On Thu, Apr 24, 2008 at 12:53 PM, Robert Holtzman wrote: > On Wed, 23 Apr 2008, Technomage-hawke wrote: > > > ok, > > I know some of you are engineering types. > > > > I am starting to look at the idea of home building a fuel cell here that can > > power my machines "off the grid" if need be. I am not worried about the fuel > > source itself (hydrogen can be easily got with some solar cells, graphic > > electrodes and starage media). What I am worried about is this: > > > > 1. Building one cheaply > > 2. available materials (preferably from lowe's or home depot) with the > > exception of the electrolytic material and possibly the catalyst materials) > > 3. a method of containment (A good quality housing that will keep the 2 parts > > of the fuel seperate until introduced into the catalyzing chamber) > > Hydrogen is hard to store in the gaseous state. The extremely small > molecular size makes it possible for leaks to occur thru openings too > small to pass molecules of other gases. Any such leaks are tough to detect > until too late (i.e. kaboom!). Think exploding car batteries due to too > rapid charging causing hydrogen buildup. > > I'm not trying to discourage you but be VEEEERRRRYYYY careful and do a lot > of research on handling and storing hydrogen. > Is this from personal experience, or is this just a repeat of a movie brought to you by OPEC? the fact is there are already public vehicles that run on hydrogen. I think the case for a hydrogen based economy has already been made. -jmz -- - http://www.joshuazeidner.com/ --------------------------------------------------- PLUG-discuss mailing list - PLUG-discuss@lists.plug.phoenix.az.us To subscribe, unsubscribe, or to change your mail settings: http://lists.PLUG.phoenix.az.us/mailman/listinfo/plug-discuss