I was sent this link on Water Fuel Cells and have watched some of the YouTube links available about the Water Fuel Cell.
It seems like the perfect solution to energy problems world wide but my sceptic chip is beeping very loudly.
Is this too good to be true?
...
Yes
The title 'Water Fuel Cells' is totally incorrect, it is not a fuel cell but just an electrolysis cell.
Compared with existing technology it has clear disadvantages:
The hydrogen and oxygen come out mixed so the gas can not be stored 'for a rainy day', without dealing with the explosion potential. Seems crazy when the gases could come out separate lines and be kept separately.
Why convert the electricity into RF before using it???
These guys seem completely blind to the problems they are creating, other people see those problems and don't try to do things in that mad way.
I remember when I was about 11, I was electrolysing water with some salt in it and it looked like I was getting chlorine gas, I'd be very careful about using water with impurities in it. Yes, at low currents the chlorine would kill the bacteria. Chlorination is already used commercially in a more efficient and controlled way...
I think we still need more info.
First and primary. How much RF Energy is required to break the H bonds ?
Good question, the same amount as any electrolysis would require.
I don't see the point. If you already have the electricity for electrolysis, why bother with using it for making hydrogen/oxygen mixture for burning when you can simply use the electricity to power electric heaters or any other devices?
You hit the nail on the head. Electricity is far more versatile than the explosive gas they make from it.
All electrical equipment gives off heat as waste, and generally the same amount of heat as the electricity that went in would make as a heater, so the computer I'm using now is just a very complex electrical heater, but it does give me more fun as the electricity gets turned into heat with the same 100% efficiency as a heater does it.
Efficiency.
Using electrolysis may not be the most efficient method, and using RF
may be more efficient. But this is what we need the testing for.
Also Hydrogen can be used in Hydrogen powered Full Cells / Cars (Can't quite have a plug in your car trailing behind ya
)
Fuel cells may be a better form of battery:
1. the energy density per mass is very good since hydrogen is light, especially compared with say lead in a lead acid battery.
2. The battery fuel is a gas so can be piped in whereas in a lead acid battery it is part of the plates.
Fuel cells have been around for a very long time and way back in the 1800s were once considered the best way to make electricity. In Apollo 13 you may recall it was a fuel cell that exploded due to a problem in it's heating circuit. Fuel cells are a difficult technology to make cheaply and work in varied environments.
The potential of fuel cells is absolutely enormous. In a vehicle a fuel cell will store energy as the vehicle decelerates. Recharging is quick. Modern electric motors have a good power to weight ratio. No gearbox needed, no exhaust system.
