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Old 03-31-2011, 03:41 PM   #1
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Hydrogen as Fuel

New technology makes hydrogen more viable car fuel

By Stuart McDill – Thu Mar 31, 5:21 am ET

LONDON (Reuters Life!) – A new technology that allows hydrogen to be stored in a cheap and practical way, could make its widespread use as a carbon-free alternative to petrol a reality, according to its developers.

The technology is based on a new way of producing nano-fibers from hydrides, materials that soak up hydrogen like a sponge, and then encapsulating them in tiny plastic beads so small they behave like a liquid.

The process is being developed by Cella Energy, a spin-off from Britain's Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, who say that the technique allows hydrogen to be released at a much faster rate and at lower temperatures than before.

"What we've been doing is taking these materials and encasing them in plastic and making them into a very fine powder and that improves their properties," Cella Energy Chief Scientific Officer Stephen Bennington said. "It also means you can pump it like a fluid and it's safe. It is not gong to easily burst into flames," he said.

Hydrogen produces only water when its burned and is considered an ideal solution to cutting carbon emissions from petrol or diesel vehicles, which are estimated to cause 25 percent of all carbon release.

But until now, attempts to store hydrogen have not been consumer-friendly so this has not been a viable option. Cella Energy Ltd say their technology would allow people to use the carbon-free fuel with their existing car after a few modifications.

"You would pump it into your petrol tank of your car -- that would go off, be heated, drive the hydrogen off, which would go and run your vehicle and then the waste little beads that we have created you store in the car. And when you go and refuel your car you have two nozzles. One which puts in the new beads and one which takes out the old beads which goes off to be recycled and the hydrogen added to it again," Bennington said.

The development has been to turn hydrides into fibers or beads, 30 times smaller than a human hair, through a process of electro-spinning. This produces a white tissue-like material that can be controlled to capture and release hydrogen.

The encapsulation process protects the hydrides from oxygen and water, prolonging their life and making it possible to handle them safely in air and because it behaves like a liquid, current infrastructure will need minimal modification.

"You can use tankers to carry the material around," said Bennington. "You can take it to forecourts and then you can pump it into the vehicle and give the customer the same kind of experience they have now."

All part of the reason Cella Energy believe their process could herald a new era of carbon-free motoring.

"The experience that most people have now is using regular liquid fuels where it takes three minutes to fill your vehicle and then you can travel 300 miles," said Stephen Voller, Cella Energy's CEO. "Now you can have exactly the same experience with hydrogen but you can't have that experience with an electric car."

The company said hydrogen could be an economically viable alternative to fossil fuels if the gas is produced with renewable energy sources like wind or solar. It has three times more energy than petrol per unit of weight and could power cars, planes and other vehicles that currently use hydrocarbons.

It said it is also attracting interest from large established companies in the energy and transportation sectors.

(Editing by Paul Casciato) (end of article)

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Old 03-31-2011, 04:42 PM   #2
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This sounds promising, but no doubt will take a very long time to be use widely if at all. I think the main stumbling point will be producing enough renewable energy to make this feasible on a scale large enough to supply enough vehicles to make the manufacturers interested in pursuing this in the first place. Which will come first- the chicken or the egg?
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Old 03-31-2011, 05:02 PM   #3
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You heard it here first.

Natural Gas will be the next mass fuel for:
first the commercial fleets (OTR vehicles)
second the smaller commercial vehicles
lastly will be cars we drive.

In the past few years new technologies have made getting natural gas from shale very economical. Guess who has the most gas shale deposits on the planet? The good old USA. In the next 10 years or so there is going to be a big power shift back to the USA.

Pilot/Flying J is now in the design stages to provide the infrastructure for the OTR vehicles. Large OTR vehicle manufactures are planning to build tractors using natural gas. Shell Oil has been getting out of the oil business for the last decade. The Saudi's are changing their country's infrastructure so they will not depend on oil to run their own country.

At this time, shale gas can be produced so the pump price is about 1/2 that of the current diesel price.

You and I may never drive a natural gas powered car, but the trend is very obvious and billions are being spent (by private companies) to make this a reality.
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Old 03-31-2011, 05:38 PM   #4
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There is another thread somewhere (Different kind of forum) about Hydrogen fueled cars. The big problem is re-fueling ... You can get Hydrogen at several locations in California, One in Nevada, near or in Las vegas, One in Utah, 2 in S.E. michigan as I recall and one near the east coast.

So if you are travelling cross country.. you WILL run out of fuel
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Old 04-01-2011, 12:46 PM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by GaryKD View Post
You heard it here first.

Natural Gas will be the next mass fuel for:
first the commercial fleets (OTR vehicles)
second the smaller commercial vehicles
lastly will be cars we drive.

In the past few years new technologies have made getting natural gas from shale very economical. Guess who has the most gas shale deposits on the planet? The good old USA. In the next 10 years or so there is going to be a big power shift back to the USA.

