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To: jmcenanly
Have they solved the problem of Hydrogen boil off? If you remember the Space shuttles, they had to be topped off continuously before launch, as their liquid hydrogen fuel kept boiling away.

There aren't many hydrogen cars on the road, but I don't know of any that store the hydrogen in liquid form. It's too hard to compress, too hard to keep cold, and too dangerous to store in that form. It's easier and safer to store it at room temp at high pressure.

That simplifies the storage and transfer of fuel, but there are still problems. To get equivalent range from a tankful of H, the tank has to be 4X bigger and at high pressure - 200 psi or more, IIRC. Fuel lines will be at the same high pressure, in your car and at the pump. You will never be allowed to pump your own H like you pump gas, too dangerous. You probably won't be allowed to work on your own car either.

Hydrogen fuel cells are hot right now, but they're outrageously expensive and even more dangerous if they go wrong (Apollo XIII).

Hydrogen power is so elegant - H combines with oxygen, yielding energy and pure H2O. No pollution, and you can reuse the H by extracting it from the water. The problem is storage and safety, and I don't think they have the answers yet.

33 posted on 10/12/2013 8:18:41 PM PDT by ZOOKER (Until further notice the /s is implied...)
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To: ZOOKER

While I agree with everything you said; you left out some other alternatives for storage. These alternatives include metal hydrides and carbon absorption, neither of which requires high pressures. Both of those alternatives (and others too) have their own problems; so there are no economic solutions for use in vehicles yet.


36 posted on 10/12/2013 8:59:56 PM PDT by USFRIENDINVICTORIA
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