Hydrogen fuel cell gets shrunk
New design promises emissions-free lawnmowers
A new small-scale hydrogen fuel cell could be used to make emissions free lawnmowers and chainsaws, according to a new scientific report.
Most people think about their cars when they talk about fuel efficiency and cutting emissions, but they forget about pollution caused by their gas-powered lawnmowers. Now a new design could make cutting the grass a truly green activity.
By stealing a page out of old-style engine building, a Prince University engineering professor Jay Benziger has found a way to make hydrogen powered small engines that could be fuelled by a portable tank.
Current larger hydrogen fuel cells rely on an electronics and a complicated fuel recycling system. But Benziger casts this system out in favour of a more simple and mechanical model.
When hydrogen and oxygen combine they create electricity and a water by-product. By storing the water in resevoirs and allowing it to flow naturally back into the gas feed, the closed system outputs electricity at a steady rate.
Only the power needed is output, ensuring 100 percent fuel efficiency.
"The system is ideal for small internal combustion engines that lack emissions controls and are highly polluting," says Benziger in a statement.
The next step is to try and compete with larger fuel cell designs. To do that, several small ones could be combined to produce more power.
