Kona in charge

I got a cross bike! Kona Major Jake. I've got most of the cockpit assembled, but am still waiting for a few essentials in the mail... saddle, brakes... But I'll throw a picture up of the new steed up on the blog when she's all done. For now, suffice it to say... it's going to look HOT.

Took advantage of one of the last homework free weekends by squeezing in about 8.5 hours of riding. I will be taking this week reaaaal easy. Got a nice easy spin planned for early in the week up the Santa Ana river... looks like a cesspool on GoogleEarth, hope it doesn't smell too much.

Also likely switching my emphasis at work a bit... looks like I'll actually be doing work with some stationary PEM units for my MS work. Probably doesn't mean a whole lot to most people, but instead of doing SOFC (Solid Oxide Fuel Cells) which are real big, high temperature units, I'll be doing smaller (though on the large size for PEM) PEM (proton exchange membrane) fuel cells. Obviously most of the basics are the same with these different kinds of systems, but there are some big differences, which I'll highlight real quick. SOFCs have a solid electrolyte and need to be run at high temperatures so that this electrolyte can efficiently conduct oxide ions. The ion migration is from the cathode to the anode..... oxide ions. This differs from PEM fuel cells, which have a polymer (repeating chain of something or other... remember organic chemistry? neither do i... i didn't take it) electrolyte which generally require water to be conductive for protons, which originate from the hydrogen fuel. In PEM systems ion migration is from the anode to the cathode in the form of protons. The net reaction is the same for both types of cells, generally, but the actual chemical mechanisms are different. If you made it this far, then you are a trooper. Give yourself a pat on the back.

So, if you skipped down to here, don't blame you. I'll be working on large-scale PEM fuel cells, which would be placed in someone's house for example, which would provide power for the house 24/7, and the grid when the house doesn't need it (ie during the day when everyone is at work). They would run on pipeline natural gas (gasp! a fossil fuel!) which would be reformed to hydrogen (the clean answer right?? yeaaaaah). They would also provide heating and possibly cooling, through CHP (combined heat and power) equipped units. Basically heat exchangers to take advantage of the fuel cell's heat generation. With big enough units you can actually cool down air if you have hot air, by using a heat pump... but with small systems it becomes too costly, so smaller units would likely just have heating capabilities, which only require an exchanger, not a heat pump.

If you were interested in any of that mumbo jumbo, then good. If not, I didn't tell you you had to read it. If you want to know more, ask.

Off to bed... I rode 80 miles today...