Energy of Hydrogen

Most of recent solutions provided effective and the cleanest way to produce power with a whole number of primary energy sources is to use hydrogen and fuel cells. Hydrogen isn’t primary energy source unlike coal and natural gas. It is only energy carrier. The most effective conversion of hydrogen to energy provides with using fuel cells.

  A fuel cell works by catalysis, separating the component electrons and protons of the reactant fuel, and forcing the electrons to travel though a circuit, hence converting them to electrical power. The catalyst is typically comprised of a platinum group metal or alloy. Another catalytic process takes the electrons back in, combining them with the protons and the oxidant to form waste products (typically simple compounds like water and carbon dioxide).

In other words a fuel cell is an electrochemical energy conversion device. A fuel cell converts the chemicals hydrogen and oxygen into water, and in the process it produces electricity. The other electrochemical device that we are all familiar with is the battery. A battery has all of its chemicals stored inside, and it converts those chemicals into electricity too. This means that a battery eventually “goes dead” and you either throw it away or recharge it. With a fuel cell, chemicals constantly flow into the cell so it never goes dead — as long as there is a flow of chemicals into the cell, the electricity flows out of the cell. Most fuel cells in use today use hydrogen and oxygen as the chemicals.

The principle of the fuel cell was discovered by German scientist Christian Friedrich Schonbein in 1838. Based on this, the first fuel cell was developed by Welsh scientist Sir William Robert Grove in 1839.