Hydrogen Fuel Cells

[jman231994]

Does anyone on here have any experience with Hydrogen Fuel Cells? To generate electricity, not Hydrogen hahaha. I really want to know how many cells it would take to get some decent power going and how big that setup would be. Something to push a lightweight bike with rider through a 500watt motor.

I'm pretty sure someone will want to tell me how hard it is and how its stupid to even think about making one. BUT I really couldnt give a toss about what they think, unless they are positively contributing at the same time....

Thanks guys

 

[landuse]

I'm pretty sure someone will want to tell me how hard it is and how its stupid to even think about making one. BUT I really couldnt give a toss about what they think, unless they are positively contributing at the same time....

Thanks guys

WOW. Gotta love it.... :biggrin5:

 

[jman231994]

:biggrin5:

 

[foggy34]

i just googled fuel cells, and it looks like a small 5 cell $200 USD is 3.5v 3watts.
i love this idea btw, and i am of huge fan of hydrogen! i dont know where you would find a bigger one, sorry.
i stumbled across this site talking about converting an engine to run on hydrogen, they sell dvds and books on the matter.
http://www.USH2.com/vehicle_modifications.htm
also how will you get ur hydrogen? or will you make it, if you make it, i heard fuel cells are picky about the quality of the hydrogen, make sure you sue distilled water when making it.

i hope you can do it! good luck

 

[Powersupplyguy]

Whenever someone mentions Hydrogen, I always think of the Hindenberg. Sounds like a cool idea, but expensive. I still think lead acid is best bet as far as stored energy/$

 

[DustinWolfe]

i dont know about storing it but... i was doing a job at this older gentlemens house who used to be an engineer for boeing. he had like an 80's model nissan pickup he converted to hydrogen. my point being he had made a hydrogen generator out of some lexan, some clear liquid(i'm guessing water) and a battery. i dont know how it was all setup but the guy explained it and from what i remember it seemed relatively simple. you may google hydrogen conversions or generators or something like that you might stumble upon a decent way of storage.

edit: realized this was the electrical projects section and i was thinking combustion still my bad.

 

[jman231994]

Haha yea hydrogen generators are pretty simple, but if they can produce enough hydrogen they are definitely something worth looking into for a kart ..its just getting power back that doesnt seem that simple :| Maybe someone should try and run a briggs or something off hydrogen?

Anyway, probably wont go any further with it, everybody thinks its too much to bother with. Sounds like lifepo4's are the go

Still, in the interest of interesting things I'd like to see what anyone else has to say about it, odds are in 20 years time or so a lot of things will run off fuel cells....Might as well learn about it now

 

[DustinWolfe]

well i dont have any numbers or anything about how much it produced but apparently it was enough for a daily driver. which is ironic considering he had a gtr in his garage.

 

[jman231994]

Haha thats pretty awesome, everything I've read about them says they dont produce enough to run a car, but I guess it all comes down to size and who it is making it.....Engineer at Boeing trumps all haha

 

[cindysmith]

Well, we learned in our chemistry subject about Hydrolysis. It is a chemical process in which a water molecule is added to a substance resulting in the split of that substance into two parts. One fragment of the target molecule (or parent molecule) gains a hydrogen ion (H+) from the split water molecule. The other portion of the target molecule collects the hydroxyl group (OH−) of the split water molecule. In effect an acid and a base are formed. Well, with technological advances we have today, its no wonder to see a vehicle that don't required filling up at fuel stations. Hydrogen fuel cell vehicles seem the perfect evolution beyond electric cars and gas-powered cars. There are two methods of powering an electric car, though the bits like the motor and so forth are always the same. Car makers can use a battery pack, which is the dominant method, or a hydrogen fuel cell stack. Batteries store electricity and then have to be recharged. Hydrolysis process are being applied here that is the reason why an electric current produced that is used to power the car. You may look for more at:. Hydrogen fuel cell vehicles making slow, steady progress .

 

[jman231994]

Technically a hydrogen fuel stack is a battery Love telling people that hahaha. A battery is just a collection. Like a single AA "battery" is technically a cell, not a battery (unless they comprise of multiple cells in one housing, not sure on that particular type). Thus you have a hydrogen fuel cell, and a hydrogen fuel battery, but it would be confused too easily with standard alkaline and lithium batteries so its easier not to use that name.

Also, im not entirely sure if this is the same as what you meant.... I decided to do Information and Processes Tech instead of Chemistry.....Dumb move ,

But I can generally keep up with the chem students in the more simple concepts.....SO, here goes. A hydrogen fuel cell operates by allowing the rejoining of hydrogen and oxygen atoms and harvesting the current generated by this joining. Multiple different ways to do this exist, all with different outcomes, but from what I have read the general way is to have a gel membrane which allows the passage of both oxygen and hydrogen gasses but also conducts electricity quite well. The hydrogen and oxygen are pumped into the membrane where they rejoin to form water which is expelled from the membrane, and as with most things the cell also produces waste as heat. As I said, a current is produced in the membrane as the molecules join. I cant really remember much more than that.....I havent really looked into it much since february, I quickly brushed off the idea in the case of this due to the impracticality of a diy fuel cell. Whilst it is a good idea for larger vehicles designed by professionals, for diy'ers on small things like bikes it really doesnt work. Multiple cells would be needed just to get the correct voltage output in order to prove useful....And then the current output.....20Amps would need to be a minimum at 36v for any sort of continuous running..... Sorry if I got anything wrong....As I said, I do physics and the boring side of computer

It would be good to have some more discussion in this thread because it potentially could be the future of karting and biking for us DIY guys......distant future maybe lol

 

[flowerman]

If your into messing with hydrogen this video is pretty cool.

http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=hy....,cf.osb&fp=f0322bb914e2729f&biw=1024&bih=644

 

[brandongeiger2]

Hey look another hydrogen post i put one up in the off topic category a few days ago but i built a hydrogen generator not a fuel cell fun stuff

 

[jman231994]

Is the generator efficient? Theres not much point in having a fuel cell if you dont have the fuel so a hydrogen generator is part of the whole process, I'll check out the thread. Haha, I'm still really interested in this stuff because it is quite likely the future of bigger things aswell. The fuel cell will likely end up powering everything you can imagine...except for unpowered things of course

 

[brandongeiger2]

yeah ill make a video and put it up on the thread i havent had the chance to do so yet but its a 7 plate it makes a good amount but im gonna build a different water chamber for the cell to sit in not a protein powder container haha

 

[jman231994]

sweet, was it cheap to make? Hehe upgrade it with a 1200 watt computer power supply mwahahaha

 

[brandongeiger2]

sweet, was it cheap to make? Hehe upgrade it with a 1200 watt computer power supply mwahahaha

haha depending on which parts you buy it can be cheap...i want a higher watt PS but the lead posts are already getting really hot so im not sure

 

[jman231994]

Would thicker posts solve that. Or making them out of something more conductive?

 

[brandongeiger2]

I hope so ill try thicker stainless or copper posts maybe