This article excerpt is reprinted with permission from RV Companion Magazine, November/December 2003. For subscription information, click on http://www.rvcompanion.com/subscribe.htm

RV Frontiers

Hooray!
Fuel Cell RVing Soon!

by Billy Thibodeaux

It's just a matter of time before RVers will be enjoying the economic and ecological benefits of fuel cell technology. That's right, the often talked about but seldom understood electricity-generating technology will most likely be available to RVers before the rest of the world gets the chance to experience it. How? Los Angeles-based Clean Fuel Generation LLC (CFG) should be in a position to offer RV Fuel Cell Generators for our RVs by 2005. This summer, the company demonstrated a prototype 5,500-watt fuel cell generator to representatives of the RV industry.

The fuel cell technology in the CFG system utilizes a reformer, a device that allows the use of just about any hydrocarbon fuel as a hydrogen source. That means that just about any motor fuel from natural gas to ethanol could be used. If pure hydrogen were available, the reformer could be deleted; but since an ample hydrogen distribution system is still several years out, the reformer section is a necessary component of a present day fuel cell.

So what is a fuel cell? A fuel cell works like a battery in that it produces electricity from a chemical reaction. The difference is that a battery needs to be recharged to maintain its ability to produce electricity. A fuel cell, with its chemical ingredients stored outside of itself, will produce electricity as long as fuel is supplied to it. The modem day fuel cell consists of several components that combine together to output electricity to run our RV appliances.

Fuel Supply: as a fuel source, the CFG fuel cell uses LP gas, already an integral part of every RV and readily available through a large distribution system. Propane gas is fed to the unit through conventional plumbing where it is sent to the next component, the reformer.

Fuel Reformer: the fuel reformer converts the fuel supply into a necessary hydrogen-rich fuel.

Purifier: The purifier module does just what the name implies, further purifies the hydrogen fuel. This type of fuel cell, the Proton Exchange Membrane, is very sensitive to impurities that will dramatically shorten the life of the fuel stack. This is the equivalent of the air filter of an engine. If dirt gets in, the engine's life will be very short.

Fuel Cell Stack: This is where the business is done. The fuel stack is where hydrogen is fed to one end at the Anode, while oxygen/air is fed to the other at the Cathode. The two combine to produce electricity, heat and water. With current components and this configuration, outputs of 1 to 10 kw [and more] are possible.

So what's the big deal? Fuel cells are very efficient in that they are capable of producing power with a lot less fuel consumption than an internal combustion engine generator; and the only by-products of the fuel cell are heat and water. A very good engine-powered generator is, more or less, 10% efficient. For every 10,000 BTUs of energy you introduce, which is about the content of one gallon of LP gas, you get about 1,000 BTUs worth of power generated. A fuel cell is about 40% efficient; and when you factor in co-generation, the ability to heat the coach, heat water and replenish fresh water, the efficiency rises to between 60-80%. Fuel cells also produce power via a chemical reaction of the fuel, not the burning of it; so toxic emissions are all but eliminated. The units are virtually silent, too; the only noise is the gentle whir of the cooling fan and the water pump.

I am very excited about this technology and the impact it will have on our industry. CFG is intent on being the first company to commercially produce fuel cells, and the RV industry is an ideal place to introduce the rest of the world to this cutting edge technology. Stay tuned for more developments. With beta testing scheduled to start next year, I'll do my best to get more involved in helping to get this technology to work for us.