HHO for the RC guys!

[TomO]

I just saw this: Horizon Fuel Cell

I can't view the video they have of it from work, but it seems like a cool idea to try it out on RC cars!

It almost seems comical to me, seeing the little Hydrogen making factory and the little storage cells.

[Christ]

Well, it really is comical. No almost about it.

From what I gather, it's not really HHO, though. They're storing H2 in a fuel cell to make electricity to drive an electric motor, replacing batteries as the fuel source.

This begs the question though - Which one is really more efficient?

Lets say for a second that you have a 15kW/h H2 cell, and 15kW/h of NiMH batteries, both discharged to the same power level - which one would take more energy to charge back to full energy capacity?

[rgathright]

Originally Posted by Christ

Well, it really is comical. No almost about it.

From what I gather, it's not really HHO, though. They're storing H2 in a fuel cell to make electricity to drive an electric motor, replacing batteries as the fuel source.

This begs the question though - Which one is really more efficient?

Lets say for a second that you have a 15kW/h H2 cell, and 15kW/h of NiMH batteries, both discharged to the same power level - which one would take more energy to charge back to full energy capacity?

The whole Hydrogen obsession reminds me of marketing in the movie "Idiocracy".
"It's got electrolytes"!

[Christ]

Originally Posted by rgathright

The whole Hydrogen obsession reminds me of marketing in the movie "Idiocracy".
"It's got electrolytes"!

Hydrogen reintegration is actually a fairly efficient way of storing/making electrical energy, as far as I know.

As energy storage, it contains more energy per unit area than any battery currently in existence (except nanobatteries made from carbon nanotubes), isn't expensive to implement (unlike nanobatteries made from carbon nanotubes), and if clean energy is used to make it, it's clean, whether it's used as a combustion fuel or a reintegration fuel (fuel cells).

Hard to say for just about any other fuel, eh?