59.024 FUEL CELLS POWER ENGINELESS TRACTOR, Science Service Historical Image Collection

1959 - T.G. Kirkland, a member of the research team that built the cells installed them in the engineless tractor, point to a unit of nine fuel cells

FUEL CELLS POWER ENGINELESS TRACTOR

E&MP59.024

Fuel Cells

April 24, 1959 (244-59)

Electricity produced by 1,008 fuel cells powers this experimental Allis-Chalmers tractor. T.G. Kirkland, a member of the research team that built the cells installed them in the engineless tractor, point to a unit of nine fuel cells. Chemical reactions between a mixture of fuel gases and oxygen - largely propane - and an electrolyte within the cells produce 15 kilowatts of electricity. The direct current goes through bus bars (the bright, horizontal bars shown above) to a compact controller which regulates the speed and direction of the tractor by controlling the amount of current reaching the 20-horsepower motor.