fuel cell

(noun)

A device that converts the chemical energy from a fuel into electricity through a chemical reaction with oxygen or another oxidizing agent.

Related Terms

Examples of fuel cell in the following topics:

  • Fuel Cells

    • William Grove developed the first crude fuel cells in 1839.
    • Fuel cells are classified by the electrolyte they use, which is the main difference among the various types of fuel cells.
    • The use of hydrogen fuel cells is controversial in some applications.
    • Other types of fuel cells don't face this problem.
    • There are several advantages to hydrogen fuel cells, though.

  • The Hydrogen Economy

    • The hydrogen economy refers to using hydrogen as the next important source of fuel.
    • Advocates of this proposed system promote hydrogen as a potential fuel source.
    • Fuel cells are electrochemical devices capable of transforming chemical energy into electrical energy.
    • Fuel cells require less energy input than other alternatives and perform water electrolysis at lower temperatures, both of which have the potential of reducing the overall cost of hydrogen production.
    • The hydrogen economy could possibly revolutionize the current energy infrastructure by transferring fuel demands from fossil fuels onto hydrogen.

  • Conductors

    • Positive charges may also be mobile, such as the cationic electrolyte(s) of a battery or the mobile protons of the proton conductor of a fuel cell.

  • New Energy Sources

    • Since 2004, photovoltaics (solar cells) surpassed wind as the fastest growing energy source, and since 2007, the use of solar power has more than doubled every two years.
    • Ethanol now provides 18% of the country's automotive fuel.
    • Ethanol fuel is also widely available in the USA.
    • Carbon neutral and negative fuels can be stored and transported through existing natural gas pipelines.
    • Using the existing transportation infrastructure, thereby displacing fossil fuels, will reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

  • Present Sources of Energy

    • Present sources of energy include fossil fuels, various types of renewable energy, and nuclear power.
    • The estimates for remaining non-renewable worldwide energy resources vary; the remaining fossil fuels total an estimated 0.4 YJ (1 YJ = yottajoule, or 1024 J) and the the energy available from nuclear fuels such as uranium exceeds 2.5 YJ.
    • As of 2010, use of fossil fuels as an energy source comprised over 80% of total energy consumed.
    • Coal fueled the industrial revolution in the 18th and 19th centuries.
    • Fossil fuels remain our primary source of energy.

  • Environmental Problems Associated with Fossil Fuel Use

    • One of the major environmental problems associated with fossil fuel use is global warming.
    • One of the biggest environmental problems associated with fossil fuel use is global warming, which is the rise in the average temperature of Earth's atmosphere and oceans since the late 19th century.
    • This warning of the climate system is unequivocal, and scientists are now more than 90% certain that it is primarily caused by increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases produced by human activities such as deforestation and the burning of fossil fuels.

  • Extractive Metallurgy

    • Often, however, energy must be added to the process by combustion of fuel or, in the case of some smelting processes, by the direct application of electrical energy.
    • Electrometallurgy involves metallurgical processes that take place in some form of electrolytic cell.
    • Fused salt electrolysis is another electrometallurgical process whereby the valuable metal is dissolved into a molten salt, which acts as the electrolyte, and the valuable metal collects on the cathode of the cell.

  • Metallurgy

    • Often, however, energy must be added to the process by combustion of fuel or, in the case of some smelting processes, by the direct application of electrical energy.
    • Electrometallurgy involves metallurgical processes that take place in some form of electrolytic cell.

  • Electrochemical Cell Notation

    • Cell notation is shorthand that expresses a certain reaction in an electrochemical cell.
    • Cell notations are a shorthand description of voltaic or galvanic (spontaneous) cells.
    • The anode half-cell is described first; the cathode half-cell follows.
    • Using these rules, the notation for the cell we put together is:
    • A typical arrangement of half-cells linked to form a galvanic cell.

  • Energy Consumption

    • Consumption of fossil fuel resources has led to global warming and climate change.
    • If we reach (or have already reached) a maximum rate of petroleum extraction, then fossil fuels will no longer be a viable source of energy.
    • The majority of greenhouse gas emissions are due to burning fossil fuels, while some is due to deforestation.
    • It was estimated in the study that these external downstream fossil fuel costs amount up to 1%-2% of the EU's entire gross domestic product (GDP); this was before the external cost of global warming from these sources was even included.
    • Wind turbines provide a green source of alternative energy, as opposed to the burning of fossil fuels which contributes to climate change.