Posted on 06/09/2022 3:38:58 AM PDT by dennisw
This medium releases 99.99 percent pure hydrogen, which could power electrical grids, hydrogen fuel cells, cars, or hydrogen-injected diesel trucks.
Former computer-chip manufacturing engineer Paul Smith founded Plasma Kinetics in 2008. The Arizona-based startup has developed “solid-state” hydrogen storage, essentially transferring the gas onto a proprietary film wound in many layers inside a canister. He says the tech could challenge batteries in both efficiency and environmental friendliness.
When unspooled and run past a laser—the film moves from one reel to another, like movie film through a projector—the solid-state storage medium releases 99.99 percent pure hydrogen, which could power electrical grids, hydrogen fuel cells, cars, or hydrogen-injected diesel trucks. Plasma Kinetics asserts that its storage system is 30 percent lighter, 7 percent smaller, and 17 percent less expensive than a lithium-ion battery per kilowatt-hour. Those claims have reportedly attracted capital from the likes of Toyota, though Smith declined to confirm any investments.
Due to these successes, Plasma Kinetics had to put its plans (and patents) on hold for nearly a decade because the Department of Defense wanted to gain a lead in applying Smith’s methodology to missile tech and other military applications. Now, the startup’s hydrogen storage tech may have the chance to challenge the battery business and the trillions of dollars sunk into it worldwide.
Hydrogen (H2) is most often produced by natural gas steam reformation and electrolysis of water. “Green” hydrogen is produced when wind and solar power provide electricity for splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen by electrolysis. The hydrogen produced by these processes must be compressed or liquefied to achieve a small enough size for practical storage.
10 Questions With the Solid-State Battery Guru Hydrogen gas is commonly compressed to more than 2,000 psi, and in the case of fuel-cell cars like the Toyota Mirai, to as much as 10,000 psi. Multiple stages of compression and cooling are required to achieve these high pressures. Plasma Kinetics claims its process provides the same storage density as 5,000 psi compressed hydrogen gas but without compression—eliminating pumps, compressors, and chillers.
The company uses a light-sensitive, film-like “nano-photonic” material to absorb hydrogen, wound in thousands of layers inside a large canister. Each extremely thin layer has a lattice structure that binds hydrogen and prevents other elements from interfering with its absorption. The company’s process begins by connecting a hydrogen production “buffer tank” (into which electrolyzed or steam-reformed gas initially goes) to a hood with input and output pipes sitting atop a 20-foot container, which holds 70 canisters of its nano-photonic film.
On command, H2 is released from the buffer tank through the hood into the main container holding the 70 canisters. When a canister recognizes the presence of hydrogen gas, a valve inside opens, allowing gas to flow inside. The negatively charged nano-photonic film has a strong affinity for positively charged H2, absorbing it in minutes at simple atmospheric pressure.
“If you can provide 10 kilotons of hydrogen per hour to a Plasma Kinetics system, it can absorb all 10 kilotons,” Smith says. “It’s just a matter of how much you want to scale.”
Regardless of the source, the result is H2 stored in a solid state, according to Smith. The company anticipates 28 kg of H2 per cubic meter in 2023 without the need for pressure or energy to store the hydrogen. That could be useful in challenging batteries, a relatively dirty technology: Plasma Kinetics claims that its storage film and housings require no rare-earth elements. ---SNIP
Yeah, but the sunsets will be spectacular.
The glass is half full…
“Yet I still don’t see how producing, processing, and storing hydrogen will ever produce more energy than it took to get it in a useable state.”
Windmills running at night when electricity demand is lowest? Use their electricity to make hydrogen. The oxygen can be sold off too as an industrial gas for welding. Medical uses too.
Solar panel farms are producing excess electricity? Store this energy as hydrogen. In the way mentioned in the above PM article. Ideally stored in modular, inter-changeable automobile batteries to replace lithium batteries. In say 20 years or so.
Toyota is probably the leader in hydrogen fuel cell research for automobiles. I think they’ve spent 10+ years on research.
This is one of their 2022 hydrogen fuel cell cars:
It is not the only problem with all these fantasy ideas of hydrogen production, storage, solar panel farms, windmills and other pipe dream renewalble processes... the problem is they are not ready now and we have been forced into an economy destroying condition of destroying and pricing beyond reach the available conventional sources we have now.
We are not only shooting ourselves in the foot, or rather the administration is, we are going for a good tight pattern with multiple shots so as to blow the foot clean off.
Thanks…. I didn’t know that.
Cheers…
The problem with hydrogen is....
https://preview.redd.it/f3nkee5q28z51.jpg?auto=webp&s=cb70d363e74533ecae274c37bef3b7732d102f30
My dream id to see all of the hydrogen problems solved, just when EVs are finally mainstream.
“Question....since hydrogen is highly flammable, how is that concern dealt with using this fuel source?”
Like GASOLINE isn’t? You DO use gasoline, right?
Gasoline, EXTREMELY EXPLOSIVE and FLAMMABLE.
Lithium batteries, EXTREMELY EXPLOSIVE and FLAMMABLE.
This hydrogen storage technology for automobiles would be very good if introduced slowly over 25 years. Starting five years from now. I am very pro-oil and my car is the usual ICE type.
The only way that it makes sense, is if the electricity to split the H2O/ to make the H2/ comes from solar farms and wind farms. China is building vast solar farms, in addition to the usual of building more coal burning plants.
Oh, come on. We can use the energy from burning the hydrogen to split the water into hydrogen and oxygen, then burn them together again, over and over in an endless cycle. You don't really believe that silly idea that perpetual motion machines don't exist, do you? (yes, /sarc).
Seriously, if we ever do find the solution to the age old dream of "Energy to cheap to meter", liberals will find SOMETHING wrong with it. Guaranteed. They're never going to let us just live our lives in peace, harmony and freedom.
Homer Simpson once told Lisa when she invented a perpetual motion machine for the science fair: “Lisa, in this house we obey the laws of thermo dynamics.”
It still take more energy to produce useable hydrogen then the hydrogen produces. Sure use excess nuclear and unstable wind and solar but to make a “solid state” hydrogen with something that has the same energy as a 20 gallon tank of gasoline?
Well. The market will figure it out. But regardless, the watermelons will never let it happen. A scientist could find a way to create endless energy and they would always find an endangered termit that needs protected and shut down the system.
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