Hydrogen Fuel Cell Bicycle

[sonny]

While we're going to have to keep waiting for fuel cell cars here in America, it's possible that China will be able to create a hydrogen refueling infrastructure more easily than the rest of the world. The reason? Well, because rather than retrofitting existing stations they mainly have to choose which fueling stations to build. So while GM is planning on selling hydrogen cars there, a much smaller company, Pearl Hydrogen, is making hydrogen bikes.

Unfortunately, the bike is still far too expensive for its proposed market, but representatives are saying that the price should drop from $2500 to $500 when they go to mass production. The bikes speed along at 15 mph for 60 miles and, when they run out of fuel, they can be ridden like a normal bike.

Unfortunately, that might be the default state, as the hydrogen infrastructure currently doesn't exist. In any case, it's better than a two-stroke moped.

Hydrogen Fuel Cell Bicycle : Yahoo! Green

 

[paul]

looks pretty interesting. here is a picture of the hydro bike

 

[Pablo]

Cool - note the rear kickstand!

 

[MadC]

looks pretty interesting. here is a picture of the hydro bike

This is basically like sitting on a bomb... hydrogen tanks in the back? yup... it's a bomb...

we need on demand hyrdrogen production through electrolisis... and this is possible to create on a 4 stroke engine...


I will attempt this for I have a chopper trike I just bought for $100.00, fixer upper...

I was going to try it witha 2 stroke engine, but I doubt it is possible because of the oil/gas mix needed...

anybody know of propane style hook ups to a 2 stroke engine might be able to supplement the propane for hydrogen

 

[Tad Bit Tipsy]

Why are we just not going to compressed air. If some one can build an efficient air powered hub system, a decent scuba tank or smaller multiple tanks should be fine for this kind of range, and all you have to do is pull over to a gas station and use their compressor to fill up. Or better yet, have exchangeable tanks like they do propane. My 2 cents, L8R.

 

[MadC]

Why are we just not going to compressed air. If some one can build an efficient air powered hub system, a decent scuba tank or smaller multiple tanks should be fine for this kind of range, and all you have to do is pull over to a gas station and use their compressor to fill up. Or better yet, have exchangeable tanks like they do propane. My 2 cents, L8R.

you wouldn't get far at all on compressed air..

with hydrogen on demand you could just stop at a lake or water fountain and get more water.

 

[Tad Bit Tipsy]

That thing doesn't make it own hydrogen. It only runs off tanks. You'd have to build a pretty big bike to fit a water to hydrogen conversion, but they are working on it for some trucks/vans/big rigs. The problem is size verses output, to get the kind of hydrogen output for even a bike fuel cell, over half the bike would have to be the electrolysis setup. By the time you add the water tank and a fuel cell, that's a heavy bike. Believe me, I worked to design something like this for a sailboat, to replace the diesel with an electric engine and run it off of a fuel cell system that got hydrogen from electrolysis through my water tank system, but by the time I added all the system, tanks and extra water tanks... too heavy and bulky to fit, even in a 42 ft three masted schooner.

 

[MadC]

That thing doesn't make it own hydrogen. It only runs off tanks. You'd have to build a pretty big bike to fit a water to hydrogen conversion, but they are working on it for some trucks/vans/big rigs. The problem is size verses output, to get the kind of hydrogen output for even a bike fuel cell, over half the bike would have to be the electrolysis setup. By the time you add the water tank and a fuel cell, that's a heavy bike. Believe me, I worked to design something like this for a sailboat, to replace the diesel with an electric engine and run it off of a fuel cell system that got hydrogen from electrolysis through my water tank system, but by the time I added all the system, tanks and extra water tanks... too heavy and bulky to fit, even in a 42 ft three masted schooner.

now if you read what I said, down below..

This is basically like sitting on a bomb... hydrogen tanks in the back? yup... it's a bomb...

we need on demand hyrdrogen production through electrolisis... and this is possible to create on a 4 stroke engine...


I will attempt this for I have a chopper trike I just bought for $100.00, fixer upper...

I was going to try it witha 2 stroke engine, but I doubt it is possible because of the oil/gas mix needed...

anybody know of propane style hook ups to a 2 stroke engine might be able to supplement the propane for hydrogen

there is a way to produce hydrogen safely from electricity... I've already done it in my shed with hydrogen torches.

with a 12v battery it can be done.. the engine on a 2 stroke bicycle only has 6v outage, so you would need more power basically to produce the hydrogen.

google it.. (youtube video it too)

 

[Tad Bit Tipsy]

Uh, I'm not an idiot. Try this out for size, you could hook this up, needs 15w.
Electrolyzer 65 - Hydrogen Production - Electroyzers - Fuel Cell Store

 

[Tad Bit Tipsy]

These are the components se started installing on the boat, until we realized we'd have to take away a whole sleeping cabin for it all, lol.
H-5000 Fuel Cell System - Fuel Cell Store

HOGEN S10 - Hydrogen Generator - Hydrogen Production - Electroyzers - Fuel Cell Store

The fuel cell store is great, also installed a few systems that run off solar power at a few houses,not only can they use the fuel cells at night but the owners can run hydrogen products from the tank system, no cars yet, but a tractor and mowers!!!

 

[Kevlarr]

Believe me, I worked to design something like this for a sailboat, to replace the diesel with an electric engine and run it off of a fuel cell system that got hydrogen from electrolysis through my water tank system, but by the time I added all the system, tanks and extra water tanks... too heavy and bulky to fit, even in a 42 ft three masted schooner.

Wait, water tanks in a sailboat that's sitting in......WATER???!!!!

 

[Tad Bit Tipsy]

Yes, sea water, we had a converter for salt to fresh drinking water, but it wasn't distilled quality, you still had to distill it, just another piece of equipment. Hence the abandonment of the project. The owner of the boat went with and electric drive and battery bank, charged by wind and solar that we installed. Much better system if you ask me, but up until the boat started filling up with hydrogen equipment, he was throwing money at it, lol. I still got paid a ton. Ha ha ha ha, that's me laughing all the way to the bank.

 

[Kevlarr]

The biggest problem with fuel cell cars is it takes way more energy to make hydrogen then you get out of it. Where's the power going to come from to produce hydrogen? The power grid. So how is a state like California that can barely produce enough electricity for it's current demand going to deal with the huge power drain when say even 25% of the population has a hydrogen fuel cell car? That's the dirty little secret that no one wants to talk about but ask any engineer involved in fuel cell automobile development and they'll tell you. The government is bankrolling a technology that we have no way of supporting.

 

[Tad Bit Tipsy]

Kev, You hit the nail on the head. Until we find more alternative sources to create that energy its still just "burning coal through the night" as we used to call it. Hopefully the South Koreans will have fusion down in the next 50 years, if we don't screw up the planet before then, but with the way things are going here in the gulf, I just don't know anymore.

 

[corgi1]

The hydrogen torch thing would be useful in a ICE engine, producing hydrogen is easy enough but to use it in the electric (PEM ?)cells to make electric power the hydrogen cannot be contaminated w/other gases or it will mess up the fuel cell,and the tanks on the bike are no more a bomb than propane

 

[gadger.hunter]

Hydrogen can be picked up at any www.praxair.com or www.airgas.com locations. Thousands locations available worldwide. Hydrogen stored in a metal hydride tank is safe and won't explode if dropped. Fuel cell energy for electric bicycle is here.