internal combustion engine,

 internal combustion engine,

An internal combustion engine, commonly known as (ICE) is a heat engine where the combustion of a fuel in an oxidizer. The combustion takes place inside a chamber, which is an integral step of working fluid within the whole circuit. The engine gains energy from the heat that is released during the combustion of the oxidizer fuel mixture. The useful work that is generated through the use o an internal combustion engine results from hot gaseous products that act on the moving surfaces like a nozzle, turbine blade, or even a piston (Poran & Tartakovsky, 2017). The internal combustion engines are broadly applied within power generating machines or devices, for example, diesel engines, gas turbine engines, rockets, and gasoline engines.

On the other hand, the fuel cell is simply an electrochemical cell that transforms or converts the chemical energy of the fuel, mostly hydrogen into electricity. For this conversion to take place, there must-have pair of redox reactions happening. A fuel cell has two electrodes, which are known as anode and cathode. The redox reactions which produce electricity takes place at these electrodes (Karande & Waghmare, 2018). The fuel cell uses hydrogen as the primary cell, but they also require oxygen. It is among many concerns, which is making it more preferable compared to the internal combustion engine in matters relating to environmental protection.

Recent research has shown that advancements in the zero-emission fuel cells could lead to the technology being cheap enough in replacing traditional gasoline engines. All vehicles make use of internal combustion engines, which, in a way, is inefficient due to the cost and also unfriendly to the environment. As one way of solving that challenge, the researchers have come up with a new fuel cell that could last ten times longer than the current technology (Bae & Kim, J2017). It is an invention which could bring economic aspect in practical and through its mass production, it can lead to massive powering of vehicles with electricity. Initially, the researchers concentrated on hybrid vehicles which have gas engines and also batteries due to the concerns of limited driving range and even long charging times. The existing fuel cells could only replace gas engines theoretically since they could power generators to recharge batteries while the vehicles are still in operation (Zhang at el, 2019). However, the process is impractical due to the high cost. The researchers solved that problem through deigning fuel cells which is much far durable and also delivering constant instead of the fluctuating amount of electricity.

It is noted that fuel cells use hydrogen and oxygen to produce electricity during a reaction of combining hydrogen and oxygen. The byproduct of this reaction is water, which is simpler and therefore cheaper. It is a method of lowering costs while still satisfying the durability and expectations of performance. Besides, it is also aiding in meeting the economic targets while still providing zero emissions for transport applications. The researchers are hoping to introduce the fuel cells in hybrid vehicles, which will extensively lead to mass production and lower the unit costs (Karande & Waghmare, 2018). It could be a channel of paving the way for replacement of both gas engines and batteries in vehicles and providing an affordable, dependable, safe, as well as a very clean source of electric power. Furthermore, it could be an invention that leads to answering challenges results from internal combustion engines.

Internal combustion engines are widely applicable in the industrious sector and also the transportation sector. In a way, they have recorded some considerable level of inefficient an aspect which is making researchers advance on fuel cells. As per comparison now, the fuel cells are very far much ahead compared to the use of the internal combustion engine. Some of the criteria which are used to assess comparison are discussed as follows. The first assessment shows that fuel cells have higher efficiency compared to the gas engines and the diesel engine. The efficacy is evaluated by measuring the rate of conversion of output produced about the input. The fuel cells have more than 80.0% efficiency level compared to the internal combustion engine, which usually operates at 25.0%. The efficiency of fuel cells shows that there is minimal wastage, but that of the internal combustion engine indicates a lot of energy is wasted during conversion. Generally, the considerable efficiency is a clear indication that fuel cells create much more energy.

The next assessment is about the noise produced while operating using the fuel cells and the internal combustion engines. Most of the fuel cells operate silently as opposed to internal combustion engines. One aspect which makes internal combustion engines to be noisy is that there are several parts which involve mechanical movements and displacements (Gubarev et al., 2018). That is one of the reasons why they have low efficiency since most of the energy is used in moving the parts, and it is also consumed by friction. Besides, that aspect of noise makes them unsuitable in places such as hospitals. On the other hand, fuel cells use a series of redox reactions, and therefore it does not require to have complicated parts. It is an aspect that results in the fuel cells being silent and also producing more electrical energy due to the higher conversion rate.

The next assessment of comparison concerns with emission rates. Internal combustion engines use fossil fuels, and when they are burned, they produce gases such as CO2. On the other hand, fuel cells use hydrogen to generate electricity, and when hydrogen is consumed, it produces heat and water (Gubarev et al., 2018). The inferences are that if the fuel cell technology is used rather than traditional fuels in cars, then there could have a significant reduction of CO2 being created and released to the atmosphere. Furthermore, the byproduct coming from burning hydrogen in the fuel cell has of further use in homes and also in industries. It is a concern that is creating interest in the usage of fuel cells since it gives a product that is beneficial to the environment as compared to fossil fuels, which releases harmful gas in the space. The aspect of zero-emission is also playing a significant role in ensuring that fuel cells are replacing ICE.

Another aspect of comparison concerns with finding the long-lasting solution of power supply. Currently, electric cars have a battery that needs to be recharged regularly. Charging of this battery sometimes takes hours, which in a way can affect transportation. With the usage of fuel cells, there could not need recharging as long s there is a constant supply of hydrogen (Karande & Waghmare, 2018). It is a scenario which suggests that instead of the car be filled with petrol in the station, and they could be filled up with hydrogen. It is a way of making it possible for vehicles to be driven for a much longer distance than cars with rechargeable batteries.

An important aspect that also compares the fuel cells and internal combustion engine is the security of the nation in terms of economic independence. It is commonly known that oil is among the expensive commodities within the international market, and it heavily dictates the economy of a country. If a country is using the internal combustion engines in its industrial sector and transportation sector, then it needs to have its oil. If otherwise, then it has to depend on the oil-producing countries, which at times increase the prices of fossil products. At that juncture, countries suffer inflation since the increase in the cost of oil has far-reaching consequences in the economy. The state may be forced to use more resources to import that oil to avoid stagnating its economy. By doing so, it poses threats to its economy and a situation that can lead to depression of the economy (Karande & Waghmare, 2018). However, through adopting the use of fuel cells, such worries can be eliminated since the country will not depend on the oil-producing country.

The last aspect of the comparison of the internal combustion engine and fuel cells concerns the renewable nature of the fuel cells. The hydrogen fuel cells can categorize as the renewable source of energy if the hydrogen is produced by renewable energy, for example, wind power. Another method of producing hydrogen without a polluting environment is through the use of solar power, which can be used in fuel cells. If the hydrogen can be harvested at abundant through these methods, then it can be stored and used in fuel cells at a continuous rate (Karande & Waghmare, 2018). On the other hand, the fossils used in internal combustion engines are not renewable. It is a criterion that justifies the replacement of the internal combustion engine with fuel cells.