A+-+Hydrogen+power+and+its+feasibility

By: Eric Lui

Hydrogen is the lightest gas we know of, and has a high potential as a fuel. Hydrogen specifically creates interest among scientists because the byproduct of converting hydrogen to electricity is just water. A fuel cell is a device that turns stored chemical energy and converts it into electricity through electrochemical reactions. The major components of a fuel cell are the electrolyte that also acts like a separator that keeps the reactants from mixing with each other, the electrode that acts like a catalyst, and bipolar plates that collect the current and build voltage in the cell.

The reactions that occur in a fuel cell are: (1) H2 -> 2H+ + 2e- (2) 1/2O2 + 2H+ + 2e- -> H2O

the first reaction occurs in the anode. The anode which typically contains platinum, acts like a catalyst to almost instantly separate the hydrogen and electrons. The electrons are then forced this way, and create a current because the PEM only allows positive ions to pass through it. In the cathode, the hydrogen then bonds with oxygen to create water.

Hydrogen is widely debated about its use as a power source. One of the biggest reasons of why hydrogen power has not been adopted is because of the infrastructure requirements. The reason why gasoline powered engines and hybrid engines have stayed the top option is because the infrastructure for these vehicles is already in place.

Production of hydrogen is a big issue for making it a widely available power source because there simply aren’t enough hydrogen production facilities operating at a high enough level of efficiency to make conversion from gasoline power to hydrogen power feasible; However lately, a company named UTC has been developing a new fuel cell which is almost 90% efficient. This is because 40% of the energy stored in the hydrogen is turned into electricity while the rest is converted into heat energy. The heat energy is not considered to be waste because it is then used for applications like heating up water or dehumidifying a room. This is believed to be efficient because even in the summer we take hot baths and wash the dishes with hot water. When a more efficient manufacturing process appears, other big companies will start producing hydrogen plants of their own increasing the supply for the general public.

The next problem with hydrogen is how it will be transported and distributed. Unlike, oil and gas that are easily transported in pipelines and fuel tanks, hydrogen is a light gas and because of its low density, it contains less than one three hundredth the energy in an equivalent volume of gasoline. In order to fit into a reasonably sized storage tank, hydrogen has to be somehow squeezed into a denser form. Transporting hydrogen by trucks is also extremely inefficient because of the amount of energy needed to transport it. Pipelines however is the most efficient but most expensive way. Unfortunately, there isn’t a high enough demand for hydrogen for pipelines to be a viable option.

The truth of the matter is, at the moment hydrogen does not seem like a feasible option for a power source from a business point of view. There is not a big enough demand for it, there isn’t a big enough supply for it due to the low demand, there is no infrastructure to support it, and there is not good way to transport it because it is so costly; However, in the future when a more efficient way of collecting, distributing, and converting hydrogen appears, it is definitely a possible option and may be the most viable option.

Work Cited:

Netterville, J. T. (2010). Electrolysis. //Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia.// Retrieved November 23, 2010, from Grolier Online http://gme.grolier.com/article?assetid=0095210-0

Khan, Saleem. (2007). Hydrogen power. //CBC News in Depth//, Retrieved from http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/science/hydrogen-qa.html Hamer, W. J. (2010). Fuel Cell. //Encyclopedia Americana.// Retrieved November 23, 2010, from Grolier Online http://ea.grolier.com/article?id=0167950-00