Good job Science Cat!
This could be big...
Really Big...
Via Space Transport News comes this story on a ROOM TEMPERATURE hydrogen storage system that contains 30% more H2 than liquid hydrogen of equal volume!
More info here.
The down side would seem to be the use of Ruthenium as a catalyst, as it is not terribly common. Note however, that it is a bit more common than platinum and found in the same ores. Platinum is a big component of fuel cells anyway and is occasionally considered a deal breaker regards the technology.
It is possible that a cheaper catalyst might be developed, and platinum group metals are believed to be in abundace on the moon and in certain asteroids.
Regardless, the storage of hydrogen at room temperature and in this density is, it seems to me a HUGE story!
Wow! :)
2 comments:
Thanks for commenting!
Your point regards Hydrogen wells nonexistance is perfectly sound.
However, like most alti-fuels this is predicated on a huge influx of cheap electrical power (likely nukes...GO NUKES) to make it viable.
Given large enough energy reserves even biodiesel can be viable.
H2 is notoriously hard to store, this is room temperature and stores at 30% better density than liquid hydrogen. This does seem like a big deal. It is as you astutely point out, very inferior in energy density to gasoline. But it is, at least as easy to handle which makes quick fill-ups possible, thereby compensating for the shorter range.
My metro, running off an H2 engine would get ~10mpg. A diesel H2 engine might increase that by 50%. and fuel cells are advertised as being 50% more effiecent than diesels, so figure equivalent to 22mpg. That is annoying indeed compared to my 40mpg but perfectly in line with cars from a few decades ago. A bigger car would get less milage, but could carry a bigger tank, though of course with diminishing returns.
Note that the idea here is energy independance and nearly everything in it is renewable (save the uranium or thorium that powered the electrolysis).
This it seems to me is a step up from an electric car or a huge H2 pressurised tank.
It could also become utter vaporware if the only catalyst ends up being as precious as platinum......
Actually the energy density at 30% + sounds about right.
H2 has a very good WEIGHT to energy ratio. Its density sucks.
Your points about the 2 tank solution is of course on target, but the ability to store H2 at room temperature takes the big problem out of the game.
Gas and diesel are superb fuels, H2 cannot match them in density and convinience (it is the least dense thing in the universe afterall:) but gas and diesel are not going to be viable forever.
The issue is energy independance and dealing with a finite fossil fuel supply. That will require something else. Either biofuels, which have their own issues, or something like this. They will NOT be as good as petroleum, but this is more practical than a battery car. And they can be made pretty darn convienient. (the fuel truck that fills a station would simultaneously load itself with the waste borax for instance.
Regards the power issues, there will be nukes or we're screwed.
I'm betting that sooner or later we will start building them (nuke plants) again. Without non-fossil fuel sources of power, all futurism is dystopic and Malthusian.
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