Hydrogen Vehicle

A fuel cell vehicle, as its name suggests, is powered by hydrogen instead of gasoline, as is the case in contemporary vehicles. Vehicles may be buses, cargo bikes, bicycles PHB, trains, motorcycles, rockets golf carts, wheelchairs, aircraft, ships, submarines and even. These vehicles convert hydrogen into energy through electro-chemical conversion (conversion of fuel cells) or combustion. In engines of electro-chemical conversion, hydrogen reacts with oxygen to produce electricity and water. The electricity powers the traction motor. In combustion engines, on the other hand, the hydrogen is burned in the engine similar to that of conventional internal combustion engines in vehicles contemporaries.

Extracting hydrogen for use in vehicles is a complex process. Hydrogen and oxygen are the two natural elements that make water. Hydrogen is not considered a source of energy but a carrier of the same mainly because the extraction of water from the same takes a lot of energy. To date, there is no effective technology for use in the extraction of hydrogen energy. Even established manufacturers like Ford Motor Co. and Renault-Nissan have dropped plans to develop hydrogen cars mainly because of the costs involved and the lack of reliable plants to produce hydrogen.

Using the most accurate of hydrogen in vehicles is evident in rockets. This is mainly based on the ability of gas to the exhaust at high speed and low weight propellant. In aircraft, the use of hydrogen engines is still in testing phase. The major obstacle in the development of hydrogen vehicles is mainly associated costs. In addition to high costs, hydrogen fuel cells are fragile which makes them unreliable for use in vibration and shock generated by automobiles. Most hydrogen engines require the use of rare catalysts such as platinum, which makes the cost even more prohibitive. Engineers are, however, research on what could be used as a catalyst to reduce costs. Nickel-tin catalyst is a metal that is not seriously taken into account by engineers.

Another obstacle to the development of hydrogen vehicles is that fuel cells can solidify in freezing conditions. This means that hydrogen vehicles are operational at temperatures above 32 F or 0 Celsius. However, this concern is mainly before starting the engine because the engine can generate enough heat to maintain sufficient operating temperature. To resolve this problem, engineers believe that the inclusion of a pre-heating device or use a fuel cell that has some form of heating element could solve this problem.

There are also concerns about the lifetime of hydrogen vehicles. Although life in cycling has been confirmed ay 7300 hours, the target for heavy vehicles like buses is still in research. In these vehicles, the target duration of service is set at 30,000 hours. The large-scale development of hydrogen powered vehicles would lead to reduced greenhouse gas emissions from hydrogen fuel does not produce carbon dioxide. To do this, however, engineers and researchers facing the challenges presented in the production, transport and storage of hydrogen vehicles.