Accession No
6081
Brief Description
Bacon hydrogen-oxygen fuel cell electrode, of the design used for the Apollo space missions, by Clevite Corporation (for Pratt and Whitney Aircraft), U.S.A., 1965
Origin
U.S.A; Ohio; Cleveland
Maker
Clevite Corporation Pratt and Whitney United Aircraft Corporation Francis Thomas [Tom] Bacon [designer]
Class
physics; chemistry; engineering
Earliest Date
1959
Latest Date
1965
Inscription Date
1965
Material
metal (nickel; nickel oxide); plastic; teflon; ceramic
Dimensions
diameter 286mm
Special Collection
Provenance
Transferred via a private individual at the Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Cambridge on or before 30/06/2006. Cell presented to Francis T. Bacon, the inventor of this type of fuel cell design, by Clevite Corporation, Cleveland Ohio, September 23, 1965.
Inscription
[engraved on back of cell]
‘66/F
607048-147 HYDROGEN
317F 50827-29’
[plaque fixed to obverse of cell]
‘Presented to Francis T. Bacon by Clevite Corporation, Cleveland Ohio, September 23, 1965’
[separate plaque on stand]
‘Project Apollo - Fuel Cell Electrode
produced by
Clevite Corporation
Aerospace Division
for
Pratt & Whitney Aircraft Division
United Aircraft Corporation’
Description Notes
Bacon hydrogen-oxygen fuel cell electrode, of the design used for the Apollo space missions, by Clevite Corporation (for Pratt & Whitney Aircraft), U.S.A., 1965.
Nickel/nickel oxide disk with 4 inlet/outlet tubes, connected to central chamber containing hydrogen-oxygen fuel cell membrane.
White on black plastic plaque fixed to obverse of cell, that reads:
‘Presented to Francis T. Bacon by Clevite Corporation, Cleveland Ohio, September 23, 1965’
Also separate white on black plastic plaque fixed to wooden stand, that reads:
‘Project Apollo - Fuel Cell Electrode
produced by
Clevite Corporation
Aerospace Division
for
Pratt & Whitney Aircraft Division
United Aircraft Corporation’
condition: good
References
Events
Description
In 1839 Sir William Grove proposed the idea that the chemical reaction between hydrogen and oxygen could be harnessed to produce electricity. It was not until the chemical engineer Francis Thomas [Tom] Bacon returned to the idea in the 1930s, however, that a workable hydrogen-oxygen fuel cell began to be developed. After initially working privately on his research, Bacon secured Electrical Research Association funding in 1946, moving to the Department of Chemical Engineering in Cambridge to head a team to develop his design. By the late 1950s Bacon had designed a working cell, in which hydrogen and oxygen were mixed at high temperature and pressure in an alkaline electrolyte to produce water and electricity. Interest in the technology was not forthcoming from UK industry, however, and it was U.S. aeronautics firm Pratt and Whitney that licensed Bacon’s design and continued to develop a practical fuel cell.
With Bacon’s design in hand, Pratt and Whitney successfully won a $100 million contract from NASA to develop the fuel cells for the Apollo Moon landing program. Bacon’s cell was perfect for spacecraft, as it used the same fuel, liquid hydrogen and oxygen, as the Apollo craft used for propulsion. It also produced water as its exhaust product, which could be used for both drinking by the crew and humidification of the capsule’s atmosphere.
Clevite Corporation (who made the Apollo cells under license for Pratt and Whitney) presented this example of the cell to Bacon in 1965 in recognition of his work. On a later visit Bacon made to the United States, President Nixon is purported to have put his arm around Bacon’s shoulders and said “Without you Tom, we wouldn't have gotten to the Moon.”
17/07/2009
Created by: Joshua Nall on 17/07/2009
FM:46550
Images (Click to view full size):
