Cars nowadays use fossil fuel to power the engine. Although powerful, its not very efficient compared with hydrogen fuel cell cars. Fossil fueled cars usually have 20% efficiency when compared to 40-60% of Hydrogen fuel cell efficiency. There are also disadvantages of using fossil fueled cars. It creates many pollutions, and mainly it contributes to the global warming. We want to fix this issue by having an idea of using hydrogen fuel cell cars. Hydrogen fuel cell cars only uses hydrogen and oxygen gas as the fuel. It has the similar concept of electric cars. Compared with ICE (Internal Combustion Engine), hydrogen fuel cell is far more sustainable because it runs on hydrogen and oxygen gas only which we can extract from the air, while ICE uses fossil fuels, which eventually will run out.
Above is the graph of the efficiency of FCV and conventional car. As you can see, Gasoline cars costs a lot higher than FCV because mainly fossil fuels are now decreasing so it can become one of the factors why its expensive. Fuel Cell cars only use hydrogen and oxygen as the fuel and it can be extracted from the air which is a lot cheaper than gasoline. How to extract it and make it as the fuel will be discussed on the next page.
Above is the predicted oil reserve graph. It shows that now, we are at the peak of oil production, but as time goes by, oil availability will decrease because it has been used. By 2081, the total energy reserves will be less than 100 tonnes compared to today's around 800 tonnes.
What are the components:
How do they work together to make electricity?
First, the car draws oxygen from the oustide air, then it is combined with the hydrogen from the tank in the fuel cell stack. There, it undergoes a chemical reaction which releases electron as the electricity for the car. The electricity produced is supplied to the power control unit first. The power control unit decides whether to store the electrical energy produced to the battery or just supply it directly to the electrical motor. When the throttle pedal is pushed down, the power control unit regulates how much electrical energy is supplied to the motor. The byproduct of the reaction between hydrogen and oxygen is water and heat.
How efficient?
The conventional engine has 20% efficiency because of energy lost due to heat and fraction. In gasoline engine, over 62% of fuel’s energy is lost. ICE(Internal Combustion Engine) are very inefficient at converting the fuel's chemical energy to mechanical energy, losing energy to engine friction, pumping air into and out of the engine, and wasted heat. The fuel cell however, has 40%-60% efficiency or up to 85% efficient if cogeneration of waste heat is captured for use. Since the fuel cell use only Oxygen and Hydrogen as the fuel Compared to conventional engine, the fuel cell can produce more energy to fuel ratio compared to conventional engine. is very efficient considering the only byproduct is water.
- Hydrogen Fuel Tank
- Fuel Cell Stack
- Power Control Unit
- Battery
- Fuel Cell boost converter (Toyota)
- Electric Motor
How do they work together to make electricity?
First, the car draws oxygen from the oustide air, then it is combined with the hydrogen from the tank in the fuel cell stack. There, it undergoes a chemical reaction which releases electron as the electricity for the car. The electricity produced is supplied to the power control unit first. The power control unit decides whether to store the electrical energy produced to the battery or just supply it directly to the electrical motor. When the throttle pedal is pushed down, the power control unit regulates how much electrical energy is supplied to the motor. The byproduct of the reaction between hydrogen and oxygen is water and heat.
How efficient?
The conventional engine has 20% efficiency because of energy lost due to heat and fraction. In gasoline engine, over 62% of fuel’s energy is lost. ICE(Internal Combustion Engine) are very inefficient at converting the fuel's chemical energy to mechanical energy, losing energy to engine friction, pumping air into and out of the engine, and wasted heat. The fuel cell however, has 40%-60% efficiency or up to 85% efficient if cogeneration of waste heat is captured for use. Since the fuel cell use only Oxygen and Hydrogen as the fuel Compared to conventional engine, the fuel cell can produce more energy to fuel ratio compared to conventional engine. is very efficient considering the only byproduct is water.