Hydrogen and Fuel Cells Workbook

8/14/2019 Hydrogen and Fuel Cells Workbook

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GavinD.J.Harper2008 FreePhotocopiable Resource

Name:

Date:Class:

This booklet accompanies the Fuel Cells & Hydrogen Engineering

Masterclass delivered by Gavin D. J. Harper of the PURE Energy Centre

on behalf of The Royal Institution of Great Britain and the Royal

Academy of Engineering.

Some material in this booklet has been excerpted from Gavins book

Fuel Cell Projects for the Evil Genius.


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We use energy every day in our homes, vehicles and places of work. Increasingly, we

are aware of the impact that our energy usage has on the environment. With

increasing rates of vehicle ownership and usage, and continual growth of the use of

electricity globally our demand for energy is insatiable.

When we talk about using energy, we do not really mean that we are using it up :

this is impossible. The law of Conservation of Energy states that energy cannot be

either created or destroyed; instead it is converted from one form to another.

When we are travelling in a car, the chemical energy stored in the hydrocarbon bonds

of our petrol or diesel vehicles, is converted to heat energy as the fuel burns. The

expansion that results from this release of heat energy, pushes a piston along a

cylinder so the heat energy is converted to kinetic energy (motion). The linear

motion of the pistons is converted to rotary motion, and through the gearbox and

transmission, the car moves forward. The car uses hydrocarbon fuel, and produces

carbon dioxide and other emissions from burning this fuel.

In the home, when we use electricity, we are often unaware of the complex series of

energyconversion processes that take place in order to deliver this electricity to our

door. In a fossil fuel power station, fuel is burned to produce heat, which is in turn

used to produce steam. This steam is used to turn a turbine, which in turn is coupledto a generator to produce electricity which is then transmitted through a network of

cables to our homes, offices, factories, schools and anywhere else where we use

electrical power.

Thermal generation of power, comes with drawbacks when we burn fossil fuels, we

produce vast amounts of carbon dioxide, and other emissions that come as a result of

burning fuel. Also a lot of heat is wasted up cooling towers.

In a nuclear power plant, the process of nuclear fission is used to produce heat insteadof burning fuel.With nuclear power, whilst no carbon dioxide emissions are produced

at the point of generation, we need fossil fuels to power the complex process of

nuclear fuel extraction and processing. In addition to this, nuclear power stations leave

a legacy of radioactive waste which we still have no permanent solution to.

Renewable energy, by contrast, produces no emissions or toxic wastes it is clean and

always available for free. We can take renewable energy and produce hydrogen by a

process called electrolysis allowing us to store energy. This is particularly helpful as

it means energy can be transported. Also renewable energy isnt always there when

you want it as the wind doesnt always blow and the sun doesnt always shine. Storing

the energy can help us compensate for this intermittency.


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Afctakeshandusingap..c.the

hydrogenatomsaresplitintop..ande..

Theppassthroughthem..whichismadeofa

specialplasticcalledN..Meanwhile,thee..Flow

aroundthecircuitdoingusefulwork.

Attheothersideofthemembrane,thep,e

ando

combine

to

produce

the

only

waste

product

of

afuelcell purew..


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Wecanproducehydrogenfrom

fossilfuels,

using

aprocess

called

steamreformation however,

thisproducesthegreenhousegas

cd..asabyproduct.

Acleanerwaytoproduce

hydrogen

is

using

a

process

called

ewhereelectricity

producedfromr.

energysources,isusedtosplit

waterintoitselemental

componentsh..and

o..

C E K..

Inourfuelcellvehicle,energyconversionprocessesare

taking

place,

transforming

the

hydrogen

into

movement

of

thevehicle.(Ignoringtheflashinglightsatthemoment)

thefuelcellconvertsCenergyintoEenergy.TheE

energytravelsthroughthewirestothemotor,which

convertsEenergyintoKenergy.


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ACROSS

1 ChemicalsymbolforWater

6 Catalyst.

8 Energythatiscleanandsustainable.

9 ChemicalsymbolforCarbonDioxide

11 Afuelcellcombinesthiselement

withhydrogentomakewater.

12 ___ofHydrogenisoneofthe

challengesthatmustbesolvedbefore

hydrogenvehiclesbecomeapractical

reality.

DOWN

1 Lightestgas

2 Chemicalsymbolforpureoxygen

molecule.

3 Electrochemicalenergyconversion

device

4 Afuelcell'susefulproduct(1)

5 Fuelcell'semissions.

7 PlasticusedinPEMmembranes

10 Afuelcell'susefulproduct(2)


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Paperback: 196pages

Publisher: McGrawHill/TABElectronics

Language: English

ISBN10: 0071496599

ISBN13: 9780071496599

YoucanfindmoreexperimentswithFuelCells,informationaboutcleanenergy andinformationabouthowtotakethelearningintodaysmasterclassforwardinFuelCellsProjectsfortheEvilGenius.

http://www.howstuffworks.com/fuelcell.htm

http://auto.howstuffworks.com/fuelcellquiz.htm

http://www.fuelcells.org/ced/education.html

http://www.fuelcells.org/ced/education.html#stud

http://www.hydrogensociety.net/Hydrogen%20for%20Kids.htm

http://www.kids4hydrogen.com/

http://www.lshc.co.uk/

http://www.lshc.co.uk/secondary/lessons_infosheets.asp

http://www1.eere.energy.gov/hydrogenandfuelcells/

http://www.shell.com/home/content/hydrogenen/faq/fuel_cell_1204.html

http://www.h2fcfuture.gc.ca/en/indexe.html

http://videos.howstuffworks.com/ballard/651ballardshowshowafuelcellworksvideo.htm
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Hydrogen and Fuel Cells Workbook

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