Professor Kevin Kendall FRS will talk on "
Hydrogen and Fuel Cells for Transport" at the Australian National University in Canberra, 11.00am 7 December 2012 in the
Leonard Huxley Lecture Theatre.
Distinguished Lecturer Prof Kevin Kendall FRS
Biography
Prof Kendall received his surface
physics PhD in the Cavendish Laboratory, Cambridge in 1970. After
post-docs in Monash and Akron he joined ICI in Runcorn to study polymers
and fine particles. 20 years later, he returned to Academe, first in
Keele, then in Birmingham in 2000 as Professor of Formulation
Engineering. He was elected FRS in 1993.
Abstract
HYDROGEN & FUEL CELLS FOR TRANSPORT-energy storage problem
Using hydrogen and fuel cells (HFCs) for transport should double the
efficiency and reduce emissions to zero, except for water vapour
exhaust. The most famous application is the NASA moon missions where
auxiliary power and drinking water were provided by a 10kW alkali
stack. Now that aircraft are going more electric, fuel cells are being
investigated but compressed hydrogen is shown to be poor in terms of
weight and volume. For large planes, liquid hydrogen is good, but for
small unmanned air vehicles (UAVs) propane is difficult to beat.
Ground transport includes forklifts, bikes, buses and cars.
Here the polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) is being tested
and progress is being made in performance, lifetime and cost. Lithium
ion batteries and supercapacitors are beneficial in hybrids. Compressed
hydrogen at 350 and 700 bar is the standard fuel at present. At
Birmingham, 5 HFC cars have been tested on campus since the first UK
hydrogen filling station was installed there by Prof Kendall in 2008.
The results show that the prototypes beat all combustion cars in fuel
economy, largely because of lightweight construction. Surprisingly, the
results fitted a Coulomb friction law line. Further improvement of the
drive train showed that these cars were ultimately better than all other
HFC cars. The race to market in 2015 is now taking place between the
major manufacturers
Tour Details:
Canberra on Friday 7th December 2012
Location: ANU
Leonard Huxley Lecture Theatre - Bld56, End of Mills Road, Acton
Time: 11.00am
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