Tech Directions- October 2008

From Gas Guzzler to Energy Producer PARK & EARN HEN I was a kid, I was fortunate to have had a father who could ﬁx anything. Dad developed his skills growing up on a farm during the Great Depression, ﬁxing all sorts of machinery and automobiles. Later, he became a diesel mechanic in the navy during World War II and later a master mechanic at a bus transportation company. Dad and I built a basement workshop where he taught himself radio and television repair. My career as an engineer began in that workshop, and now I have my own workshop, complete with the tools Dad left me. On weekends, Dad and I did lots of repair jobs, but one stands out very clearly because it later led to two of my best patents, Method for Generating Electrical Power from Fuel Cell Powered Cars Parked in a Conventional Parking Lot (Patent No. 5,767,584) and Methods for Utilizing the Electrical and Non Electrical Outputs of Fuel Cell Powered Vehicles (Patent No. 6,107,691). While we were maintaining the family car one day, Dad gave me a lesson that showed that cars are actually rolling power plants. To demonstrate this, he told me to listen to how the engine slowed down as he added electrical loads to it, like turning on the headlights, or disconHarry T. Roman is an electrical engineer, inventor, writer, and strong supporter of technology education. The Amazing Potential of Fuel Cell Cars By Harry T. Roman htroman49@aol.com necting the battery and reconnecting it again. “This is the same thing that happens in a power plant when all those homes and businesses turn their appliances and air conditioners on,” he explained. “More fuel must be added to the boilers to make more steam, so the turbine can spin the generator at the same speed and the lights will not grow dim.” He also mentioned that the ship he had served on in the very interesting when several invention partners and I got together to redeﬁne how electricity might be generated in the future. Let me explain our inventing idea with a little technology and math. W Cars as Power Plants We’ll start with the electric power needs of a house. A typical home can demand about 3-5 kilowatt (kW) of power. A kW is 1,000 watts (W), and, Image from author’s patent “Method for Utilizing the Electrical and Non Electrical Outputs of Fuel Cell Powered Vehicles.” navy worked basically the same way, as a ﬂoating power plant. It had been his job to operate and repair the huge engines that powered the ship. That summertime lesson, almost 50 years ago, stayed with me for years and blossomed into something thus, 3-5 kW is 3,000-5,000 W. A light bulb is generally about 40-100 W in size, a color TV may use 200 W, and a refrigerator perhaps 400-500 W. An air conditioner could demand in excess of 700-1,000 W. Every year, automakers put a huge 16 techdirections ◆ OCTOBER 2008

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Tech Directions- October 2008

Tech Directions Technically Speaking Contents Direct from Washington The Report Technology's Past Technology Today Mastering Computers Automotive Power and Energy Technology Education Career Directions Electronics Special Feature More than fun

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.