BrianS
19-12-2001, 01:56 PM
A chemical cousin of laundry detergent could make clean-running cars and trucks a reality, if a new fuel-cell concept vehicle from the Chrysler side of DaimlerChrysler AG proves its worth, Reuters reported.
Chrysler said its Natrium concept minivan pairs a hydrogen powered fuel cell with a novel fuel storage system that uses borax, the active ingredient in many detergents. The setup offers a way around some vexing problems that have hindered the development of hydrogen-powered fuel cell vehicles, which hold the promise of pollution-free transportation.
"The most important unresolved issue with fuel cell vehicles is not the fuel cell – it's the fuel," said Thomas Moore, head of Chrysler's Liberty research and development group, in a statement released Tuesday.
Fuel cells use hydrogen to produce electricity with only heat and water as byproducts. Automakers are spending billions of dollars on the theory that fuel cells will eventually replace polluting internal combustion engines as power sources in cars and trucks.
Most automakers have also said it would be at least a decade before fuel-cell vehicles are common, in part because of the problems with storing and using highly flammable hydrogen. Concepts from General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and other companies either use "reformers" to extract hydrogen from liquid fuels or try to store pure hydrogen in large, high-pressure tanks.
Both methods have drawbacks in cost, weight and size. Reformers require either gasoline or methanol and produce some pollution on their own. And the driving range of fuel cell concept vehicles so far has been about half or less of vehicles with production like these.
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Chrysler said its Natrium concept minivan pairs a hydrogen powered fuel cell with a novel fuel storage system that uses borax, the active ingredient in many detergents. The setup offers a way around some vexing problems that have hindered the development of hydrogen-powered fuel cell vehicles, which hold the promise of pollution-free transportation.
"The most important unresolved issue with fuel cell vehicles is not the fuel cell – it's the fuel," said Thomas Moore, head of Chrysler's Liberty research and development group, in a statement released Tuesday.
Fuel cells use hydrogen to produce electricity with only heat and water as byproducts. Automakers are spending billions of dollars on the theory that fuel cells will eventually replace polluting internal combustion engines as power sources in cars and trucks.
Most automakers have also said it would be at least a decade before fuel-cell vehicles are common, in part because of the problems with storing and using highly flammable hydrogen. Concepts from General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and other companies either use "reformers" to extract hydrogen from liquid fuels or try to store pure hydrogen in large, high-pressure tanks.
Both methods have drawbacks in cost, weight and size. Reformers require either gasoline or methanol and produce some pollution on their own. And the driving range of fuel cell concept vehicles so far has been about half or less of vehicles with production like these.
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