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Pissing in the cornflakes
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Now isn't this ironic that this just came out.
Quote:
Fuel Cell Technology Has Combat Uses
Tue Jan 20, 3:32 PM ET
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By MATTHEW KORADE
ANNISTON, Ala. - Imagine a fuel as cheap and available as gasoline that could get 90 miles to the gallon. If scientists at Auburn University have their way, cars of the near future may get just that — and the technology is already here.
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Fuel cell technology is the future of the automotive industry, and soon could be part of the Department of Defense (news - web sites)'s next wave of combat systems.
The cells run on the same thing rockets use — hydrogen. Fuel cell technology takes a regular fuel and pulls off its hydrogen molecules, which are stored as gas. The electrons from the hydrogen then power a battery. The process is chemical, and there is no combustion. The primary byproduct is water.
The process is three times more efficient than regular fuel, and would do for automobiles what power plants do for cities. Instead of powering toaster ovens, the fuel cells would turn a car's wheels.
As a military application, the technology has the potential to save the Department of Defense a considerable amount of money, experts say. Fuel in the military always is at a premium. Defense officials have determined it costs about $40 to move one gallon of diesel fuel from Kuwait to Baghdad.
But with a fuel cell, a truck with a given amount of diesel can run three times the usual distance, delivering more food, more men and more supplies where they are needed.
"That's a tremendous leverage factor," said Bruce Tatarchuk, a professor of chemical engineering and director of the Center for Microfibrous Materials Manufacturing at Auburn University. He is deeply involved in fuel cell development.
Scientists have known about the advantages of hydrogen fuel since they began using it to power rockets. But super-cooled liquid hydrogen is difficult to store and move.
Thus, converting to widespread use would be expensive and take years, and would require creating an alternative to the world's trillion-dollar infrastructure.
But they realized there is already a lot of hydrogen in hydrocarbon fuel — diesel fuel, jet fuel, gasoline. All they would have to do is invent a process that removes the carbon and sulfur and they could take advantage of the oil industry infrastructure.
And that's exactly what scientists at Auburn University did.
In December, they held a demonstration. They took jet fuel, which is very similar to diesel, and catalytically converted it, separating out the sulfur, carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide, and the fuel cell ran.
The university had been working with Department of Defense officials to procure funding for their research. Those present, including military officials from around the state, were impressed.
"Auburn has what I believe is a doggone unique concept," said Gen. Gerald Watson, who serves in part as a military liaison for the university. Watson said Auburn is "dialoguing significantly" with the Army's Tank-automotive and Armaments Command, which supervises the Anniston Army Depot.
Almost all the depot's work is done on diesel engine systems, which are prime candidates for fuel cell upgrades.
Auburn's demonstration was only a working design, but the day of seeing hydrogen-powered tanks may not be far off. On a technological-readiness scale of one to 10, one being the theory stage and 10 being ready for mass market, the design of the hydrogen-based fuel-cell is at a four or five, Tatarchuk said.
For widespread military applications, however, a lot of work needs to be done, he said. That work entails re-engineering of the entire military inventory and upgrading the legacy fleet.
"You can't do that overnight," he said.
There are about five kinds of fuel cells. Some are available right now.
For example, the Stryker infantry transports use a hybrid engine that runs on fuel cell power or combusted fuel. General Dynamics builds the vehicles at the depot. Auburn's hydrogen fuel cell technology has incredible potential, officials said. It could be used to generate electrical power the way coal and other fuels are doing that today.
Eventually, it could find its way into every automobile. It could also mean great things for Alabama, with its booming auto-manufacturing industry, and for Calhoun County, with its depot, Watson said.
"It shows the relationship, if you will, the partnership that industry and academia and the community has, what we're doing to come together, to pull a program together and to create in this community a very efficient military operation down there at the depot," he said.
How fast the technology will get here will depend on how much the national, state and local leadership focus on making research dollars available, he said.
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