The press just never gets it. Ammonia is made from....duh....natural gas.
Well, hot doggies, we can have these for breakfast, with milk poured over them and an artificial sweetener sprinkled on top.
Oh. You are supposed to pour a handful in the fuel tank of the vehicle.
And then? What are we going to do with the residue of these little tablets after the hydrogen in them is depleted?
Reminds me of a terrible movie of many years ago. Someone devised a method of storing energy on a phonograph record. All you had to do was play the record on a super phonograph to recover the energy. I don't remember anything else about the movie, I was laughing too hard.
This would definitely be a step in the right direction but there's no mention of the technology or cost of encapsulating the hydrogen. Also, if the primary source of the encapsulated hydrogen is natural gas I don't see how that helps solve the energy crisis.
Overall, an incredibly bad idea.
/daydream
I seem to remember a "gas pill" episode of the Stooges, or was it Laurel & Hardy?
Yes, but will the FDA approve it?
Ammonia is 3/17 (17.6%) hydrogen; gasoline is a mixture, but can fairly be represented as octane, which is 18/114 (15.8%) hydrogen. This "tablet" must contain some kind of structural matrix that absorbs - and therefore dilutes - the ammonia, reducing the hydrogen content by a significant amount.
H2 gas is impractical and dangerous - in order to store the same amount of hydrogen as is contained in a gallon of gasoline in the same space, a pressure of nearly 20,000 pounds per square inch would be required - nearly ten times what is considered high pressure for commercial tank gases. But what about the hydrogen fuel used on the Space Shuttle? That is LIQUEFIED, which requires cryogenic temperatures - unimaginably cold, and far beyond the capability of mechanical refrigeration equipment.
I believe that the "hydrogen fuel of the future" will be a pure, sulfur-free, synthesized version of gasoline. It will work equally well in internal combustion engines (spark and diesel) and as a hydrogen source for fuel cells via a "reformer" that separates the hydrogen from the carbon. The reformer technology is well known, as is the fuel cell technology.
But the raw material source might NOT be the crude petroleum we use today. The world has gigantic deposits of coal, tar sands, and shale, all of which are rich sources of hydrocarbons and MOST of which are located in NORTH AMERICA!
An interesting development. I have long been in favor of developing alternative power sources for mainly national security reasons. This could be a step in the right direction...or it could just be a misstep. Either way, it is good to know research is going on.
So instead of pumping gas you pump ammonia. How often have you gotten a little gasoline on your skin? So long as there are no sparks its no big deal. You DON'T want to get anhydrous ammonia you your skin; it will burn holes in you.
there's alot of research going on about storing hydrogen in metals. Some metals like lithium can absorb gobs and gobs of the stuff, then release it back when they are mildly heated.
Ammonia is not good stuff either
Not correct. Burning hydrogen creates water vapor, which is the number one greenhouse gas.
Dr Cat: Take your hydrogen tablet and call me in the morning!