Machines · machine
Fuel Cell
Power source · 1839
- Year
- 1839
- Kind
- Power source
- Materials
- Platinum on carbon, a Nafion membrane, graphite or steel bipolar plates.
- Efficiency
- 50–60 %, not bound by the Carnot limit because it is not a heat engine.
- Used In
- Apollo and the Shuttle, buses, forklifts, some cars.
- Power Density
- Moderate; the hydrogen tank is the problem.
- Cycle
- None
How It Works
Hydrogen is split into protons and electrons at a platinum catalyst; the protons cross a membrane, the electrons go round the outside as current, and they meet oxygen on the far side to make water. Combustion with the electricity taken out before the heat.
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