Chemists offer new hydrogen purification method

[OKIsItJustMe]

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2009-02/nu-con021109.php

Public release date: 15-Feb-2009

Contact: Megan Fellman
[email protected]
847-491-3115
Northwestern University

Chemists offer new hydrogen purification method

President Barack Obama's pursuit of energy independence promises to accelerate research and development for alternative energy sources -- solar, wind and geothermal power, biofuels, hydrogen and biomass, to name a few.

For the hydrogen economy, one of the roadblocks to success is the hydrogen itself. Hydrogen needs to be purified before it can be used as fuel for fuel cells, but current methods are not very clean or efficient.

Northwestern University chemist Mercouri G. Kanatzidis, together with postdoctoral research associate Gerasimos S. Armatas, has developed a class of new porous materials, structured like honeycomb, that is very effective at separating hydrogen from complex gas mixtures. The materials exhibit the best selectivity in separating hydrogen from carbon dioxide and methane, to the best of the researchers' knowledge.

The results, which offer a new way to separate gases not available before, will be published online Feb. 15 by the journal Nature Materials. The materials are a new family of germanium-rich chalcogenides.

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http://www.nature.com/nmat/journal/vaop/ncurrent/abs/nmat2381.html

[Hope And Change]

1. Truly amazing.K & R!

[wtmusic]

2. Hydrogen is not an energy source

and until controlled fusion becomes practical, it never will be.

"Hydrogen is not an energy resource, except in the hypothetical context of commercial nuclear fusion power plants using deuterium or tritium, a technology presently far from development. The Sun's energy comes from nuclear fusion of hydrogen, but this process is difficult to achieve controllably on Earth. Elemental hydrogen from solar, biological, or electrical sources require more energy to make it than is obtained by burning it, so in these cases hydrogen functions as an energy carrier, like a battery. Hydrogen may be obtained from fossil sources (such as methane), but these sources are unsustainable."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrogen

That minor detail will not stop the petrochemical industry from promoting a "hydrogen economy", because they are ideally poised - the largest industrial use of hydrogen is in the processing of fossil fuel. And they gotta sell something.

[OKIsItJustMe]

4. Fusion is not necessary to produce hydrogen

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrogen#Thermochemical

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Thermochemical

There are more than 200 thermochemical cycles which can be used for water splitting, around a dozen of these cycles such as the iron oxide cycle, cerium(IV) oxide-cerium(III) oxide cycle, zinc zinc-oxide cycle, sulfur-iodine cycle, copper-chlorine cycle and hybrid sulfur cycle are under research and in testing phase to produce hydrogen and oxygen from water and heat without using electricity. A number of laboratories (including in France, Germany, Greece, Japan, and the USA) are developing thermochemical methods to produce hydrogen from solar energy and water.

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xEdQRVQtffw

http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2008/oxygen-0731.html

'Major discovery' from MIT primed to unleash solar revolution

Scientists mimic essence of plants' energy storage system

Anne Trafton, News Office
July 31, 2008

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Requiring nothing but abundant, non-toxic natural materials, this discovery could unlock the most potent, carbon-free energy source of all: the sun. "This is the nirvana of what we've been talking about for years," said MIT's Daniel Nocera, the Henry Dreyfus Professor of Energy at MIT and senior author of a paper describing the work in the July 31 issue of Science. "Solar power has always been a limited, far-off solution. Now we can seriously think about solar power as unlimited and soon."

Inspired by the photosynthesis performed by plants, Nocera and Matthew Kanan, a postdoctoral fellow in Nocera's lab, have developed an unprecedented process that will allow the sun's energy to be used to split water into hydrogen and oxygen gases. Later, the oxygen and hydrogen may be recombined inside a fuel cell, creating carbon-free electricity to power your house or your electric car, day or night.

The key component in Nocera and Kanan's new process is a new catalyst that produces oxygen gas from water; another catalyst produces valuable hydrogen gas. The new catalyst consists of cobalt metal, phosphate and an electrode, placed in water. When electricity -- whether from a photovoltaic cell, a wind turbine or any other source -- runs through the electrode, the cobalt and phosphate form a thin film on the electrode, and oxygen gas is produced.

