fuel cell stack from electric motorbike
date: label: date made
content: 1967
name: label: maker
content: Union Carbide
notes: label: Description (Brief)
content: Alkali fuel cell from a motorbike modified by Karl Kordesch (1922-2011) in 1967 to demonstrate the durability of fuel cells. A plastic housing containing 12 sets of plates. A connecting block on top is set between a plastic ell and a Fisher Scientific Co. temperature gauge (scaled for 0 to 100 C). The end of the block nearest the gauge is marked "+". Another plastic ell is set on the front, and three plastic ports are on the bottom along with a wax(?) coated connector block. On port is linked to 12 thin tubes, presumably one for each set of plates. Name plate on side: "Union Carbide".
label: Description (Brief)
content: Fuel cells, like batteries, generate direct current electricity through chemical action. First developed in 1839, they combine hydrogen and oxygen to make electricity, emitting water and heat as byproducts. Several types exist and their operational details vary in important ways. Alkali cells are one of the major types, and have been used in spacecraft and in many experimental devices. The motorbike was donated to a museum in Kordesch's native Vienna, Austria in 2005.
label: Description (Brief)
content: Reference: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Puch_MS_25_with_hydrazine-air_fuel_cell,_Technisches_Museum_Wien.jpg.
label: Description (Brief)
content: Smithsonian Science Service photo 059-006: https://web.archive.org/web/20090413091841/http://scienceservice.si.edu/pages/059006.htm.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
setName: label: See more items in
content: Work and Industry: Electricity
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of Martin E. Kordesch
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 2023.0106.02
label: accession number
content: 2023.0106
label: catalog number
content: 2023.0106.02
objectType: label: Object Name
content: fuel cell
physicalDescription: label: Measurements
content: overall: 10 3/4 in x 12 in x 4 1/2 in; 27.305 cm x 30.48 cm x 11.43 cm