New Hydrogen Tech, very promising

[Keyzzz1]

The New Yorker just came out with a VERY interesting story on a new “Artificial Photolysis-Hydrogen producer technoligy.” It’s along the lines of a Solar Panal setup but yeilds Hydrogen gas vs electricity. You can find it at:

Daniel Nocera’s Artificial Leaf : The New Yorker

I’ll try and download the ariticle here but am new to this.

 

[wreckerman893]

Ideas and concepts are good but until the technolgy can be mass produced and make money for a company that produces it I don't think we'll see it on the market.

Hydrogen has a lot of potential but getting it distributed like we do gas and diesel will require a big infastructure.

One of it's drawbacks is that it burns with an invisible flame which can cause problems for first responders.

 

[Keyzzz1]

That's what's neat about the article, it's close to being produced for mass use and it's done in panels yielding local, on site fuel. That's a BIG plus for those of us in Disaster prone areas (Keys in our case) as you can generate fuel for basic use via sunlight. Just feeding the forum on "whats going on out there in da World"

 

[Tanner]

It'll get bought up by the oil industry & squashed. Where do you plan to store hydrogen? How do you plan to transport it? On-site production? Congratulations - in the volumes needed to fuel vehicles, you've created localized Hindenburgs.... and then you'll have a hard time finding cars to run on hydrogen. It's not a liquid that you can pour into a fuel tank like you can do w/ diesel or gasoline.

It's not the panacea that everyone thinks it is.

 

[wdbtchr]

I would tend to agree that it's not practical for vehicles generally, but would be applicable to industrial/utility purposes. When I was working in the chemicl industry we would get trailers of hydrogen several times a week. When the prisim separaters first came out the company jumped on them for producing 95% nitrogen production for chemical processes.

I'm certain they would jump on hydrogen manufacture on site also. Unfortunately my job went to China with all the others. China will probably buy one and copy it.

 

[swbradley1]

Obviously it is easy to be cynical but let's look at the facts.

We store and transport gasoline, diesel, fuel oil, LP gas, propane and liquified natural gas every single day. I'll bet every single person reading this site has ridden in a rolling explosive device in the last week (anything with a gasoline tank). Did it explode on you? Do you have natural gas in your house? Did it explode on you? Go camping? Did you use propane? Did it explode on you? Grill out using propane? Did it explode on you?

I'm not saying that there are not accidents and I know there are a few explosions every year involving most if not all flammable fuels but don't take the attitude that it is more dangerous or that it can't be done safely.

I drive down the street and see a truck using natural gas or propane and think what it would be like for that thing to explode in a crash and then remember what is sitting behind my seat. Vaporize 25 gallons of gas and light it off and see how bad it is.

Hydrogen if used properly is an excellent fuel and burning it produces pure water.

Personally I like methanol as it is easier to produce (except for the hydrogen leaf).

 

[glcaines]

Unfortunately, burning hydrogen in a vehicle has one big drawback. Hydrogen is a very small atom and it is extremely difficult to keep fuel systems tight enough to prevent hydrogen leakage. Utilization of propane or natural gas as a fuel is much easier. Also, although the combusion of hydrogen and oxygen produces water, it still produces some pollution. When hydrogen burns in air, nitrogen is present during combusion and some NOx compounds are also produced.

 

[Keyzzz1]

Back to the article, the part I was attracted to was with this production method there isn't a need to store it (Hydrogen) but rather it produces it right on the engine (or whatever your trying to run) or next to the it. i.e.. a remote generator in BF nowhere. You put your panel(s) up then sun hits it and the byproducts Hydrogen and Oxygen bleed of, which you then pull of the gas (Hydrogen) and with a simple valving system direct feed your Gen unit. Still in the start up phase but the fact you can take a panel and separate "on-site" w/out pressure etc. Hydrogen is to me a big step in the right direction. As I work in REAL remote areas overseas relying on solar (mostly) to keep comm up, and provide some tech operating juice I find this a fascinating article. Thanks for all the input as I'm very interested in this potential for alt power.