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"This is a major discovery with enormous implications for the future prosperity of humankind," said Barber, the Ernst Chain Professor of Biochemistry at Imperial College London. "The importance of their discovery cannot be overstated since it opens up the door for developing new technologies for energy production thus reducing our dependence for fossil fuels and addressing the global climate change problem."

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(Follow the link for a video.)


http://www.physorg.com/news147451495.html

A Promising Catalyst for Solar-Based Hydrogen Energy Production

December 2nd, 2008 in Physics / Materials

(PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists have found that a polymer material is an excellent catalyst in a process to produce hydrogen fuel using sunlight and water. The material meets the basic requirements for an ideal catalyst -- including being abundant, easy to work with, and non-toxic -- and could help this "green" alternative-energy production method become mainstream.

Creating hydrogen gas by splitting water (H₂O) molecules with solar energy is a promising way of generating hydrogen fuel, which, by either being burned directly or used in fuel cells, can power many types of vehicles, including automobiles, buses, and even airplanes.

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The material investigated by Wang and his colleagues is carbon nitride that has been "polymerized" into molecule chains. This form of carbon nitride was first synthesized in 1834. The group went a step further, using a heating/condensation process to force the chains to form layered sheets with structures similar to graphite, a highly ordered form of carbon.

The carbon nitride was then powdered and added to water containing a "reagent" material that donates electrons to the catalysis reaction. When the mixture is illuminated, the water molecules split into positive hydrogen ions and oxygen atoms. The catalyst's carbon atoms assist by providing locations for the hydrogen-ions to reduce to H₂ -- a process by which the nitrogen atoms "donate" electrons to the ions so they can reform into diatomic hydrogen. The nitrogen atoms help with the opposite process, oxidation, helping the oxygen atoms form O₂ molecules.

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[wtmusic]

5. How do you produce hydrogen using fusion?

Fusion produces helium. From hydrogen.

You can produce pure hydrogen any number of ways and use it to provide power, all of which are roughly 50% more wasteful (less efficient) than storing the energy in electrochemical devices (batteries).

Hydrogen is showing incredible promise as an empty PR gimmick, however.

[OKIsItJustMe]

6. Please, don't let the facts get in your way

I mean, don't bother to look at the stuff in my post. Whatever you do, don't read this:

http://www.eetimes.com/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=209900956

MIT claims 24/7 solar power

R. Colin Johnson
(07/31/2008 2:00 PM EDT)

PORTLAND, Ore. — Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have combined a liquid catalyst with photovoltaic cells to achieve what they claim is a solar energy system that could generate electricity around the clock.

A liquid catalyst was added to water before electrolysis to achieve what the researchers claim is almost 100-percent efficiency. When combined with photovoltaic cells to store energy chemically, the resulting solar energy systems could generate electricity around the clock, the MIT team said.

"The hard part of getting water to split is not the hydrogen -- platinum as a catalyst works fine for the hydrogen. But platinum works very poorly for oxygen, making you use much more energy," said http://techtv.mit.edu/videos/633-daniel-nocera-describes-new-process-for-storing-solar-energy">MIT chemistry professor Daniel Nocera. "What we have done is made a catalyst work for the oxygen part without any extra energy. In fact, with our catalyst almost 100 percent of the current used for electrolysis goes into making oxygen and hydrogen."

Nickel oxide catalysts are currently used to boost the efficiency of electrolyzers, and they worked equally well in MIT's formulation, Nocera acknowledged. He added that the toxicity of nickel oxide forces the use of expensive, hermetically-sealed water containers. MIT's patented catalyst formulation is "green," Nocera said, and can be used in inexpensive open containers.

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And please! Since everyone knows how expensive and inefficient fuel cells are, don't bother to read this either!
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn16547-carbon-catalyst-could-herald-cutprice-fuel-cells.html

Carbon catalyst could herald cut-price fuel cells

11:13 06 February 2009 by Stephen Battersby

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Carbon nanotubes had previously been shown to catalyse the fuel-cell reaction, but they were much less effective than platinum nanoparticles.

It had been thought that their slight catalytic properties were caused by traces of iron left over from the manufacturing process, but Dai's group have discovered that the iron actually hinders catalysis.

