In 1838, the efforts of Englishman Sir William Robert Grove, the "Father of the Fuel Cell," helped bring the seemingly hopeless quest to new light. He gained recognition through his work in developing an improved wet-cell battery, which came to be known as the "Grove cell." While working on his design, he conducted numerous experiments on the electrolysis of water into elemental hydrogen and oxygen.
An illustration of one of Grove's original fuel cells.
Image courtesy of Energy Solutions Center.
One day, he discovered that by rearranging his system, he could reverse that process--instead of using electricity to break water down into hydrogen and oxygen, he effectively combined both components to form water and generate electricity. Realizing the potential of his findings, he soon combined several of these systems in order to successfully create a "gas battery," the first fuel cell.
Many years later, another chemist, Friedrich Wilhelm Ostwald, succeeded in what Grove had not: explaining how the fuel cells operate. Through his experiments in 1893, he discovered the interrelated roles of the numerous parts of the fuel cell. By first probing the secrets of the cell and relating them to chemical reactions occurring on the microscopic level, he paved the way for future fuel cell researchers.
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However, hydrogen was dismissed as a potential power source as soon as William W. Jacques devised a way to generate electricity directly from coal. In 1896, he created the first "carbon battery." Although he expected it to have an efficiency of 82%, it barely reached an efficiency level of 8%. This inadequacy caused the need for more research into the advancement and eventual replacement of carbon technology.
Up until the early twentieth century, scientists made a myriad of tries to directly convert carbon into electricity--all of which were unsuccessful due to the insufficient amount of research on the materials and on electricity. As more and more attempts failed, attention gradually shifted toward the internal combustion engine. Because of the high energy density of gasoline and the technological ease of fossil fuel combustion, hydrogen was disregarded again.
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Nevertheless, hydrogen resurfaced in the 1930s as an energy source when Francis Thomas Bacon started researching alkali electrolyte fuel cells. During World War II, Bacon worked on designing a fuel cell that could be placed in Royal Navy submarines. However, German engineer Rudolf Erren was the first to make hydrogen power a reality by substituting hydrogen engines in for combustion ones in submarines as well as vehicles.
Although the United States did develop some hydrogen technology during the war as well, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has brought about the greatest growth in hydrogen research. Because nuclear technology was too risky, batteries too heavy, and solar equipment too bulky, NASA needed a new, compact way to generate electricity for its missions. Beginning in the late 1950s, NASA funded two hundred research contracts for fuel cell technology, giving fuel cells a permanent place in the exploration of space.
Recently, the United States and other countries began gravitating toward a hydrogen-powered economy. For the last thirty years, the US alone has invested more than one billion dollars per year in fuel cell research. In 1998, Iceland, a vanguard in fuel cell technology, announced its plan to become the first hydrogen-powered country with the help of Canadian fuel cell developer Ballard Power Systems and German-American car maker DaimlerChrysler. By the end of this ten-year plan, all transportation vehicles, including Iceland's large fishing task force, would be powered by fuel cells.
A year later, Europe's first commercial hydrogen fuel station for cars and trucks opened for business in Hamburg, Germany. In the same year, DaimlerChrysler revealed NECAR 4, a liquid hydrogen vehicle capable to reach top speeds of 90 mph and travel for 280 miles without recharging. This year, Chrysler plans to start limited production of these vehicles.
As each day passes, man discovers new knowledge to aid in the eventual mass production and application of hydrogen fuel cells. These devices could potentially solve all energy crises and would not exacerbate the harm already done to the environment. This is surely a revolutionary technology.
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