the basics
Random Thoughts on Hydrogen
Hydrogen today seems an odd mix
of facts, fallacies, fictions, and frauds.
We can replace some misconceptions
with these hard facts…
Hydrogen on earth is not a fuel. It is
only an energy carrier.
There is more hydrogen in gasoline
than there is in liquid hydrogen.
Electrolysis is not usually your best
way to generate hydrogen.
Hydrogen combustion emphatically
does not implode.
The available energy in a hydrogen
flame is very low.
No hydrogen flame has the ability to
truly melt tungsten.
Solar electricity today is much too
valuable to waste on hydrogen apps.
Equipment amortizations and time
value of money engineering economics
must be included in energy analysis.
So, today’s oil is at least four times
more "free" than solar energy is.
Hydrogen improperly burned in air
creates polluting nitrogen oxides.
Hydrogen can rot metal through an
embrittlement and will easily diffuse
through most other materials.
A closed-loop electrolysizer stops a
car in less than its coasting distance.
Pulsing, ac, or sparking will only
reduce electrolysis efficiency.
Water is not a fuel. It is an ash.
Normally, a monatomic gas only
briefly exists in tiny amounts.
Hydrogen creates severe and largely
unresolved safety issues.
Energy Carriers
Any intelligent energy discussion
has to start with a crucial point. There
are substances which are capable of
delivering net energy to the economy.
There are other substances that only
can move energy around.
Let’s use these definitions…
fuel– a substance which is capable of
delivering net BTU’s of new energy to the
on-the-books economy.
energy carrier– a substance that’s only
able to move a previously aquired energy
from one place to another.
Yeah, there’s lots of free hydrogen
on our sun and on other moons and
planets. And a few rare gas wells do
release some free hydrogen. But here
on earth, hydrogen is not a fuel! At least
not by our strict definition. Hydrogen
is simply an energy carrier that you
will have to fill with energy before
you can empty it. Just like a lead acid
battery or a flywheel.
No terrestrial non-nuclear means to
produce hydrogen is known that does not
consume more energy than it delivers.
So, you always waste energy when
you create and use hydrogen.
Just how useful is hydrogen as an
energy carrier? Here’s how hydrogen
compares against gasoline: Gasoline
offers around 9000 watt hours per liter
and 13,000 watt hours per kilogram of
storage. Hydrogen at its normal STP
pressures offers an outstanding 39,000
watt hours per kilogram. But only a
pitiful 3.5 watt hours per liter.
We can immediately see the major
problem here. Hydrogen uses up too
much volume to be very useful as an
energy carrier. Uh, compress it into a
liquid? Well, yes, but you’ll increase
your costs and losses. Your efficiency
goes down. Safety and infrastructure
issues appear. And there still is four
times less hydrogen in any gallon of
liquid hydrogen than there will be in
a gallon of gasoline.
So the key problem is finding a safe
and dense way to store hydrogen. All
sorts of methods are being explored.
Some involve hydrides while others try
mechanical carbon bonding. Sadly, no
means is known that makes hydrogen use
practical for personal vehicles.
Just my thoughts and experience on the
topic of hydrogen production. To use
hydrogen to 'prop' up the usefulness or
efficiencies of gasoline is a total
farce. Backward thinking and ridiculous.
Injecting CNG or Butane into the intake
would be more useful in assisting and
enhancing the BTU burn of gasoline to
the point of stretching out MPG ratings,
but then, what's the sense?
CP