They grew nanotubes doped with a trace of nitrogen using a process called chemical vapour deposition, in which nanotubes grow up from a base of iron nanoparticles. Then they removed the iron.

…

"They are even better than platinum, long regarded as the best catalyst," says Dai. The team's device produces four times as much electric current as it would using platinum. And, while platinum nanoparticles can lose their effectiveness when they cluster together or become tainted by carbon monoxide, the nanotubes are immune to these degradations.

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[wtmusic]

7. Please, don't let the first law of thermodynamics get in your way

It's called "conservation of energy" and it means that whatever chemical energy you get out of hydrogen you have to first put into it (unless you have a hidden source of pure hydrogen you're not telling anyone about).

All these developments you're citing are wonderful and will enable large petrochemical companies to extract hydrogen from natural gas with greater efficiency. Which they can then use to crack crude oil to fuel the world while the world is waiting for that elusive pie-in-the-sky "practical hydrogen transportation", which doesn't exist and never will.

Just perhaps take a moment to realize that your bubbly enthusiasm is not helping the enviornment but setting it back. You really haven't a clue.

[OKIsItJustMe]

8. Thermodynamics apply to batteries as well

"And that means that whatever chemical energy you get out of one, you have to first put into it."

And of course, continuing on the theme, no matter which system you use for storing energy, you will lose some. (Fuel cells are not 100% efficient, and neither are batteries.)

Fuel cells have many advantages over batteries:
http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=1797861

Environ Health Perspect. 2007 January; 115(1): A38–A41.

PMCID: PMC1797861
http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/about/copyright.html">Copyright This is an Open Access article: verbatim copying and redistribution of this article are permitted in all media for any purpose

Environews
Innovations

BEYOND BATTERIES: PORTABLE HYDROGEN FUEL CELLS

Carol Potera

Mention hydrogen fuel cells, and most people envision hydrogen-powered cars as an alternative to the gas-guzzling and polluting internal combustion engine. In fact, many much smaller applications also could benefit from this nonpolluting technology. However, despite the billions of dollars being poured into the research and development of hydrogen fuel cells, few products have been commercialized.

To jump-start the hydrogen fuel cell economy, Larry Bawden and Lee Arikara cofounded Jadoo Power Systems in 2001. While demonstrating their technology at a convention in 2002, an observer remarked that the creation of electricity from hydrogen seemed like magic. The company’s name grew from that comment—Jadoo means “magic” in Hindi. “We wanted a nontechnical name to brand ourselves as a provider of solutions, not another technical house,” says Bawden, Jadoo’s president and CEO.

A small company with 40 workers, Jadoo searches for applications that require 100–500 watts of power (a hydrogen car, for comparison, needs 50,000–100,000 watts to give it the pep of a typical gasoline-powered car). Jadoo first targeted the cumbersome and inefficient batteries hauled around by television news crews. Television camera operators typically carry three rechargeable “brick” batteries, each weighing about six pounds and costing $500. An additional battery charger costs $1,500. According to Arikara, Jadoo’s vice president of business development, television stations spend an average of $3,500 per camera to outfit them with batteries. Further, while swapping out a dead video battery, all power stops, and critical film footage can be lost.

This made the broadcast industry an ideal niche market to demonstrate that hydrogen fuel cells could do the job better and cheaper. The experts at Jadoo designed and manufactured a 100-watt hydrogen fuel cell system, called N-Gen™, to fit professional video cameras. N-Gen weighs five pounds, and it’s fueled by a two-pound hydrogen-filled canister called N-Stor™. A small reservoir retains enough hydrogen to power the cameras for up to 30 seconds while replacing an empty hydrogen canister, allowing the camera to run continuously.

Rechargeable batteries lose capacity with each recharge and eventually are discarded, adding to llandfill contamination with metals such as nickel and cadmium. But fuel cells do not discharge and degrade over time. Theoretically, the metal hydride should not wear out, though in practical use it could deteriorate. The company recommends that customers return the canisters every five years so the metal hydride can be checked.

