exp setup of H2 fuel cell vehicle with a novel design for H2 production through solar energy to make a comp pollution free Fuel cell technology (Abs)

An experimental setup of Hydrogen fuel cell vehicle with a novel design for hydrogen production through solar energy to make a complete pollution free Fuel cell technology

Abstract

The main purpose of this article is to find a solution for generating the Hydrogen gas, used for fuel cells, from a natural renewable source so as to stop the pollution caused by the present available techniques for Hydrogen production.

Fuel cell vehicles are presently fueled with hydrogen-rich fuels, such as methanol, natural gas, petroleum distillates, or even gasoline. These fuels are passed through onboard "reformers" that extract pure hydrogen from the fuel for use in the fuel cell. But, Reformers produce small amounts of greenhouse gases and other air pollutants into atmosphere. If the much promising hydrogen fuel cell usage becomes widespread enough to replace gasoline internal-combustion engines, small amounts of hydrogen leaking from storage containers and pipelines will have a detrimental impact on the Earth's ozone layer. So, it is important to see that, not only the Fuel cell car but also the production of Hydrogen does not emit any harmful gases into atmosphere. Hence, the hydrogen production from such renewable sources like solar power is put forth which could bring down these pollution levels.

In this article the generation of hydrogen from a natural source is put forth by employing a photo voltaic panel on the roof of the fuel cell car setup, thereby using the energy of solar power to produce hydrogen through electrolysis from water. During electrolysis, water is separated into hydrogen and oxygen and the resulting energy is stored as gas. When needed, the gas is fed into the fuel cell, which then serves as the power source.

Our model is a fuel cell equipped toy vehicle which resembles the actual working and process of a fuel cell car. The car setup would move and maneuver itself provided no external electrical supply, nor a battery nor any kind of an IC engine and merely on water filled in beakers mounted on the chassis of the vehicle. The process consists of two stages, production of Hydrogen and the utilization of Hydrogen to run the vehicle. At the production stage Hydrogen is developed from water with the help of electricity generated from solar panels mounted on the roof of the car setup. The Hydrogen fuel thus produced is utilized in the second stage by passing through the fuel cell to run the motor. Thus the vehicle moves.