APPLICATIONS
Recent interest and rapid advances in fuel cell development in the past decade have led to increased research and widespread application of fuel cells for power generation and vehicles.
In general, the fuel cell market can be divided into several segments based on the type of application for which the fuel cell is intended.
Stationary
Residential
Transportation
Portable Power
Stationary: Fuel cell systems have been installed for fixed applications in hospitals, nursing homes, hotels, office buildings, schools and utility power plants. In addition to being used as the primary source of power, in some cases, fuel cells are used for standby power to ensure uninterrupted power delivery in hospitals or other businesses that are highly sensitive to power disruptions.
Residential: Fuel cells are ideal for power generation, either to provide supplemental power and backup assurance for critical areas, or installed as a generator for on-site service in areas that are inaccessible by power lines. Because fuel cells operate silently, they reduce noise pollution as well as air pollution and the waste heat from a fuel cell can be used to provide hot water or space heating for a home. Many of the prototypes being tested and demonstrated for residential use extract hydrogen from propane or natural gas.
Transportation: Almost every major automobile company has fielded a prototype fuel cell vehicle, including GM, Ford, DaimlerChrysler, Toyota, Honda, Hyundai, Mazda, Nissan, BMW, Renault, Fiat, Volkswagon/Volvo. Toyota and Honda have announced that they will begin offering fuel cell vehicles for sale in the next year, while Ford has announced limited production of fuel cell powered vehicles by 2004. Nissan will introduce fuel cell vehicles in 2003, two years ahead of its initial plan. In addition, fuel cells are powering buses, boats, trains, planes, scooters and bicycles.
Portable Power: Miniature fuel cells are on their way to market and will change the world as we know it. Fuel cells can serve as power sources for a limitless array of personal electronics. For instance, fuel cells will power laptop computers and palm pilots for hours longer than batteries. Fuel cells will enable you to talk much longer on a cellular phone without recharging. Other applications for miniature fuel cells include pagers, video recorders, portable power tools, and other devices such as hearing aids, smoke detectors and burglar alarms. These miniature fuel cells generally run on methanol, an inexpensive wood alcohol also used in windshield wiper fluid.
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