Space Shuttle's Fuel Cell
Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Dynamics Lab
NASA perfected the fuel cell with the Gemini manned space launches of the mid-60s. Since that time, they have been the power source of all manned missions. Fuel Cell Power Plants provides a detailed technical description of the latest NASA fuel cells on the Space Shuttle. Hydrogen and Oxygen are chemically combined to produce heat, water, and electricity. Each unit has three stacks of 32 cells, producing 28 volts at up to 436 amps. They are reused until an accumulation of 2000 hours of on-line storage.
One kilogram of hydrogen has about the same energy as one gallon of gasoline. The Department of Energy has a cost goal of $2.00 - $3.00 per kilogram of hydrogen. Storage on vehicles is a challenging barrier to successful commercial transition. Similar to electric vehicles, it is believed a hydrogen-powered vehicle should have a range of 300 miles.
The Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technical Advisory Committee (HTAC) has released a report on the status of hydrogen and fuel cells. An early successful product is the fuel cell forklift. They have greater range, require less time to recharge, and do not require battery change-outs. For automobiles and trucks, there are 379 hydrogen refueling stations globally, with 69 located in the U.S. Ever the trend-setter, California has 27 of them.
Research efforts are encouraging. Automotive fuel cell systems continue to decrease in cost, with a 16 percent reduction between 2008 and 2009. High-temperature electrolysis, eventually to be powered by the next generation nuclear reactors, was demonstrated at the Idaho National Laboratory last year. It produced 5,650 liters of hydrogen per hour. Continued advancement in materials suggests that future storage tanks will be cryogenic, yielding much larger driving ranges.
Comments