Posted on 08/22/2014 10:51:36 AM PDT by Red Badger
Thanks for the information. One obvious drawback springs to mind.
Can the “hydrogen sponge” materials hold the same mass of hydrogen in an equivalent volume? Sounds to me like these storage mechanisms would likely be a lot more bulky. Of course, volume is one of the problems with hydrogen anyway.
“Actually, there is a real flux capacitor. And it looks nothing like that picture.”
Yeah, O’Reilly’s is probably just selling a cheap Chinese knockoff. A “frux crapacitor”.
A couple dozen volts from solar will be pretty easy to achieve. You could set up a splitter in your backyard that could generate enough gas tp power your car for the next day.
“Yeah, OReillys is probably just selling a cheap Chinese knockoff. A frux crapacitor.”
Milk out my nose.
Closer to 40 than 50 and only when running at optimum RPMs and doesn’t account for transmission losses and other loads not related to moving the vehicle such as pollution control.
Diesel locomotives are closest to ideal efficiency as the engine is not mechanically locked to the wheels letting them run at optimum RPMs and reduce transmission loss.
There are some power stations that can get about 50% efficiency but it requires space age materials to handle the heat as the efficiency is directly related to gas temp and ambient temp as described by Carnot.
Winner winner, chicken dinner.
But people are so lacking in science knowledge that they will lap this up just like the "200 MPG carburetor" and the "my car runs on water!" crap from the 70's & 80's.
Bulk is the problem in either case. The ‘sponge’ itself is bulky...................
“Milk out my nose.”
Milk is good for you. Used in moderation, of course.
The advantage would not be over all efficiency, it would be fuel flexibility. You can make electricity from many things other than imported oil.
I’m not a big hydrogen fan, to many obstacles to implementation.
“So is this a closed system, by which both the hydrogen and the oxygen would be captured and used to fuel an internal combustion engine?”
In a ‘perfect’ closed system you would generate Brown’s Gas and then immediately recombine the O and the 2 H’s in an internal combustion engine. Energy out is thus higher than energy in...
Ah, but the kicker here is it may make solar or wind generated electricity useful for something.
Natural Gas Power Density> 0.044 - 0.0562 /b/ft3
But you have to have a supply of natural gas. Hydrogen you can get anywhere.
I think this thing might make economic sense in some circumstances. I've been reading lately that the Navy now has the means to process ocean water into Aviation Fuel on their nuclear powered aircraft carriers. I think the fuel costs them something like $18.00 a gallon, but it become economically feasible as a result of their having the ability to make it whenever and wherever they need it instead of relying on logistical support to bring it.
Hydrogen splitting and storage would have to be used for some sort of similar need to make it economically viable, but I can see circumstances in which this could be true.
Also, your power densities for Hydrogen and for Natural Gas are at what pressures? Ambient?
What do they look like when pressurized to 3,600 psi as Natural Gas is normally?
Also is that energy density from burning or from Ionic transfer as with the Hydrogen?
Very interesting thing to notice. The reinventing of wheels via refinements of existing phenomena seems to happen a lot. Reversing things seems to be especially useful!
No, it doesn’t depend on how you measure the energy. In a reversible chemical reaction, like changing water to H and O, you can never get more energy out than was put in. It takes a certain amount of energy to break water into its components, and you get approximately the same energy back when you burn the hydrogen to produce water again.
As others have said, hydrogen is just a store of energy, not a source. It’s like a rechargeable battery: you have to put energy in to get energy out. There may be some situations where hydrogen is a more useful energy storage mechanism than, say, batteries, but they’re few and far between.
... unlike the “gas” stations that would be needed if you used hydrogen to fuel your vehicle. A car can transport far less energy as hydrogen than as gasoline, so a hydrogen-powered car will need to stop far more often for refueling.
Pressure on both figures were in lb/ft3
cubic lbs per ft.
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