New Alloy Could Produce Hydrogen Fuel From Sunlight

[Avatar9]

How much money and energy does it take to make the alloy? How much hydrogen (and, in turn, energy) will this allow us to generate over current methods and how much money (if any) will be saved at the bottom line?

 

[Chris]

A different method from a different university.....

A Purdue University engineer has developed a method that uses an aluminum alloy to extract hydrogen from water for running fuel cells or internal combustion engines, and the technique could be used to replace gasoline.

The method makes it unnecessary to store or transport hydrogen - two major challenges in creating a hydrogen economy, said Jerry Woodall, a distinguished professor of electrical and computer engineering at Purdue who invented the process.

"The hydrogen is generated on demand, so you only produce as much as you need when you need it," said Woodall, who presented research findings detailing how the system works during a recent energy symposium at Purdue.

The technology could be used to drive small internal combustion engines in various applications, including portable emergency generators, lawn mowers and chain saws. The process could, in theory, also be used to replace gasoline for cars and trucks, he said.

Hydrogen is generated spontaneously when water is added to pellets of the alloy, which is made of aluminum and a metal called gallium. The researchers have shown how hydrogen is produced when water is added to a small tank containing the pellets. Hydrogen produced in such a system could be fed directly to an engine, such as those on lawn mowers.

"When water is added to the pellets, the aluminum in the solid alloy reacts because it has a strong attraction to the oxygen in the water," Woodall said.

This reaction splits the oxygen and hydrogen contained in water, releasing hydrogen in the process.

New process generates hydrogen from aluminum alloy to run engines, fuel cells

 

[KissMy]

A different method from a different university.....

A Purdue University engineer has developed a method that uses an aluminum alloy to extract hydrogen from water for running fuel cells or internal combustion engines, and the technique could be used to replace gasoline.

The method makes it unnecessary to store or transport hydrogen - two major challenges in creating a hydrogen economy, said Jerry Woodall, a distinguished professor of electrical and computer engineering at Purdue who invented the process.

"The hydrogen is generated on demand, so you only produce as much as you need when you need it," said Woodall, who presented research findings detailing how the system works during a recent energy symposium at Purdue.

The technology could be used to drive small internal combustion engines in various applications, including portable emergency generators, lawn mowers and chain saws. The process could, in theory, also be used to replace gasoline for cars and trucks, he said.

Hydrogen is generated spontaneously when water is added to pellets of the alloy, which is made of aluminum and a metal called gallium. The researchers have shown how hydrogen is produced when water is added to a small tank containing the pellets. Hydrogen produced in such a system could be fed directly to an engine, such as those on lawn mowers.

"When water is added to the pellets, the aluminum in the solid alloy reacts because it has a strong attraction to the oxygen in the water," Woodall said.

This reaction splits the oxygen and hydrogen contained in water, releasing hydrogen in the process.

New process generates hydrogen from aluminum alloy to run engines, fuel cells

This process consumes the metals. The metals are not reusable & it takes more power to produce the metals than you get out of the Hydrogen they produce. This is a dead end & certainly not renewable or green.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4tvR1khXKnI"]Gallium/Aluminum alloy generating Hydrogen[/ame]

 

[Quantum Windbag]

Scientists have determined that an inexpensive semiconductor material can be "tweaked" to generate hydrogen from water using sunlight, a revelation that may have the potential to bolster the renewable energy sector.

The research, published in the Physical Review Journal, was funded by the U.S. Department of Energy and led by scientists at the UK Center for Computational Sciences and the University of Louisville Conn Center for Renewable Energy Research.

The team demonstrated that an alloy formed by a two percent substitution of antimony in gallium nitride has electrical properties that enable solar light energy to split water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen through a process known as photoelectrochemical water splitting. The researchers found that when the alloy is submerged in water and exposed to sunlight, the chemical bond between the hydrogen and oxygen molecules break, allowing the hydrogen to be collected to separately.

Scientists: New Alloy Could Produce Hydrogen Fuel From Sunlight - International Business Times

Another misleading headline on a misleading report about science.

What we have here, upon actually reading the article, is a researcher making a claim about a process to a reporter at a business paper, probably hoping for investment money. Scientists would have studied the process, looked for alternate explanations, eliminated them, and submitted a paper to a peer reviewed journal. The fact that these people chose to go to a non science paper to release there "findings" is pretty telling, in my opinion.

