Posted on 03/07/2005 10:45:56 AM PST by JeffersonRepublic.com
United Nuclear is currently in final testing, and will shortly be producing Hydrogen Fuel Systems & Hydrogen generators for several late model, fuel injected, Gasoline powered vehicles.
Powering a vehicle by Hydrogen is by no means a new idea, and in fact, almost all automobile manufacturers are currently developing a new generation of vehicles that run on Hydrogen as opposed to Gasoline. This new generation of vehicles are essentially electric cars that use a Fuel Cell instead of a battery to run the electric motor. Using a chemical process, Fuel Cells in these new vehicles convert the stored Hydrogen on board, and the Oxygen in the air, directly into electricity to power their electric motors. These new vehicles are very efficient, and in fact are more efficient than any internal combustion engine. The problem is that these new vehicles are years away from production, are very expensive, and converting to using Hydrogen fuel in this manner requires you to buy a new ( and expensive ) vehicle. All Hydrogen/Fuel Cell systems currently under development by large manufacturers have you purchase Hydrogen as you would Gasoline. Our system comes with its own "in-home" Hydrogen generator which allows you to manufacture fuel yourself at near zero cost. Our Hydrogen conversion is an intermediate approach that simply converts your existing vehicle to burn Hydrogen or Gasoline. The Gasoline fuel system remains intact and is not modified. This allows you to switch between running on Gasoline or Hydrogen at any time. The engine itself is only slightly modified, the conversion makes substantial changes to the computer & electrical system, ignition and cooling systems. Since they never have to be removed, Hydrogen fuel storage (Hydride tanks) can be installed in virtually any available space within the vehicle.
(Excerpt) Read more at unitednuclear.com ...
It's a very interesting company, and I hope they can get some federal funding - rather then the government giving it to the auto industry.
Holtz JeffersonRepublic.com
I hope we can someday get the government out of promoting private industries and leave this to the market. Short of that... I hope as you hope.
I guess, police will have to go though a few jurisdictions during high speed chases if this comes to be... :D
The real question is how much power goes into the process. If it requires electricity then you have to evaluate the energy use from the source. Somebody has to produce the electricity.
Um, I'm not going to hold my breath on this one.
“…they said hydrogen tanks im guessing that they are using hydrogen in a gas phase. Isnt that prone to big explosions?”
They said that they have cut a full tank of hydrogen in half with a blowtorch. Below is an excerpt from their web page:
“There are materials call Hydrides that absorb Hydrogen like a sponge absorbs water. Typically, the tanks are filled with granulated Hydrides, and Hydrogen is pressurized into the material. Hydrides have many advantages over liquid & gas. One is that the density of the Hydrogen stored in the Hydride can be GREATER than that of liquid Hydrogen. This translates directly into smaller and fewer storage tanks.
Once the Hydride is "charged" with Hydrogen, the Hydrogen becomes chemically bonded to the chemical. Even opening the tank, or cutting it in half will not release the Hydrogen gas. In addition, you could even fire incendiary bullets through the tank and the Hydride would only smolder like a cigarette. It is in fact, a safer storage system than your Gasoline tank is.
Then how do you get the Hydrogen back out? To release the Hydrogen gas from the Hydride, it simply needs to be heated. This is either done electrically, using the waste exhaust heat, or using the waste radiator coolant heat.”
It’s worth reading about if you have any interest in alternatives to GASOLINE.
I didn't read anything about solid Hydrogen fuel cells which would handle the "big explosion" problem. When oil hits $80 a barrell, we'll quit being so lazy.
Unfortunately, all of these technologies are about 20 years or more from market. They sound good on paper, though.
the hydrogen on board the vehicle isnt a compressed gas.
Sorry, I missed that part.
It doesn't matter. The massive explosions causing loss of life and millions of dollars in property damage are nothing compared to the .000000000000002 deadly atoms of C02 your SUV emits into the precious atmosphere.
Just deal with it- it is for the common good, jeez.
;)
Ironically, the first Hydrogen powered vehicle made by GM will be called the Hindenburg. Strange coincidence???
One of the big things to remember is that hydrogen is only a storage device.
However, it does allow us to run our cars and trucks and all of the sectors of the economy related to them without relying on middle eastern oil.
It will cost you a lot. I don't have the exact figures but obviously the production of hydrogen is one of the limiting factors hindering commercial fuel cell use today. The other is of course, the platinum catalyst on which the reaction takes place which is the heart of the fuel cell. Not only is the platinum catalyst expensive, it poisons easily if you have trace amounts of sulfur in your hydrogen stream after reforming. I still have to look into the "at-home" reforming system that this company promotes but most likely it will leave trace amounts of impurities which will shave time off of the life of your fuel cell.
I just hope that this is all true and in a few years we dont need Oil for anything. Then the whole mess in the middle east can becomes as important as the mess in Rwanda or Sudan.
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