Do fuel cell systems offer a feasible alternative to combustion engines in minimizing the harmful emissions of transport vehicles?

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Paanii Ansah-Kofi

January 2004

Extended Essay:

Do fuel cell systems offer a feasible alternative to combustion engines in minimizing the harmful emissions of transport vehicles?

By Paanii Ansah-Kofi

        Homeroom:        12A

        Subject:                Design Technology

        Candidate no.:        D 0114 006

        Session:                May 2004

        

Contents

1. Abstract.                                                                                        3

2. Introduction.                                                                                4

        2.1. Vehicle Emission Standards                                                        5

3. Background.                                                                                6

4. Principle of the Fuel Cell System.                                                        7

        4.1. Generating Electricity with Hydrogen + Oxygen                        8

        4.2. Other Fuels for Running Fuel Cells                                        8

5. Comparison of Fuel Cell with Combustion Engine.                                10

        5.1. Efficiency                                                                        10

        5.2. Mileage                                                                                10

        5.3. Safety                                                                                11

        5.4. Cost                                                                                11

6. Introducing Fuel Cell Vehicles.                                                        12

        6.1. Question of Reformers                                                        13

        

        6.2. The PEM Fuel Cell                                                                14

        

7. Fuel Cells in Today’s Consumer Vehicles.                                        15

8. Conclusion.                                                                                16

References/Bibliography.                                                                17


Extended Essay: Do fuel cell systems offer a feasible alternative to combustion engines in minimizing the harmful emissions of transport vehicles?

1. Abstract.

        A general awareness is growing that present-day cars are polluting the environment in a critical way and that it may at some time be crucial to develop and integrate significantly cleaner alternatives into road transport to preserve the delicate conditions of our planet. This task brings not only the problems of making them fuel efficient but also the problems of making them equal some of today’s most influential machines in a variety of aspects. While we have seen the developments of other high-efficiency vehicles, we have yet to find one that really appeals to our daily transportation needs in large cities.

This essay looks at one of the more promising alternatives to the combustion engine that has been developed amid such concerns: the fuel cell system. It poses the question whether we may eventually see this technology become the alternative and bring down the emissions that occur due to driving. By drawing on several sources of information and statistics, it outlines the different features that may contribute to the future of fuel cell systems in transport, and more specifically in fuel cell vehicles. The essay works like a projection of future driving with focus on the likelihood of fuel cell vehicles being a new mode of transport.

Based on a study of what allows the fuel cell system to stand out as an alternative to combustion engines and demonstrate recent ingenuity, some conclusions are made in response to the research question. The assertion is made that while fuel cell systems do make a desirable alternative, their success in bringing down the emissions due to road transport is dependent on the marketing and administration of them. In the end it emphasizes a good perception of it from a technological viewpoint but that an economical assessment would also apply.

2. Introduction.

        For some major cities of the world, such as Los Angeles, Mexico City and New Delhi, smog and carbon dioxide in the atmosphere have reached levels that are starting to jeopardize the well being of the inhabitants and the environment at large. Countless scientific studies have provided information to ascertain the fact that fuel-burning vehicles and industrial add to a significant amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) and carbon monoxide (CO) emissions (as shown below for the U.K.).

                                                                                                 Fig. 1

        The figures above in Fig. 1 imply that “road traffic” is the primary cause for high emissions of carbon monoxide and benzene. From the source of information – the Department of transport in Great Britain, this chart really only gives an idea of the proportion of pollution we get from road traffic. Still, it is clear that road traffic alone surpasses all other sources in carbon monoxide and benzene emissions and that it comes to contribute about 50% altogether of the key pollutants mentioned in the chart above. As we can see, human vehicles have become a major factor creating in pollution, so to have a focus on minimizing their emissions is a logical step towards preserving our environment.

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2.1. Vehicle Emission Standards.

The effects of these emissions (as seen in Fig. 1) have resulted in various international initiatives to raise a general awareness of the dangers and effects of pollution on ecological systems. It has also been, therefore, a common motive for companies in the industrial sector to work towards decreasing their emission levels, usually in obligations to hold to certain regulations. Examples of such regulations are the Euro Emission Standards, which have been applicable across numerous countries (in and outside the EU) conforming to ...

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