By the way, water vapor is a greenhouse gas. Burning hydrogen produces water vapor, it is not a zero emissions process.

 

[Quantum Windbag]

Cool, how's about we divert the 50 odd billion Obama has earmarked for that fuckin' high speed rail bullshit that will lose money to this project? Great news though, but no mention of what the time horizon is. I'm assuming a number of years.

Nothing wrong with high speed rail. It's a good idea.

How about we take the TWO TRILLION DOLLARS we wasted in Iraq and Afghanistan and use that for alternative energy.

What makes high speed rail a good idea?

 

[Quantum Windbag]

More science than Republicans can possibly handle.

Dems hate science too, they just hate different science.

 

[Quantum Windbag]

A different method from a different university.....

A Purdue University engineer has developed a method that uses an aluminum alloy to extract hydrogen from water for running fuel cells or internal combustion engines, and the technique could be used to replace gasoline.

The method makes it unnecessary to store or transport hydrogen - two major challenges in creating a hydrogen economy, said Jerry Woodall, a distinguished professor of electrical and computer engineering at Purdue who invented the process.

"The hydrogen is generated on demand, so you only produce as much as you need when you need it," said Woodall, who presented research findings detailing how the system works during a recent energy symposium at Purdue.

The technology could be used to drive small internal combustion engines in various applications, including portable emergency generators, lawn mowers and chain saws. The process could, in theory, also be used to replace gasoline for cars and trucks, he said.

Hydrogen is generated spontaneously when water is added to pellets of the alloy, which is made of aluminum and a metal called gallium. The researchers have shown how hydrogen is produced when water is added to a small tank containing the pellets. Hydrogen produced in such a system could be fed directly to an engine, such as those on lawn mowers.

"When water is added to the pellets, the aluminum in the solid alloy reacts because it has a strong attraction to the oxygen in the water," Woodall said.

This reaction splits the oxygen and hydrogen contained in water, releasing hydrogen in the process.

New process generates hydrogen from aluminum alloy to run engines, fuel cells

Grade school physics from Purdue, I am impressed.

Did you notice that this story is 4 years old? Did you find an update? Have they built a small motor that runs on water yet, or are they still at the "Let's make hydrogen from aluminum foil and drain cleaner" phase?

 

[The Infidel]

I hear we can make lead into gold ..... when can we get started?

 

[Big Fitz]

If the EROEI is 10x then it can be possible to use it to replace oil. If not, it will only be second best. I'd be very happy to see that it worked, but ONLY if it is "bigger, better, faster, cheaper", and fuck greener.

We are currently using oil from Canada's Tar Sands that only produce an EROEI of 3.5X
That is about the same as Ethanol. If this Solar Hydrogen thing can beat that & not cost more it may make it in the marketplace.

the ERORI for ethanol is negative and solar is less than 1 once you ditch the subsidies and governmental finagling to fudge the numbers.

Tar sands may not be as good as light sweet crude which is about 10 to 1, and outside of nuclear or hydro electric which are the only two better than oil. And with the technological improvements, it just gets better and better.

 

[konradv]

Do we get to hear about the unintended consequences before they happen ? Science tends to tell us the bad news way too late.

Don't blame science. Sometimes people refuse to hear the bad news until it's too late, e.g.AGW.

 

[dilloduck]

Do we get to hear about the unintended consequences before they happen ? Science tends to tell us the bad news way too late.

Don't blame science. Sometimes people refuse to hear the bad news until it's too late, e.g.AGW.

Too bad about all the other toxic things they have created.

 

[gslack]

Scientists have determined that an inexpensive semiconductor material can be "tweaked" to generate hydrogen from water using sunlight, a revelation that may have the potential to bolster the renewable energy sector.

The research, published in the Physical Review Journal, was funded by the U.S. Department of Energy and led by scientists at the UK Center for Computational Sciences and the University of Louisville Conn Center for Renewable Energy Research.

The team demonstrated that an alloy formed by a two percent substitution of antimony in gallium nitride has electrical properties that enable solar light energy to split water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen through a process known as photoelectrochemical water splitting. The researchers found that when the alloy is submerged in water and exposed to sunlight, the chemical bond between the hydrogen and oxygen molecules break, allowing the hydrogen to be collected to separately.

