Fuel Cell Applications
| The simplicity and flexibility of fuel cells make them interesting in almost all aspects of power consumption. Rechargeable batteries can be replaced with low-temperature fuel cells, thus giving mobile phones, lap-tops or any other electrical devices a longer operating time. Fuel cells in combination with electric engines instead of combustion engines in cars and buses would reduce the problem with polluting emissions and noise in cities. Furthermore, many of today's polluting power plants can be replaced by combining high-temperature fuel cells with heat turbines, giving a much higher system efficiency. This is possible due to the modular nature of fuel cells. Cells can be connected both in series and in parallel, thus increasing the power output by higher voltage or current. By varying the cell size and/or the number of cells in a system, all above-mentioned power ranges can be achieved. |
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| Electric aeroplane. | Siemens/HDW Submarine. | Hunter motorbike. |
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Fuel cells are generally more efficient than most types of combustion technology. This also means that they have lower emissions, i.e. water is the only product with hydrogen as fuel. The construction of a fuel cell is simple, it has very few or no moving parts, which results in high reliability, low maintenance costs and a potentially longlife time. Fuel cells are quiet compared to combustion engines and many other types of energy-conversion technology. These advantages make fuel cells one of the most interesting power sources for the future! Fuel cell applications are normally divided in portable, mobile and stationary. The figure below shows the typical power range for each type of application and fuel cell type.
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