Where Are the Hydrogen Mines?

Tech Central Station ^ | 12/10/2003 | Ronald Bailey

[E.G.C.]

BTTT!!!!!!

[eno_]

If you think the Pinto was a death trap when the fuel tank failed in an accident, consider what happens when a hydrogen tank is breached. Remember the Hindenberg?

Hydrogen has an invisible flame, and it dissipates quickly. The Hindenburg burned due to the dopant used on the fabric skin. GASOLINE, on the other hand, now that's DANGEROUS.

[heckler]

What are the byproducts from the cracking process to get the hydrogen from the crude? What percentage of the crude actually becomes useable hydrogen fuel?

[expatpat]

But what do you do with the CO2 from the cracking process?

[Axenolith]

What are the byproducts from the cracking process to get the hydrogen from the crude?

Aside from the minor contaminants (sulfur and trace metals) in crude the byproducts in a straight crack should be hydrogen and carbon as coke (later used for steel making etc...). The average refinery makes a lot of stuff and can hydrogenate and dehydrogenate up and down the hydrocarbon chain lengths. Since there's probably inefficiencies, or chains that exceed certain energy budgets, there's probably some fraction that ends up in the asphalt batch plant or off to some more profitable use. Since i'm not really up on the intricacies of the functioning refinery, I'm going to have to pump a friend who works over at the local Tesoro plant for some info...

What percentage of the crude actually becomes useable hydrogen fuel?

That would be dependant on the composition of the original mix but by mass the greatest amount would be extractable from methane gas (CH4, therefore a 3:1 mass ratio). Since crude is used for so many products there would probably be some unuseful or low profit byproduct molecule that would be shunted toward hydrogen production. When you start down that road though, you wonder why they wouldn't just take the product itself and design a fuel cell around it (say, in the instance of straight MTBE). When you start doing that mental excercise you begin to see why focusing on designing an entire subeconomy based on a concept that has next to no existing infrastructure or end user product and no initial demand from a cost standpoint you see that this is really a political/ideological driven agenda...

[expatpat]

you wonder why they wouldn't just take the product itself and design a fuel cell around it

Poisoning of the catalyst is a major issue in fuel-cell devices.

you see that this is really a political/ideological driven agenda...

Yes, indeed. Hybrid cars are a feasible way of reducing emissions through higher efficiency, but the hydrogen thing has a long way to go before it's feasible. And with all the SUVs, and now Hummers, you wonder if there's any will to do much.

[MonroeDNA]

The communists left the Soviet Union, and now reside in green movements. Rush predicted this years ago.

Kyoto is about draining money from Capitalist countries, who always do well, into failed socialistic, communist, and dictatorship countries.

Control freaks need guns and money to survive. Their 5 year plans always fail.