Fuel cells themselves work like batteries, but they do not run down or need recharging and they produce electricity and heat as long as fuel is supplied. The unit consists of two electrodes\u2014a negative electrode (or anode) and a positive electrode (or cathode)\u2014sandwiched around an electrolyte. <\/p>\n
A fuel, such as hydrogen, is fed to the anode and air is fed to the cathode. In a hydrogen fuel cell, a catalyst at the anode separates hydrogen molecules into protons and electrons, which take different paths to the cathode. The electrons go through an external circuit, creating a flow of electricity, whereas the protons migrate through the electrolyte to the cathode, where they unite with oxygen and the electrons to produce water vapor and heat. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s an intrinsically simple system, but highly efficient and of course extremely green, producing only water vapor out of the exhaust pipe, so to speak, and doesn\u2019t rely on electricity from the National Grid,\u201d said Oliver Jackson, senior research engineer at Intelligent Energy based in Loughborough, the UK\u2019s leading developer of hydrogen fuel cell technology. (Figure 1) <\/p>\n Innovations in Using Electric Energy<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cThe technology can be applied across a broad range of uses too, such as the aerospace industry, with the eventual aim of replacing fossil fuel powered jet engines with electrically powered alternatives now becoming increasingly realistic. It\u2019s really exciting stuff.\u201d <\/p>\n In 2001, Intelligent Energy emerged as a spin out from Loughborough University, where the first fuel cell project began in 1988. More than two decades later, following collaborations with the likes of Suzuki, Airbus, Boeing and also BMW, the company now employs 250 people. It has partners and customers around the globe, delivering a range of zero-emission hydrogen\u202ffuel cell products to the automotive, aerospace, power generation, telecoms, marine, rail, UAV and materials handling industries. <\/p>\n \u201cWhat we recognize as the first hydrogen fuel cell was developed by Welshman William Grove in 1838, with the modern electric battery invented by Alessandro Volta some forty-two years earlier,\u201d noted Jackson. <\/p>\n \u201cHydrogen fuel cell technology has come a long way in just the last 35 years or so. Our collaborations with major global companies have made a huge contribution here and these market forces are continuing to drive things forward. Reaching net zero is obviously the main consideration, as well as reducing the cost, but the industry needs lighter, cheaper and even more efficient fuel cells to help achieve these targets \u2013 this is now our biggest challenge.\u201d <\/p>\n This puts materials testing at the forefront of R&D, because if lighter or cheaper materials are proven to work just as well, after a rigorous and extensive testing program, then these results can be built into the bottom line, creating a more cost effective, viable option. (Figure 2) <\/p>\n \u201cOur own in-house research team is intensively using Tinius Olsen\u2019s equipment to test materials for mechanical properties, tensile, compressive and bending strength, stiffness\u2026you name it. If we\u2019re going to get a finer material at a much lighter weight, we need to make sure it\u2019s strong and durable enough for its intended purpose.\u201d <\/p>\n \u201cWe test a number of other aspects in the testing lab, too, such as electrical resistance, testing of coatings and even the transport properties of materials, including the carbon papers we use for our gas diffusion. For all these things, we need to be applying different forces to see how these properties change at different pressures, and so on.\u201d <\/p>\n \u201cWe do quite a lot of testing on things like gaskets and seals as well as supporting other departments across the business, including the mechanical design team that needs to test new designs and prototypes. Material properties data is used by our modeling, quality and production teams to test batch variability of products and defect analysis.\u201d (Figure 3) <\/p>\n \u201cAll in all, the Tinius Olsen systems and support we receive is fundamental to what we do, so you could say they\u2019re very much on the front line of these developments, generating confidence in the materials used and the finished product.\u201d <\/p>\n \u201cCustomers can only be as confident in your products as you are, so the more testing you undertake, the more you trust your work, and the more willing you are to supply customers and not have to worry. If the product isn\u2019t to specification, then it\u2019s obviously going to be sent back, resulting in increased support to get it to work as expected. So, we want to get it right the first time and continually improve, so that the customer\u2019s performance continues to get better. <\/p>\n Intelligent Energy is continuing its development of hydrogen fuel cell technology at a rapid pace. In fact, with major automotive manufacturers such as BMW and Toyota actively producing their own hydrogen powered cars, IE\u2019s work could well see this technology competing with, if not replacing, the current battery powered options. <\/p>\n <\/a><\/strong> <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" … of hydrogen fuel cell technology<\/span>. (Figure 1)\u00c2\u00a0 Figure 1:\u00e2\u0080\u00af … in Using Electric Energy \u00e2\u0080\u009cThe technology<\/span> can be applied across a broad … Jackson. \u00c2\u00a0 \u00e2\u0080\u009cHydrogen fuel cell technology<\/span> has come a long way in … of hydrogen fuel cell technology<\/span> at a rapid pace.\u00c2\u00a0 In …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-127655","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","wpcat-1-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127655","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=127655"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127655\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=127655"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=127655"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=127655"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Testing for More than Just Quality Control<\/strong><\/h3>\n
<\/p>\n
Materials Testing Moves the Industry Forward<\/h2>\n