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Fuel Cells, Liquid/Wet Cells and Dry Cells As you probably know there are many different types of battery available, all designed to provide power for different applications. You may have heard different terms used like Dry cell, Liguid or Wet cell and Fuel cell do describe different constructions of batteries. Here is a guide to these different terms providing a little history and information of what the batteries are used for. The Fuel Cell After the development of the Voltaic pile in the early 1800s, research intensified into the possibility of devices which could provide electrical power. Different metals and chemicals were experimented in to find which would provide the best energy output in the most efficient format. In 1839, William Robert Grove, a Welsh judge, inventor and physicist, developed the first Fuel cell; he found a mix of hydrogen and oxygen together with the presence of an electrolyte, produced, electricity and water. Initially it did not provide enough electricity to be useful and it wasn’t until the 1920’s when fuel cell research in Germany paved the way to the development of the carbonate cycle and solid oxide fuel cells of today. Fuel cells are an inexhaustible environmentally safe source of energy however because of the high cost of manufacture these types of cells are not widely used. At the moment, Fuel cells provide power for Space Shuttle’s and are the batteries used to power the electric powered cars currently being developed. The cost of manufacture of Fuel cells is decreasing and more and more money is being made available into Fuel cell research. There are plans for the next 10 – 20 years to introduce many more electrical powered vehicles because of the increasing concern over the state of the environment. Much more work needs to be done before fuel cell operated vehicles become a viable option over existing petrol and diesel powered cars however the future looks bright for a technology that has been with us for over 150 years but is only now beginning to make an impact on the modern world. Understand how a fuel cell works Liquid or Wet Cell In the 1860s a man by the name of George Lenlanch of France developed a carbon-zinc battery; a wet cell with electrodes (a zinc anode and cathode made up of crished manganese dioxide with a bit of cardon) placed into a free moving liquid electrolyte (made of ammonium chloride): This was a primary battery, in 1859 Gaston Plante invented the Lead acid battery, a secondary rechargeable battery which is the most common wet cell battery in use today. You will probably have one in your car, and it is still used in transport applications such as cars, bikes and marine vehicles. These types of battery provide large voltages and relatively high currents providing a long shelf life, and have remained relatively unchanged since their invention nearly 150 years ago. Research into these batteries today is generally to improve safety and performance life. Understand how a wet cell works Dry Cell The first dry cell was developed from the wet cell battery in 1888 by Dr Carl Gassner; he used an outer zinc can which served as both a container and as the negative electrode. The positive electrode, a carbon rod, was immersed into a manganese dioxide/carbon black mixture forming a paste or gel which does not spill, hence the term Dry cell. These cells could be made much smaller than both Fuel and Wet cells were more easily transportable and less volatile. The dry cell battery is the most common battery used today, standard AA, AAA, D cells etc are all dry cells. Over the years different chemicals were experimented in to produce cells with different characteristics of voltage and capacity. In 1899 the first rechargeable dry cell battery was invented using Nickel Cadmium which is still used today however is being replaced with the more environmentally friendly Nickel-Hydride battery. Thomas Edison the world famous inventor of the Light Bulb, paved the way for the development of the modern alkaline battery in the early part of the 20th century, however it wasn’t until 1949 when Lew Urry developed the Alkaline (Zinc manganese dioxide) battery seen today. They were a vast improvement on the previous zinc-carbon batteries lasting up to 8 times longer. The most recent developments have been in the use of Lithium in battery technology providing greater performance than other battery technologies. |
