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 ...
What doesn't break the laws of physics is using those BTUs in very effiecient, very large plants. Look up the relative efficiency of base load electric plants vs your standard car. Even a "hybrid" car. I don't know the numbers off the top of my head, but I'm thinking the efficiency of base load electric plants is something like double/triple car efficiency.
"Well, I think the site is a bit of a gag. Click on supplies and research and look around. I mean, how can you take them serious with this on there page?"
It's used for high school science experiments. Jeez
"If you ever see the footage of the accident watch the ground carefully, and you will see rivers of water coming down."
I could be mistaken, but I believe that was ballast water, used to trim the ship.
At Shell stations in Washington, D.C. and New York City.
There's a real chicken-and-egg problem with H2 fuel, no doubt about it.
Good hydrogen storage methods and a bunch of safe new nuclear plants would change world politics, and the trade deficit would have a huge chunk taken out of it.
I authorize all this.
Um, I'm not going to hold my breath on this one.
One is a fabricator of wacky conspiracy theories, and the other is some old guy on the radio.
No, die Hindenburg used hydrogen as lifting gas. However, they also used powdered aluminum as paint on the gas bag, and powdered aluminum is also known as "rocket fuel."
The combustion engine was invented at the turn of LAST century...shouldn't we be looking for an alternative way to power a vehicle?
I agree completely.
It states that they are replacing the battery with a fuel cell. While they will still have the combustion engine the only difference between these cars and hybrids is the use of a fuel cell instead of a battery.
"This new generation of vehicles are essentially electric cars that use a Fuel Cell instead of a battery to run the electric motor."
So unfortunately the problems associated with fuel cells will also plague this type of hybrid. And I'll agree that electricity isn't free, splitting water via electrolysis will be expensive if you need to fill one of those tanks.
Ther si hillarious stuff all over that site.
They do sell some neat stuff...
"Ingesting radioactive material is something we recommended you avoid no matter how good it may taste to you."
LOL
Bones
You sure you're not talking about the release of water from the ballast tanks? I can understand that water was formed from the H2 burning, but I'd have thought it would have gone up as steam.
You are correct about the deaths in the Hindenberg. Very few died from the fire. It was that jumping, and then the airship immediatly landing on top of them.
"Our system comes with its own "in-home" Hydrogen generator which allows you to manufacture fuel yourself at near zero cost."
Oh boy, I can see it now, another Nazi bureaucratic nightmare tax agency in the making as I type. I remember the horrors from Alaska when home heating oil and propane was being used in vehicles with some not paying the road taxes. The powers that be over reacted to the point of punishing even the thought of doing so. That was back in the 70's, so don't know the final outcome for today, but it was freaky and rather scary times back then.
I understand that there is not an on-site reformer that goes with the fuel cell in the vehicle. But the fuel cell runs on hydrogen fuel. So you make it at home, put it into a tank and then the hydrogen is fed to the fuel cell which reacts with air on a catalyst producing electricity.
I am aware of creating hydrogen with two electrodes however - it is very easy but in order to power a car you need a lot of hydrogen which cannot be made in abundance with this type of simple experiment.
See my post #80.
That's their motto "put the fun back into science"... yes I know they sell school science supplies... my point being is if you look around, there's a lot of toungue in cheek humor going on.
As there is little about the company other than whats on their website, my first instinct is to suspect a clever "scrappleish" pull on my leg.
Maybe it's for real, but I'd sure hate to be rear-ended with all those tanks in the trunk, hydrides or no...
True - Some of the model airplane studies for UAV's using hydrogen as a fuel need something up to 6000psi which is very difficult and dangerous to fill hydrogen at that pressure. In fact, I would leave my lab anytime anyone tried to fill a canister at that pressure - just in case.
You-owe-me-a-keyboard-cleaning bump. Good one!
Not in this case. They actually burn it in the engine. Note in the web site where they mention that they chose the Vette because it has a stainless exaust system, because the steam in the exaust corrodes so quickly.
They start it on gasoline, generate some hot water in the engine, and transfer to burn hydrogen when it cooks out of the hydrides in the water heated tanks.
They first ran gasoline cars on H2 over 35 years ago. I haven't heard why this has taken so long to develop, except the H2 storage problem. Which will be a problem no matter whether you burn the H2 in the piston engine or put it through a fuel cell.
Any idea how long it takes for the H2 to leak out? Or how much H2 you'd have left after a few days? Just curious.
"Not every fuel cell runs using that chemistry. There are many different chemistries."
True, not every fuel cell runs on Pt or has the same chemistry as the PEM fuel cell but most catalyst surfaces are susceptible to poisoning (sulfur, carbon monoxide) if the stream is not pure fuel, or hydrogen in this case.
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