cells 4. Alkaline Fuel Cells 5. Solid Oxide Fuel Cells 6. Molten Carbonate Fuel Cells Fuel Cell Energy's Direct Fuel Cell ®  (DFC ®) power plants ... are based on  carbonate fuel cell...

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  • Grade Level: High School

6. Fuel Cells

... said a commitment to the program would ensure that " the first vehicle driven by a child born today could be powered by hydrogen, and pollution free" (Dinesh, 20). The environmental benefits of fuel cells are some of the main motivating forces in their development. These benefits include the zero- or near-zero-emission of criteria pollutants (NOx, SOx, CO, and hydrocarbons) and very low ... houses and businesses. While most consumers probably would prefer to have conventional electricity generated at a location far from their homes due to the noise and pollution, the benign nature of fu...

  • Word Count: 1268
  • Approx Pages: 5
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

7. Fuel Cells

... voltage that can be used to power motors, lights or any number of electrical appliances. There are several different types of fuel cells , each using a different chemistry. Fuel cells are usually classified by the type of electrolyte they use. Some types of fuel cells show promise for use in power generation plants. Other may be useful for small portable applications or for powering cars. According to ... www.howstuffworks.com. Http://fuelcells.sae.org explains that fuel cells have a very basic design to them. A fuel cell has four basic parts. These parts are the anode, cathode, catalys...

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  • Approx Pages: 4
  • Grade Level: High School

8. The Drive For Fuel Cells

... the country. In the dirtiest US cites, the economic value of zeroing out pollution with these vehicles could total anywhere between $4000 to $8000 per car over its lifetime(salon). Fuel cells have an important role in mitigating the growing impacts of global climate change. When running on renewable fuels, FC vehicles reduce emissions of heat trapping gasses by 85-100 percent ... natural gas, FC reduce these emissions by about 70 percent The widespread adoption of FC would ultimately permit the US to achieve national goals for reducing emissions. According to the Fuel Cells website, the...

  • Word Count: 949
  • Approx Pages: 4
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

9. Hydrogen Fuel Cells

... motor is far smaller than a typical combustion engine which allows designers to put any type of body style on the same engine. Fourth, unlike today's motors, hydrogen fuel cells are 100% ecologically safe. Fifth, hydrogen fuel cell cars are catching on fast in the automobile market around the world. Significance of the Problem/Purpose Statement The fact that we are burning fossil fuels ... automobile market is the first market that will be affected by this problem. They are finding solutions in hybrid cars but hybrid cars still need fossil fuel to run and they still have a damaging exha...

  • Word Count: 617
  • Approx Pages: 2
  • Grade Level: High School

10. Fuel Cells

... to run efficiently. Liquid electrolytes require pumps which can be bulky and expensive. Scientists have yet to discover an economic way to bring fuel cells into the mainstream, and replace conventional ways of producing energy. The future of fuel cells looks promising. It may take an event or circumstance that limits our present supply of energy to prompt the government to make the transition ... to alternate forms of energy production. The biggest hindrance to implementing this improved method of energy production is how much it would cost to actually replace current energy production ...

  • Word Count: 437
  • Approx Pages: 2
  • Grade Level: High School

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