Tigergen I utilizes hydrogen fuel cells
May 9, 2008
Sophomore Brian Satzinger works on a power control circuit board for a hydrogen car on Thursday in Engineering Building West. Satzinger is a first-year member of the Mizzou Hydrogen Car Team.
A hydrogen fuel cell car built by MU students will drive across the continent in an effort to promote greater understanding of alternative fuel use technology.
The Mizzou Hydrogen Car Team will introduce its car, Tigergen I, at the North American Solar Challenge July 13. In the nine-day event, university-built alternative fuel cars to drive 2,400 miles from Dallas, Texas, to Calgary, Alberta.
Tigergen I will be the first hydrogen fuel cell car MU has entered in an exhibition requiring the usage of alternative fuels.
Hydrogen Car Team faculty adviser Richard Whelove said the team decided to make a hydrogen fuel cell car after anticipating a possible rule change in the NASC. He said the team was looking forward to their challenge this summer with their new car.
“They are really excited,” Whelove said. “They are working really hard right now. The car is not quite complete, but they anticipate it to be complete with plenty of time for testing.”
Since the NASC places primary focus on cars powered by solar energy, the Tigergen I will participate in the challenge as a part of its demonstration category.
NASC Director Dan Eberle said hydrogen cars were allowed to participate in the challenge because the use of hydrogen is closely related to the use of solar energy.
“Hydrogen is one of those methods of transferring energy from one source to another that can make solar light an applicable energy source for fuel,” Eberle said.
In order to participate, Eberle said teams with non-solar cars had to tell the NASC how their car met the criteria of the challenge.
“The University of Missouri was one of those groups who said, ‘We would like to bring ours along, here is why,’ and we agreed with their case,” Eberle said.
Hydrogen Car Team President Chris Millner explained that Tigergen I is powered by chemical reactions within the car’s fuel cell.
He said chemical components are mixed to create electricity, which will in turn power the car.
“Compressed hydrogen gas is fed into (the fuel cell) and it combines with oxygen from the air inside of the fuel cell,” Millner said.
Millner estimates the Tigergen I may be able to average up to 600 miles per tank of hydrogen fuel. He said he hopes MU’s car will attract other universities to build cars that utilize hydrogen fuel cells.
“Our main hope for this event would be to get some other colleges or engineering schools involved with hydrogen car races, and actually get a race set up kind of on the same level as solar cars,” Millner said.
Every major automobile maker has a substantial alternative fuel cell program, Millner said.
But he said the lack of fueling stations offering hydrogen nationwide have substantially cut down on the usage of hydrogen fuel cell cars.
Whelove said he believes cars powered on hydrogen will be used more in the future. He said the cars will become more popular when the public understands how much easier they are to construct than bio-fuel cars.
“Automobiles with internal combustion engines do not need a lot of modifications to be able to use hydrogen as the primary fuel,” Whelove said.
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