Scientists: New Alloy Could Produce Hydrogen Fuel From Sunlight - International Business Times

I hope they capitalize on this.. Hydrogen fuel cells can replace gasoline if it was able to be mass produced like that.. And you wouldnt have to swap your real car for a battery operated toy...

 

[Big Fitz]

Do we get to hear about the unintended consequences before they happen ? Science tends to tell us the bad news way too late.

Don't blame science. Sometimes people refuse to hear the bad news until it's too late, e.g.AGW.

How apropos that you use that example. You're right. The science did warn too many of us too late that AGW is a total fraud. We've wasted trillions on a non-crisis that doesn't really exist anyway and we couldn't control it even if it did.

 

[Avatar9]

the ERORI for ethanol is negative and solar is less than 1 once you ditch the subsidies and governmental finagling to fudge the numbers.

Tar sands may not be as good as light sweet crude which is about 10 to 1, and outside of nuclear or hydro electric which are the only two better than oil. And with the technological improvements, it just gets better and better.

Which ethanol are you referring to? Corn? Sugar cane?

Could you cite your sources for these numbers, please?

 

[Big Fitz]

Cost of electricity by source - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Some very interesting data. Most agree that mirrors pinwheels and moonshine is not that cost effective. This is unfortunately only dealing with finanial outlay for energy which is a good parallel indicator, but not quite the same as ERORI. If I could actually find some honest numbers not attached to green or anti-green advocacy sites on this subject, I'd have posted them too.

I get a kick out of the estimates from California about the costs of energy resources, including subsidies, and it still looks ugly for ethanol et all.

This is even more interesting.

It's interesting to remember that all this includes subsidies in their prices. It looks dismal to appalling for wind and solar now, doesn't it? Only onshore wind faired as well as coal, but it still doesn't have many other ancillary factors computed in like density of energy as to the footprint of the generating plant, transmission costs and other related expenses.

So, it's not ERORI, because I can't find anything non propaganda anymore but it's the next best thing.

 

[chikenwing]

Those substances that end in ium's tend to be rare and expensive.

 

[Ernie S.]

Cool, how's about we divert the 50 odd billion Obama has earmarked for that fuckin' high speed rail bullshit that will lose money to this project? Great news though, but no mention of what the time horizon is. I'm assuming a number of years.

Nothing wrong with high speed rail. It's a good idea.

How about we take the TWO TRILLION DOLLARS we wasted in Iraq and Afghanistan and use that for alternative energy.

How about in stead you pony up the quarter million that was wasted on your education and we'll invest that.

 

[PLYMCO_PILGRIM]

Scientists have determined that an inexpensive semiconductor material can be "tweaked" to generate hydrogen from water using sunlight, a revelation that may have the potential to bolster the renewable energy sector.

The research, published in the Physical Review Journal, was funded by the U.S. Department of Energy and led by scientists at the UK Center for Computational Sciences and the University of Louisville Conn Center for Renewable Energy Research.

The team demonstrated that an alloy formed by a two percent substitution of antimony in gallium nitride has electrical properties that enable solar light energy to split water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen through a process known as photoelectrochemical water splitting. The researchers found that when the alloy is submerged in water and exposed to sunlight, the chemical bond between the hydrogen and oxygen molecules break, allowing the hydrogen to be collected to separately.

Scientists: New Alloy Could Produce Hydrogen Fuel From Sunlight - International Business Times

That would be awesome.

Now lets invest in this instead of high speed rails that no one will use!

 

[California Girl]

Cool, how's about we divert the 50 odd billion Obama has earmarked for that fuckin' high speed rail bullshit that will lose money to this project? Great news though, but no mention of what the time horizon is. I'm assuming a number of years.

Nothing wrong with high speed rail. It's a good idea.

How about we take the TWO TRILLION DOLLARS we wasted in Iraq and Afghanistan and use that for alternative energy.

If this is an example of left wing financial understanding, I can clearly understand exactly how the country got into such a fucking mess.

 

[Big Fitz]

Those substances that end in ium's tend to be rare and expensive.

But nothing is as expensive as handwaivium or dumbassium when you use it as the basis of an energy policy like our current pinwheels mirrors and moonshine crowd seem to believe. I am very much worried this is another perpetual motion philosopher's stone cold fusion snake oil generator... but I hope it is true.