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Technology / Bloom Box - Fuel Cell Breakthrough or BS?
« on: 25/02/2010 12:23:59 »
Hi all. This is my first post on Naked Scientists. I just finished reading a thread from 2008 about using water as "fuel" and BOY was that fun. Many of you had some very interesting things to say, so here I am, curious and ready for a discussion!
Alright - I searched the forum to make sure someone else had not already posted about Bloom Energy's new fuel cell, the Bloom Box. I didn't find anything, but feel free to redirect my post if necessary.
For decades, researchers have been trying to find a way to make fuel cells more efficient, cheaper, fuel flexible, and therefore readily available to the consumer via mass production. Many obstacles have stood in the way, though - some fuel cells require pure hydrogen fuel and precious earth metals like platinum, or lacked in corrosion resistance and durability when cheaper materials were used. UNTIL NOW!
Bloom Energy, a company based out of California, has quietly been engineering a solid oxide fuel cell that trumps all others - The Bloom Box. It can use a wide variety of fuels including hydrogen, natural gas, biogases, and almost any other hydrocarbon. It can also be used in conjunction with renewables like solar in order to provide power to a hydrogen generator or simply as a backup.
Two stacks, about the size of two bricks, can power an average American home for almost a decade. If pipeline natural gas is used for fuel, it uses half of what a traditional gas generator would use. The downside is that if hydrocarbon fuel is used, CO2 is a byproduct (still only half compared to combustion), but because the units do not combust the fuel, there is no risk of CO emission.
Please read more about it on their website, which was finally "revealed" yesterday.
http://www.bloomenergy.com/products/solid-oxide-fuel-cell/
If you have any more questions, do a quick Google search - it's all over the Internet. And please comment back, I want to know what others think about this. I've been waiting for this day to come, when someone would figure out how to make the fuel cell of the century. And the technology can only improve from here.
Alright - I searched the forum to make sure someone else had not already posted about Bloom Energy's new fuel cell, the Bloom Box. I didn't find anything, but feel free to redirect my post if necessary.
For decades, researchers have been trying to find a way to make fuel cells more efficient, cheaper, fuel flexible, and therefore readily available to the consumer via mass production. Many obstacles have stood in the way, though - some fuel cells require pure hydrogen fuel and precious earth metals like platinum, or lacked in corrosion resistance and durability when cheaper materials were used. UNTIL NOW!
Bloom Energy, a company based out of California, has quietly been engineering a solid oxide fuel cell that trumps all others - The Bloom Box. It can use a wide variety of fuels including hydrogen, natural gas, biogases, and almost any other hydrocarbon. It can also be used in conjunction with renewables like solar in order to provide power to a hydrogen generator or simply as a backup.
Two stacks, about the size of two bricks, can power an average American home for almost a decade. If pipeline natural gas is used for fuel, it uses half of what a traditional gas generator would use. The downside is that if hydrocarbon fuel is used, CO2 is a byproduct (still only half compared to combustion), but because the units do not combust the fuel, there is no risk of CO emission.
Please read more about it on their website, which was finally "revealed" yesterday.
http://www.bloomenergy.com/products/solid-oxide-fuel-cell/
If you have any more questions, do a quick Google search - it's all over the Internet. And please comment back, I want to know what others think about this. I've been waiting for this day to come, when someone would figure out how to make the fuel cell of the century. And the technology can only improve from here.