How Gas Leaks Stop Fuel Cells and What To Do
Image:
Flickr, David Tolnem
Is Your Gas Leaking?
What does natural gas smell like? If you said, “rotten eggs,” think again. Natural gas is completely odorless. The stink that alerts you to a leaky stove or bad connection on the barbecue grill is an additive. The sulfur-based additive is put in natural gas on purpose, to avoid the countless deaths and destruction that undetected gas leaks would otherwise cause. But the sulfur additive is poison to fuel cells. Currently, fuel cell manufacturers have to use a filter to remove the sulfur compound.
Removal is inefficient: why add a thing just to take it out a…