Students take fuel cells for a test drive

The race between a pair of hydrogen fuel-cell model cars Wednesday at Orcutt Academy High School wasn’t exactly a competition of speed and endurance.

The cars needed about 10 seconds to cover roughly 6 feet.

But it was exciting for the students who built the cars.

“This thing is like Dale Earnhardt compared to Kurt Busch, I guess,” said Blake Chaney, obviously an Earnhardt fan and exaggerating his car’s speed.

Chaney, along with Audrey Welsh, Lexi Zamora, Kaylee Gauna and Courtney Sullivan, were the pit crew for the winning car, which managed a victory lap before running out of energy.

The project in Ty Fredriks’ freshman earth-science class was done in partnership with the Endeavour Academies, an educational division of Space Information Laboratories, which provides science and technological curriculum and assistance to member schools.

Orcutt Academy High is one of four Endeavour Academies on the Central Coast, joining Paso Robles High, Templeton Middle School and Templeton High.

The race was only the culmination of the project. Learning the science behind the propulsion and building the cars provided the insight.

The model cars utilize a reversible proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell that combines electrolysis and power conversion into one device.

Students used a solar cell or battery to initiate the conversion, as oxygen and hydrogen gases are formed from distilled water. As the gases join, the cars are powered.

“It’s good to be able to do it yourself instead of just watching it,” said student K.C. Van Solinge.

  Hands-on science is what Fredriks’ Mission to Planet Earth Science classes are all about.

With 88 students in all, the three earth science classes unify the study of contemporary issues such as global warming, development of alternative fuels and conservation of natural resources.

“Energy usage is a big thing right now,” Fredriks said.

So is reducing emissions from the estimated 246 million cars on U.S. roads. Fredriks said the neat thing about hydrogen fuel cell vehicles is their only emission is a little water vapor.

There are several developmental and technical issues involved in turning model cars into passenger vehicles, though. Limited range and making highly compressed pure hydrogen fuel readily available are just two.

“These are essentially electric cars,” Fredriks explained. “The cool thing about this is nothing is perfect. Everything, every technology, has its pros and cons.”

Students discovered many of those cons first hand.

Not all of the models worked and, like some old, classic cars, they required a lot of tinkering to get rolling.

In the first run of the race, one car didn’t get off the starting line. But that didn’t stop Fredriks’ students from focusing on the possibilities of fuel-cell vehicles.

“If some people want to build cars in the future, you can build them to save energy,” said 14-year-old Nina Uvalle.

Posted in Education on Thursday, March 4, 2010 12:00 am | Tags:

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