Posted on 04/21/2022 2:39:28 PM PDT by Jonty30
A revolutionary cryogenic tank design promises to radically boost the range of hydrogen-powered aircraft – to the point where clean, fuel-cell airliners could fly up to four times farther than comparable planes running on today's dirty jet fuel.
Weight is the enemy of all things aerospace – indeed, hydrogen's superior energy storage per weight is what makes it such an attractive alternative to lithium batteries in the aviation world. We've written before about HyPoint's turbo air-cooled fuel cell technology, but its key differentiator in the aviation market is its enormous power density compared with traditional fuel cells. For its high power output, it's extremely lightweight.
(Excerpt) Read more at newatlas.com ...
It’s combustible, so it’s a fuel itself.
Steam-methane reforming reaction
CH4 + H2O (+ heat) → CO + 3H2
Water-gas shift reactionn
CO + H2O → CO2 + H2 (+ small amount of heat)
Electricity is free, right? So no problem... /sarc
Or just build a fleet of natural gas vehicles. Much cheaper, easier and safer.
“Helium would suck as a jet fuel.”
And leave the ground crew with those silly, squeaky high voices.
CC
I thought most fuels included some detergent to keep the engines clean.
Among other things, natural gas costs more and has less energy. It also consists of the greenhouse gas methane and a part of that leaks away during the extraction process.
I noticed that little politicking. Liberals just cannot help themselves.
So Thermodynamics is not your strong suit?
Got it.
“Helium would suck as a jet fuel”
And make the jet sound funny...
The Blimp wasn’t exactly a “tank”. It was a BALLOON.
Conservation of Energy ... it's not just a good idea, it's the law.
“How many new nuclear reactors should we build?“
Unless you’re speaking for your team of nuclear engineers none.
Yup that would be the sticking point with electrolysis, unless they could find some sort of cheap catalytic method to produce it requiring much less energy inputted into the separation process. I still say nuclear fusion is the way to go, and think more should be spent investigating that.
Hard to store, basically. You either have to compress it and store it in a fairly heavy tank, or liquefy it, which means you have a thermos bottle of very cold liquid which can't be stored indefinitely. Nevertheless, there are a number of fleet vehicles that have been converted to NG.
I have a (stationary) NG fueled standby generator. While it's hard to handle, engines love it as a fuel. When I change the oil on the generator, the old oil looks -- after a year -- almost as clean as the new oil.
Where are we going to get all this groovy hydrogen?
Take it from a (former) chemist: Catalysts can change the kinetics (rate) of a reaction, but they can’t change the thermodynamics. Energy in will (at best!) equal energy out, no matter how you do it.
Check out the so called Diamond battery. It uses expended nuclear fuel and and diamond dust to generate electricity, has to be recharged ever few thousand years so probably not an option.{:~)
“Where are we going to get all this groovy hydrogen?“
Unless you’re speaking for your team of hydrogen miners you’re not.
The only thing that would have made this story better is if they somehow snuck in “graphine nanotubes.”
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