On the 12th and 13th of August 2014, MESCORP of Multimedia University held an event at the Faculty of Engineering’s open space to promote their topic this year – hydrogen fuel cell.
From left : Lee Tai Foong, External Assistant Director of MESCORP; Prof. Wong Hin Yong, Dean of Faculty of Engineering Multimedia University; Dr. A.S.M. Mukter Uz-Zaman Advisor of MESCORP 2014
There were demonstrations on how hydrogen fuel cells work and also how the energy is being harvested and used with some simple setup. Some of the commercially available hydrogen fuel cells that replaces conventional power generators were also present in the event.
This is a simple setup with the usage of batteries to power the electrolyzer, which is used to separate hydrogen and oxygen atoms from water molecules. There are small glass domes input the liquid that is used to capture the gases.
Onward to something more powerful is the BOC Hymera DC hydrogen fuel cell generator which only requires a tank of hydrogen gas. It is able to have outputs on AC and DC, and is capable to replacing the conventional power generators that require petrol to function.
Escape Room and Loudspeaker were also there to join in the fun and had their own contests too!
Chopstick challenge or guess the song quiz by Loudspeaker!
Time challenge to break free from the handcuffs by Escape Room!
After those much fun, now is the time for the heart of this event – the talk on fuel cell and hydrogen energy system by Dr. Lorna Jeffery Minggu.
Dr. Lorna Jeffery Minggu
There are 3 main reasons behind the sudden urge to cell fuel technology forward. The first one being the population on Earth is increasing exponentially and we’ll need a lot more energy to cater for everyone, second being that fossil fuel energy systems will be depleted completely soon, and thirdly is to control environmental pollution effectively.
Hydrogen fuel cells uses only one element to produce energy – that is hydrogen. It is the most abundant element in the universe, and it can even be harvested from water through electrolysis (using electricity), photolysis (using solar power), or gasification (direct combustion).
From water to hydrogen gas, it is then fed into the fuel cell which breaks down the electrons from one hydrogen gas to form two hydrogen ions. The electron is the electricity produced, which is then recombined with the hydrogen ions and an oxygen ion to form back a water molecule.
Okay, enough jargon – it just means that the fuel cell takes in hydrogen gas, converts it into hydrogen ions through releasing an electron. We need that a continuous stream of billions of electrons to have electricity. Those electricity, one passed through our appliances, is then recombined back with those hydrogen ions alongside with an oxygen ion to form back water molecules.
The best thing about hydrogen fuel cells is it’s completely clean, recyclable, and also produces 3 times more energy when compared to gasoline of the same weight. Nuclear energy is sustainable since only a small amount is needed to produce a lot of energy, but we deplete radioactive elements every second.
Currently, there are many different types of fuel cell that converts the hydrogen gas into electricity, and each of them have their own characteristics in terms of efficiency and optimal operational temperature.
Generally, the application of hydrogen fuel cells are meant to replace portable power supplies such as batteries and generators as shown above. Some car manufacturers already made cars powered by hydrogen fuel cells, and Honda and Toyota said that they are going to commercialize fuel cell cars next year.
The military and some server farms use hydrogen fuel cells as an uninterrupted power supply, or UPS for short. Heck, even gamers or studios can use hydrogen fuel cell UPS to buy them enough time to save whatever it is they are doing and shut their computers down safely!
The main challenge with hydrogen fuel cells is obviously the platinum used as a catalyst in the proton exchange membrane (PEM) since it will increase the cost of a hydrogen fuel cell system by quite a drastic amount.
Like any other new technology, there will be skeptics talking trash and preaching about untrue facts about the new technology, as the public is now afraid to use hydrogen energy because of their misconception on its safety.
Thank you for MESCORP for this knowledgeable and fun event!
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