A new rechargeable brick battery runs for about two hours, whereas N-Gen can last four to five hours before needing a refill of hydrogen. A brick battery takes about six hours to recharge, up to six times longer than it takes to refill an N-Stor canister. In short, television camera operators can replace three inefficient six-pound brick batteries with one highly efficient N-Gen system at a total of seven pounds. Moreover, at $2,050, the N-Gen portable power system costs about one-third less than three brick batteries and a battery charger.

The CBS affiliate in Sacramento, California, is testing the Jadoo system. “We’ve had zero problems, and it delivers smooth, steady voltage far longer than any battery pack,” says Kalo Alexandra, remote systems engineer. He’d like Jadoo to reduce the size of the fuel cell and hydrogen canister and add hookups for other equipment like lights and microphones. Overall, the Jadoo system “gives every indication of sounding the death knell for brick batteries in the broadcast industry,” Alexandra says.

Video engineer Dave Titchenal adopted Jadoo’s technology for his video production company in Modesto, California. His crews set up cameras and video projection equipment in large auditoriums and football stadiums, connected to outlets by hundreds of yards of taped-down electrical cords—which feels like miles when you’re on your knees taping it down. He’s replaced all those cords with Jadoo fuel cells. “It’s fabulous to know that you don’t have to be tied to a power grid,” says Titchenal.

How It Works

“The basic difference between a battery and a fuel cell,” Bawden notes, “is that a battery stores electrons, but our fuel cells make electrons.” Inside a fuel cell, hydrogen and oxygen from the air combine to produce electricity and water vapor, which stays confined to the surface of the N-Stor cartridge until it evaporates. No fuel is burned in this electrochemical process, so no polluting by-products (such as carbon dioxide) are emitted. As long as there’s a supply of hydrogen, electricity flows in a fuel cell.

The N-Gen power system measures about 4 inches by 4 inches by 7 inches, and the N-Stor canisters come in two sizes, holding 130 or 360 watt-hours of energy. The smaller canister, which is used on TV cameras, is about the size of a 12-ounce soda can; the larger size is the same diameter but twice as tall. The fuel canister quickly snaps into a port on the N-Gen. A digital display tells how much fuel remains and the amount of power (watts) being used.

Inside the N-Stor canister, metal hydrides soak up the hydrogen gas like a sponge, tripling the amount of hydrogen that can be packed into the same space. Since the hydride absorbs the hydrogen, no compression is required.

The company is exploring alternative ways to store hydrogen, such as sodium borohydride made from borax. A borohydride canister would weigh significantly less than the current metal hydride type. Because sodium borohydride generates hydrogen simply by adding water, it would not need hydrogen gas refills. Customers would “add water to borohydride packs to activate them, just like astronauts make Tang,” says Bawden.

In the meantime, when a canister needs refilling, it is inserted into Jadoo’s FillOne™ station, which hooks up to a hydrogen tank through a hose. The FillOne station calculates and displays the refill time, usually about two hours for a 130 canister or four hours for a 360. A larger FillPoint™ station refills four 130 canisters simultaneously in about an hour. Or users can ship empty N-Stor canisters to Jadoo for refilling.

As fuel cells are becoming accepted at TV stations, most are buying the larger FillPoint at a cost of about $1,700. The Jadoo system uses industrial-grade hydrogen that is easy to buy through local welding supply stores. A “K-cylinder” of compressed hydrogen, enough to fill about 55 to 60 N-Stor 130 canisters, costs around $50.

Because the original N-Gen system was created for the broadcast industry, it contains the same interface found on rechargeable brick batteries to attach it to video cameras. To make N-Gen more versatile, Jadoo has since added a 12-volt direct current interface (like the one that plugs into a car cigarette lighter) and a 110-volt alternating current interface for use with appliances that plug in to the wall. In independent testing of N-Gen for the FuelCellWorks.com news website, the system powered a fan, electric screwdriver, fax machine, electric razor, bug zapper, food mixer, and laptop and desktop computers.

…

http://www.jadoopower.com/Applications/CommercialProductsOverview.aspx

[Massacure]

3. If hydrogen is ever used at all, it is going to be as a step in Fischer-Tropsch

Creating syngas with biomass and creating hydrogen with electrolysis and then combining them with Fischer-Tropsch. It is just so much easier to transport a fuel when it is not a gas at at earthly temperatures and pressures.