Pilot/Flying J is now in the design stages to provide the infrastructure for the OTR vehicles. Large OTR vehicle manufactures are planning to build tractors using natural gas. Shell Oil has been getting out of the oil business for the last decade. The Saudi's are changing their country's infrastructure so they will not depend on oil to run their own country.

At this time, shale gas can be produced so the pump price is about 1/2 that of the current diesel price.

You and I may never drive a natural gas powered car, but the trend is very obvious and billions are being spent (by private companies) to make this a reality.

Remember the Hindenburg!
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Old 04-01-2011, 03:49 PM   #6
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Actually it wasn't the hydrogen gas that burned up with the Hindenburg, most of the gas escaped and floated up in the air as it's lighter than air. What created the most flames that you see on the old film clips was the paint and surface material the Hindenburg was made of. To bad the film clip gave Hydrogen gas a bad name that it hasn't been able to shake ever since!
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Old 04-01-2011, 05:26 PM   #7
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Of the two, I think natural gas will ultimately be the fuel that is the most economical and easiest to retail. This new proposed hydrogen storage media sound promising, however, producing hydrogen still requires more energy to produce.
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Old 04-01-2011, 06:24 PM   #8
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The Hindenburg not withstanding (yes, most of the gas escaped, but it was what got things going)

The big problem with Hydrogen cars is where to fuel them.. Just now there are a number of Hydrogen stations in California (I looked this up just a few days ago) ONe in Nevada (possibly in Las Vegas) one in Utah, I think two in S.E. Michigan and one over near (not on) the east coast.

It's a long way to hike with a pressurized container of gas, 2,000 miles between gas stations is a bit mroe than one tank I think.
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Old 04-01-2011, 06:43 PM   #9
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I believe I read some where that one of the scandinavian countries is developing a hydrogen hwy along their coast. One thing about hydrogen it can be produced where ever you have power so it doesn't have to be shipped.
A gasoline tank full of fumes and a little liquid is more of a bomb than most realize.
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Old 04-02-2011, 09:52 AM   #10
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Quote:
The big problem with Hydrogen cars is where to fuel them.. Just now there are a number of Hydrogen stations in California (I looked this up just a few days ago) ONe in Nevada (possibly in Las Vegas) one in Utah, I think two in S.E. Michigan and one over near (not on) the east coast.
And that's why I ask which comes first- the chicken or the egg. I think it is Norway that has built the hydrogen highway. I would like to see hydrogen take off as a power source for vehicles, I'm not really encouraged about natural gas as a fuel source for vehicles, we heat our house with natural gas and I can see the cost of that going up if we start using natural gas for vehicles, just like the cost of food as gone up with the use of ethanol made from corn, if you look at the ingredients that make up most of the foods you eat, corn or something derived from corn is listed.
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Old 04-02-2011, 10:21 AM   #11
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I think it's great news on both fronts. I too have been reading more and more about the shift to natural gas and have been waiting patiently for a breakthrough in hydrogen and it sounds as though this could be it.

I think the article was clear on two points listed above as problems. Fueling stations would need to be converted to handle hydrogen (or NG for that matter), and the new storage process makes hydrogen behave like a liquid eliminating much of the explosion hazard.

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Old 04-02-2011, 10:33 AM   #12
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I believe I read some where that one of the scandinavian countries is developing a hydrogen hwy along their coast. One thing about hydrogen it can be produced where ever you have power so it doesn't have to be shipped.
A gasoline tank full of fumes and a little liquid is more of a bomb than most realize.

One gallon of gas equals 14 sticks of dynamite.
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Old 04-02-2011, 10:47 AM   #13
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If there was a leak/accident it could be handled like propane. you let it vent off.

Of course unlike propane you don't burn it off. Hydrogen being lighter than air will rise and harmlessly drift off.

Propane being heavier has to be burnt. I learned this from an uncle who was a rural fire chief back in the 50's. If there was a major leak in the tanker you let it burn and put water on the tanker to keep it cool. If you just let it leak the propane would collect in the drainage ditch along the side of the road and a thrown cigarette could ignite it. After the tanker fire was put out they would throw a torch into the ditch.
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Old 04-02-2011, 10:53 AM   #14
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Two comments. A west Texas truck fleet tried CNG as their fleet fuel but abandoned it because of limited range with normal size fuel tanks. A tank big enough to give equal range as they were getting with diesel was not practical.

Expo 74, held in Spokane, WA in the summer of 1974 featured a hydrogen fuel exhibit with a fully functional Class C motor home fueled by hydrogen. The key to making affordable hydrogen from sea water was electricity produced by Nuclear Power. The hysteria created over the operator caused accident at Three Mile Island put a stop to that plan and it seems no one has the political courage to bring it up again in any serious way.

Good lead article. Hydrogen could become the available, affordable fuel of the future.
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