Fuel Cell Vehicles and Refueling Stations

This article discusses the results of an experiment conducted in California to test the possible changes in daily travel with the implementation of refueling stations for hydrogen-powered fuel cell vehicles. The biggest problem with converting to fuel cell vehicles is refueling stations. There must be a large enough demand for them and there has to be space for them. It is possible for them to be integrated into gasoline stations, but gas station owner's approval is needed and lot space can be a problem. If these vehicles are made popular, there would need to be about 17,700 hydrogen refueling stations across the United States to meet a large consumer demand. The last problem would be deviations from consumers' daily travel routes, which is what this report addresses.

In order to test this problem, 68 hydrogen refuel stations were built across South California and various drivers were chosen to track how many more miles they had to drive to refuel their hydrogen-powered cars. When the results were compiled, it was found that the drivers on average only had to change their route by 1.3 miles. The best case involved no change in distance and the worst case had a change of 4.94 miles. In regards to time, the drivers lost an average of 2.5 minutes of travel, the best case being no change and the worst being 9.6 minutes. Overall, the results showed that there was a change in travel time, but it was not uncommon of people in the area who were forced to refuel. The average time for those refueling gasoline cars had an average time of 4.7 minutes, but this was due to the increased wait time at gasoline stations.

This article would be a good study to help support the integration of fuel cells. Refuel stations are a common issue when it comes to switching to fuel stations, but this study shows that this change may not be as difficult as it seems.

APA Citation:

Kang, J. E., Brown, T., Recker, W. W., & Samuelsen, G. S. (2014, February 25). Refueling hydrogen fuel cell vehicles with 68 proposed refueling stations in California: Measuring deviations from daily travel patterns. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 39(7), 3444-3449.

MLA Citation:

Kang, Jee Eun, et al. "Refueling hydrogen fuel cell vehicles with 68 proposed refueling stations in California: Measuring deviations from daily travel patterns." International Journal of Hydrogen Energy 39.7 (2014): 3444-3449. 12 February 2015. <http://af5ss8ab4n.search.serialssolutions.com.hal.weber.edu:2200/?sid=EBSCO:Academic%20Search%20Premier&genre=article&title=International%20Journal%20of%20Hydrogen%20Energy&atitle=Refueling%20hydrogen%20fuel%20cell%20vehicles%20with%2068%20proposed%20refu>.

Engineering: Fuel Cells by Henry Petroski

APA Citation:

Petroski, H. (2003, Septempter-October). Engineering: Fuel Cells. American Scientist, 91(5), 398-402.

MLA Citation:

Petroski, Henry. "Engineering: Fuel Cells." American Scientist 91.5 (2003): 398-402. 5 February 2015. <http://www.jstor.org/stable/27858268>.

This article mainly covers the history and the current states of fuel cell technology. In the beginning, Petroski describes the invention of the gas cell battery by Sir William Grove in 1839, which is considered to be the beginning of fuel cells. These batteries were too complex for their time and lost popularity due to the invention of the dry cell battery. Once the electric motor was invented, very basic battery-powered cars began to emerge in 1882, allowing the fuel cells to gain attention again. Unfortunately, fuel cell car sales were stunted and shelved once Henry Ford's cheap Model T gained popularity in 1909. The last new model of the century came out in 1921, but was four times the price of the Model T.

Fuel cells did not come back until about 1960 and only very, very small numbers were produced. Most were used in NASA programs and some naval vehicles, such as submarines. In the late 1960's, proton-exchange membrane (PEM) cells were developed and caught the attention of Geoffrey Ballard, who would begin to find ways to make the cells smaller and more efficient so they could be used in vehicles or other devices. Ballard created a compressed fuel cell and was able to successfully get the attention of the automotive business, namely GM.

Fuel cells have been getting plenty of attention from engineers ever since, but there are many problems with the current fuel cell vehicles. The biggest problem centers around the fact that most of the fuel cells will be hydrogen powered. Harvesting this power is a common problem faced with these fuel cells and some researchers fear that a hydrogen economy will rise out of it. Also, there needs to be more engineers and technicians on hand with this new technology. Fuel cells are currently used in batteries and smaller devices such as cell phones, but more research is needed to determine a working vehicle model.

Petroski's article has a great historical summary that covers some of the biggest events in fuel cell development, which will come in handy in this paper. Petroski has written multiple histories on various other technologies, so his work in this journal is very credible. GM's Hy-Wire prototype is also described  in this article, making for a possible example to use in the paper. This article will be a great help in addressing and narrowing down the big events in fuel cell technology and in discussing the biggest issues and worries of fuel cell vechiles.

Hybrid Cars Now, Fuel Cell Cars Later by Demirdöven and Deutch

APA Citation:

Demirdöven, N., & Deutch, J. (2004, August 13). Hybrid Cars Now, Fuel Cell Cars Later. Science, 305, 974-976. 

MLA Citation

Demirdöven, Nurettin and John Deutch. "Hybrid Cars Now, Fuel Cell Cars Later." Science 305 (2004): 974-976. Website. <http://www.jstor.org/stable/3837557>.

In this article, Demirdöven and Deutch advocate for the integration and future use of hybrid and fuel cell vehicles. These types of vehicles will allow for a great reduction in emissions into the air and will reduce the dependence on oil and gasoline. The authors note that fuel cell technology is not possible at this time. Hybrid vehicles have been integrated into our society, but as of 2004, hybrid car sales only count for 1% of all car sales.

Using an ADVISOR simulation program, the authors are able to run simulations that test the tank-to-wheel (TTW) efficiency of the current fuel engines with the efficiency of potential hybrid and fuel cell engine designs. The designs are hypothetical at best, but the simulations show that both hybrid and fuel cell vehicles can be twice and three times as efficient as the current engines in use. 

The authors suggest that if fuel cell cars are to be used, hybrid cars need to become more popular. If there is government support behind hybrid cars, then they can be integrated quickly. Once there is enough research and a usable fuel cell engine is available for consumer cars, government support of these vehicles will allow a second, much faster implementation. 

Although this article contains some old information, this article will come to great use when I try to defend the integration of fuel cell vehicles. I will especially be able to use the authors' simulation they ran on gasoline, hybrid, and fuel cell engines to support the claim that fuel cell vehicles are more efficient that what we currently have in our traditional vehicles. The article can help support the need for social and governmental acceptance of future fuel cell cars.