Posted on 09/29/2004 10:15:12 AM PDT by ckilmer
Canadian Group Produces Hydrogen from Water Using Solar Energy Publication Date:14-Sept-04 Source:Sterling D. Allan of PES Network Inc. TEMPE, AZ (PRWEB) September 14, 2004 -- Solar Hydrogen Energy Corporation (SHEC) of Saskatoon, SK, Canada demonstrated a technology Monday in Tempe Arizona that can split hydrogen from water using solar energy input. The keys to the process are in a patent pending catalyst that facilitates the liberation of hydrogen from water in the presence of heat, and the patent pending solar collector collector that can hold the heat during brief intermittent sun situations often encountered by solar arrays.
Three engineers were on hand at the demonstration that took place at Arizona Public Service (APS)’s Tempe solar facility (STAR) to corroborate the production of hydrogen using a gas chromatography machine procured by SHEC labs two days prior for ongoing testing.
In addition to the engineers, also in attendance at the demonstration was an international contingent of investors, solar club representatives, and marketing agents from the U.S. and Europe.
The solar collector will be located for the next few months at APS’ solar testing facility where data may be collected over an extended period of time. The Arizona power station grounds are dotted with many arrays representing 20 or 30 different solar designs, producing together about a megawatt of power which is integrated into Arizona’s grid system.
Richard Stegeman, SHEC lab’s manager in charge of technical operations in Arizona, is a former NASA solar engineer, and was present at the demonstration. He will be supervising the data collection at APS.
To him, what is remarkable about this system is that it only needs around half the amount of heat usually required to produce thermal cracking of water. “It is not that hard to get that temperature. Now we don’t have to use exotic metals, but can use stainless steel and other easily worked metals.”
The ideal temperature for the SHEC reaction is 850 degrees Celsius, which is what the present array is designed to deliver. However, the catalyst will separate hydrogen at temperatures as low as 400 degrees Celsius.
Another facet of this design that impresses Stegeman is the receiver design. A typical problem in solar designs similar to this one is that the receiver re-radiates much of the heat away. The patent pending design that SHEC labs has produced reduces such emissions by an estimated 30 to 40 percent, thus increasing the net absorption.
The present design prevents the receiving head from overheating by incrementally closing a camera-like shutter in front of the receiver. In future designs, that will be regulated by increasing or decreasing the flow of water and gasses to the reactor, increasing or decreasing the rate of hydrogen production.
Another advantage of the design is that the receiver forms a large thermal mass to maintain the heat during brief fluctuations in sun exposure – similar to a flywheel keeping the system going.
SHEC labs was incorporated Dec. 15, 1996 by Tom Beck, who conceived the design. Maurice Tuchelt has been responsible for implementing much of the design. Dr. Lang is responsible for perfecting the catalyst and other chemical processes.
The hydrogen separation occurs in two steps. First, the hydrogen is split off from the steam through a catalytic bed reactor. Second, the hydrogen and oxygen are prevented from rejoining the liquid via their “water-gas-shift reactor,” which sequesters the oxygen in an oxide compound.
The prototype being demonstrated Monday is the third to be produced by SHEC labs – the fruit of nearly eight years of research and development.
After several rounds of gas collection and testing by the engineer team on hand, Ray Fehr, VP of Marketing for SHEC labs announced, “We did it. We have produced hydrogen today. The gas chromatography results show a sharp spike for hydrogen.”
Mark Danneberg of MD Marketing in Spain has been raising funds for SHEC labs for the past ten months to the tune of $4.5 million Canadian. Much of that has come from the Saskatoon community where SHEC labs is located. Danneberg said that the arrival of this technology in the marketplace is dependant on how much more money they can raise. “It could be less than a year, if we get enough money,” he said.
APS has expressed an interest in utilizing the SHEC labs system in its grid power production once the technology is adequately proven over time. Meanwhile, they are assisting SHEC labs by providing the real estate and the utilities and power needed for testing.
Relevant Websites:
SHEC-Labs official website http://www.shec-labs.com
Arizona Power Supplier official website http://www.aps.com/home
Bleh. Thats nothing. I personally produce NATURAL GAS in great volumes from all kinds of commonly obtainable things.
I used to use lye and aluminum foil - it produced hydrogen and a lot of heat...
The only way we could effectively make hydrogen a major fuel source is to develop fusion reactors, then put the reactors out at sea and generate hydrogen. Just no practical cheap solution to make hydrogen, except from hydrocarbons, in which case we might as well burn them.
Oh, come on now. How can you possibly ban it? We've already managed to pollute virtually the whole earth with it!
The real problem is production costs.
Yes, a photovoltaic array could drive an electrolysis unit. But this one looks like it's being done thermally, no electricity involved and the only thing the "solar" part is for, is heating.
Yeah it's all around! Don't buy French wine or even their drinking water, it's full of the stuff!
So true, so true.. too much of that stuff will kill you..
the winner is the company that kills the cost of hydrogen production.
[ The danger of dealing with dihydrogenmonoxide is just to great. the substance should be banned. ]
So true, so true.. too much of that stuff will kill you..
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bah that's all water under the bridge.
Great, there goes the rest of our freaking water.
Definitelly. As W.C. Fields has said, fish f*rt in it.
Not that hard, I did it as a kid, with nothing more than aluminum foil and cardboard.
The trick is setting the meat at the focal point of the reflected light/heat.
If you want max efficiency you may want to grab the tracking system from a used satellite dish to follow the sun.
Actually, what he said starts with an f but it is not the same word.
Another of several new technologies that are relegated to the back pages of the news, or given only passing notice.
Few if any are taken seriously, and most seem to wither from lack of support.
Some survive for several years as obscure projects kept alive by a few dedicated researchers.
This one shows some real promise, if it can be scaled up sufficiently.
Together with some of the other arcane developments of the last few years it might be able to make a real dent in our infrastructure's dependance on oil.
I like oil, I enjoy fast cars that use Hundred Octane fuel, I like overnight delivery of my packages too.
But I despise our being squeezed by foreign governments and oil companies, so I look forward to new tech that can make us more independent.
Any conversion to a hydrogen based infrastructure will take decades to implement, even if the hydrogen were suddenly available in unlimited quantities for virtually free!
I want to see ANWAR drilled ASAP, giving us some breathing room regarding tight oil supplies.
I want that time used to initiate a truly serious effort to develop the most promising of the new technologies.
I would be willing for congress to make it a condition of drilling ANWAR that the oil companies become ENERGY companies, putting a dedicated percentage of the ANWAR revenue into energy research.
Canadian Group Produces Hydrogen from Water Using Solar Energy"
This sounds like a movie I saw Chain Reaction (1996) with Keanu Reeves
WOW! A Perpetual Motion machine!
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