2. Specifically, a material which can be used to provide power for an engine, combustor, power plant, nuclear reactor, etc.
3. Something consumed to produce energy.
4. A material such as wood, coal, gas, or oil burned to produce heat or power.
5. To provide with a combustible substance that provides energy.
6. Fissionable material used in a nuclear reactor.
7. Nutritive material metabolized by a living organism; food.
8. Something that maintains or stimulates an activity or an emotion: "His behavior was fueled by money."
9. Etymology: from Old French fouaille, fuaille, "bundle of firewood"; from Late Latin focalia, plural of focalis, "pertaining to the hearth"; from Latin focus, "hearth"(burning place, fire place).
2. Gas such as methane or liquid fuel such as ethanol (ethyl alcohol) made from organic waste material, usually by microbial action.
3. A renewable fuel, e.g., biodiesel, biogas, and methane, that is derived from biological matter.
2. A system which injects fuel into an engine and includes an electronic control unit to time and meter or measure the flow.
Fuel is delivered in intermittent pulses by the opening and closing of solenoid-controlled injectors.
Oil, natural gas, and coal are examples of fossil fuels.
Fuel cells differ from conventional electrical cells in that the active materials; such as, hydrogen and oxygen, are not contained within the cell, but are supplied from outside.
Here is a related article about Fuel Cells: The Future Source of Fuel Operations?
A general statement of this is based on the average mileage traveled per unit of fuel for a class of vehicles; for example, a certain car type in a given model year.
Fuel economy is most often measured by the distance a vehicle can travel with a given volume of fuel. In the U.S., fuel economy is measured in vehicle miles per gallon of fuel. In the European Union, liters per 100 kilometers is the preferred measure.
Not necessarily equivalent to fuel economy, in that one vehicle might have better technology and therefore be more efficient than another, but if it is much larger and heavier than the other vehicle, it would have poorer fuel economy.
It is also manufactured as a transportation fuel from biological feed stocks; such as, corn and sugarcane.
2. A hybrid fuel cell vehicle also derives drive motor power from a supplemental battery or ultracapacitor.
2. The use of a solar energy system to provide high-temperature process heat for the production of storable and transportable fuels; such as, the production of hydrogen from the thermal dissociation of water.
Fuels; such as, gasoline are made mostly of hydrocarbons (carbon and hydogen molecules).
The vehicle could be either a dedicated vehicle designed to operate exclusively on alternative fuel or a nondedicated vehicle designed to operate on alternative fuel and/or a traditional fuel.
Each fuel is stored in a separate tank.
Biodiesel fuels are typically made from oils; such as, soybeans, rapeseed, or sunflowers, or from animal tallow.
Biodiesel fuel can also be made from hydrocarbons derived from agricultural products: such as, rice hulls.
A fuel cell is similar to a large battery, but where a battery gradually runs down, a fuel cell runs continuously for as long as there is fuel in the tank.
The fuel injectors are valves that, at the appropriate times, open to allow fuel to be sprayed or atomized into a throttle bore or into the intake manifold ports.
The fuel injectors are usually solenoid operated valves under the control of the vehicle's on-board computer resulting in "electronic fuel injection".
The fuel efficiency of fuel injection systems is less temperature-dependent than carburetor systems. Diesel engines always use injectors.
Hydrogen is pumped into the cell from an on board tank, while the oxygen is taken from the air outside. Together they form steam, which is emitted through the car's exhaust.
Some car makers are putting a lot of time and effort into developing hybrid cars where the electric motors are powered by fuel cells.
Hydrogen is the most abundant element in the universe, but it is highly flammable; that is, it bursts into flames easily and as the lightest gas, it just floats away. Even so, it can be extracted from water, fossil fuels, and other substances.
The problem is to compress, or squeeze, hydrogen into a tank small enough to fit in a car. The tank can be topped off with hydrogen at refueling stations, but there are very few of such places available at this time.
The advantages and disadvantages of fuel-cell cars
- Fuel cells are reliable and make little noise since they have no moving parts.
- Water is the only thing emitted through the exhaust.
- Increasing the amount of electricity produced so the car has more power.
- Compressing and safely storing enough hydrogen into a small tank for hundreds of miles of driving.
- Making affordable cars which are now very expensive in that a fuel-cell system costs ten times more to make than a conventional engine.
In theory, electric-fuel-cell cars could be the answer for clean cars of the future:
There are a number of challenges still to be overcome: