Frequently
Asked Questions
1. Is hydrogen more dangerous than gasoline?
2. Is burning hydrogen like the hydrogen bomb?
3. Did hydrogen cause the Hindenburg to burn?
4. How much does hydrogen cost?
5. When will I be able to buy a hydrogen car?
6. How does a fuel cell work?
7. Won’t petroleum companies fight the introduction of hydrogen
as a fuel?
8. What will happen to all the water put into the
air? Will the climate be changed?
9. What is the difference between HYDROGEN and
HYDROZINE? We used HYDROZINE for fuel cells in 1965 at
Allis-Chalmers.
10.
What
is the difference between hydrogen combustion, and fuel cell
technology? Are they the same thing? It is very hard to find
information on hydrogen combustion, but relatively easy to learn
about fuel cells.
11.
How
was hydrogen named?
12. How can I convert my car to run on hydrogen?
13. I'm a 15 year old student who needs information
about HYDROGEN. I'm confused! I read a lot of things on your
website but I don't really get it. Can you please simply help me
explain the: History , Properties and uses of it?
14. For each positive there's a negative. What's
hydrogen's? I think that Hydrogen has the possibility of being far
safer and more superior than both nuclear - and fossil fuel - but
so far all I've heard is all the rosy news about Hydrogen - and
that makes me suspicious.
15. At what temperature does hydrogen liquefy?
16. Is there any way to invest in this industry at
the moment?
17. It seems that using salt water, as it is in most
oceans, would be a viable source of hydrogen. Is this true?
18. Is not hydrogen a carrier of energy, such as
electricity? Does it not take more energy to produce hydrogen than
is realized?
19. Is the storage of hydrogen efficient, space
wise?
20. How does it relate to gasoline or diesel
storage?
21. Is it practical for automobiles to have such a
huge storage tank?
22. How many protons and neutrons does hydrogen
have?
1. Is hydrogen more dangerous than gasoline?
Since any fuel
we use is flammable, it is inherently dangerous. Hydrogen is often
used as a gaseous fuel, which makes it similar to natural gas
and town gas, which have been used in America, Europe, and Asia
for heating and lighting for almost two centuries. One difference
is that hydrogen is nontoxic, so it’s not harmful to breathe.
It’s also so light that it scatters immediately upward when there
is a
leak, rather than pooling about, polluting groundwater, and soaking
into clothes. The end assessment is that when hydrogen is handled
with care appropriate to any gaseous fuel, it is safer than fuels
in standard use.
2. Is burning
hydrogen like the hydrogen bomb?
No. Burning hydrogen, just
like burning gasoline, natural gas, or a candle, is a chemical
reaction, which means that only the electrons get shifted around
and new compounds are made, like water, but the basic atoms are
the same. In a nuclear reaction, the actual nucleus of the atom
(the protons and neutrons) is changed.
3. Did
hydrogen cause the Hindenburg to burn?
No. It turns out
that the coating of the Hindenburg airship was treated with two
major components of rocket fuel, aluminum and iron oxide. When
the airship was docking in 1937, an electrical discharge ignited
the skin, and the fire raced over the surface of the airship.
In fact, 35 of the 37 people who died, perished from jumping or
falling to the ground. Only two of the victims died of burns,
and these were from the burning coating and on-board diesel. The
hydrogen burned quickly, upward and away from the people.
4. How
much does hydrogen cost?
It depends on how you make it.
Until recently,
the most inexpensive production method was using steam reformation
of natural gas (heating methane under high pressure with a
catalyst in a steam atmosphere). When the cost of
natural gas was about $2 per MMBtu (Million Btu) hydrogen was
produced for as little as US $0.96 per kilogram, at the production
plant. In 2005, the cost of natural gas rose above $13 per
MMBtu, with the cost of hydrogen rising proportionally. Other methods, such as electrically breaking water (H2O)
into hydrogen and oxygen (electrolysis), chemical reactions, and
biomass digestion vary in their prices. Hydrogen produced
from wind farm electricity is now the cheapest way to produce
hydrogen. There are many ways to produce
hydrogen, and they will become more competitive in the future.
See the California Fuel Cell Partnership map
for hydrogen fueling stations in California.
5. When
will I be able to buy a hydrogen car?
Some HICE
(Hydrogen Internal Combustion Engine) vehicles are available
today. Fuel cell vehicles will be available
later.
Below is a
timeline for hydrogen automobile availability, based on
announcements by the manufacturers.
|
Manufacturer
|
Details |
Available for Fleets |
Available to Public |
| BMW |
BMW announced on February 20, 2006 that they
will sell a dual fuel (hydrogen or gasoline at the flip of a
switch) version of its 7 series model within two
years. News
article |
February 2008 |
February 2008 |
| Daimler-Chrysler |
Daimler-Chrysler claims to have the largest
fleet of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles in operation at over
100. News
article. |
Not announced |
Not announced |
| Ford |
|
Not announced |
Not announced |
| GM |
Hydrogen only fuel cell: News
article. |
2010-2015 |
2010-2015 |
| H2Logic ApS |
This "H2 Truck" is a small, 3-wheel
vehicle used for warehouse, airport luggage hauling,
hospitals and ports. The package for sale includes an
electrolyzer for producing hydrogen. News
article. |
Now |
Not for public use |
| Honda |
Hydrogen only fuel cell: News
article. |
2008-2010 |
2008-2010 |
| Hydrogen Labs |
Hydrogen Labs modifies Ford Crown Victoria
police vehicles for resale to police fleets. News
article. |
Now |
Not announced |
| Hyundai |
|
Not announced |
Not announced |
| Mazda |
Mazda started leasing a limited number of the
RX-8 Hydrogen RE (dual fuel) model in Japan in February
2006: News
article. Mass production will begin around October
2008: News
article. |
February 2006 in Japan only. |
October 2008 |
| Nissan |
|
Not announced |
Not announced |
| Peugeot |
Hydrogen only fuel cell: News
article. |
After 2010 |
After 2010 |
| Quantum |
Quantum modifies Toyota Prius hybrid vehicles
to run on pure hydrogen. |
Now. They will sell to any fleet
customer with a minimum order of 5 vehicles. |
Not announced |
| Toyota |
|
Not announced |
Not announced |
| Volkswagen |
|
Not announced |
Not announced |
6. How
does a fuel cell work?
A fuel cell is fed hydrogen and air
and puts out electricity, heat, and water. The hydrogen gas going
in gets split into separate protons and electrons by a catalyst,
and the protons travel through a membrane that doesn’t let the
electrons through. The electrons must find another way, such as
through a wire that is provided. The electrons traveling through
the wire to meet up with the protons make an electrical current,
which does work. On the other side of the membrane, the hydrogen
protons and electrons are reunited in the presence of atmospheric
air (a source of oxygen), which produces only heat and pure water
in the exhaust. An excellent animated graphic of an operating
fuel cell can be found at: http://www.humboldt.edu/~serc/animation.html.
7. Won’t
petroleum companies fight the introduction of hydrogen as a fuel?
Some of
them have indeed fought the move to hydrogen. Lee R. Raymond, CEO of ExxonMobil, did not want his company involved with developing hydrogen as an alternative fuel. However, many visionary companies, such as Shell, BP
and ChevronTexaco, see the remarkable possibilities of hydrogen as a
clean fuel, and embrace the business opportunities that go along
with the evolution to the hydrogen economy. As such, those “petroleum
companies” are becoming “energy companies.”
8.
What will happen to all the water put into the air? Will the
climate be changed?
The amount
of water put into the air from hydrogen combustion won't even be
detected by your local meteorologist, when checking the moisture
content of the air. Consider that all internal combustion engines
that burn fossil fuels, such as gasoline, diesel or natural gas,
produce water vapor that vents into the air. Changing engines to
pure hydrogen will produce about the same amount of water vapor,
while eliminating all of the carbon and sulfur emissions.
Hydrogen Now supports using renewable energy to produce hydrogen,
via the process of electrolysis, where water is separated into its
two basic components: hydrogen and oxygen. When hydrogen is burned
in an engine, or used in a fuel cell, the end product is water.
The net result of the complete circle is that there is no more or
no less water in the environment than at the beginning of the
cycle.
Some other points of interest:
1) When gasoline, diesel or natural gas is burned, water vapor is
produced. Burning hydrogen instead of these fuels will emit about
the same amount of water vapor.
2) The amount of water emitted by automobiles using hydrogen is so
insignificant that it will have no effect on weather.
3) Burning hydrogen instead of fossil fuels will clean the air.
4) Each gallon of gasoline requires 18 gallons of water during the
refining process. Much of this water is vented to the atmosphere
as steam.
5) Burning fossil fuels add sulfur oxides (resulting in acid
rain), nitrogen oxides, soot and other pollutants which greatly
affect weather throughout the world. Burning hydrogen produces
none of the same pollutants, except minor amounts of nitrogen
oxides, which can be controlled by modifying the engines properly.
9.
What is the difference between HYDROGEN and HYDROZINE? We used
HYDROZINE for fuel cells in 1965 at Allis-Chalmers.
Hydrogen is
the most basic element in the universe, consisting of only one
proton and one electron. It's chemical symbol is H. When combined
with oxygen, it produces water.
Hydrazine (N2H4) is commonly used as a liquid rocket fuel.
Allis-Chalmers developed a fuel cell in 1964 using
hydrazine-oxygen for a one-man submarine tested by the Electric
Boat Company. The reference is at this web page: http://www.fuelcelltoday.com/FuelCellToday/FCTFiles/FCTArticleFiles/Article_567_NicheTransport0303.pdf.
According to NASA, hydrazine is "costly, corrosive and
hazardous". NASA currently uses hydrazine in the Auxiliary
Power Unit (APU) of the space shuttle. However, due to its
toxicity, it is scheduled to be replaced by a better battery
system. Other fuel cells on the space shuttle use pure hydrogen.
10.
What
is the difference between hydrogen combustion, and fuel cell
technology? Are they the same thing? It is very hard to find
information on hydrogen combustion, but relatively easy to learn
about fuel cells.
Combustion
simply means "burning". When you burn hydrogen in the
presence of oxygen, you produce heat and water. One example of
combustion is the burning of hydrogen (or gasoline or diesel or
natural gas or propane) inside an internal combustion engine of a
car. Striking a match, burning a piece of paper or lighting a fire
in a fireplace produces combustion.
Fuel cells
combine hydrogen and oxygen in an electrochemical reaction to
produce electricity, heat and water.
11.
How
was hydrogen named?
Hydrogen was
named by Antoine Lavoisier in 1783. A Frenchman, he called it
hydrogène, naming it after the Greek words hydor and gennan (or
geinomai) roughly translated as "water generating" or
"water forming". You can read the full story at http://www.vanderkrogt.net/elements/elem/h.html.
12.
How can I convert my car to run on hydrogen?
Congratulations
on your decision to convert your car to hydrogen. You are to be
commended for your efforts to clean the air and reduce our
dependence on foreign oil.
As a
starting point, take a look at our Automobile page.
13.
I'm a 15 year old student who needs information about HYDROGEN.
I'm confused! I read a lot of things on your website but I don't
really get it. Can you please simply help me explain the: History
, Properties and uses of it?
I would
suggest that you read the book The Phoenix Project, by Harry
Braun. You can order it from http://www.phoenixproject.net, or
from online booksellers, such as Amazon or Barnes & Noble.
14.
For each positive there's a negative. What's hydrogen's? I think
that Hydrogen has the possibility of being far safer and more
superior than both nuclear - and fossil fuel - but so far all I've
heard is all the rosy news about Hydrogen - and that makes me
suspicious.
It is rather
difficult to come up with any substantial negatives, but there are
some challenges ahead.
a) Storage.
Since hydrogen is so light, it is difficult to store a lot of it
in a small tank. However, Dynetek Industries (among other
companies) is currently testing a 12,500 psi tank for gaseous
hydrogen. Both Ford and GM are working with 10,000 psi tanks in
their prototypes (Ford's Model U and GM's Hy-Wire).
b)
Distribution. There is not a widespread distribution channel for
getting hydrogen to the masses. A new infrastructure will need to
be put in place. It will take a lot of capital to build this
infrastructure.
c) Cost.
Hydrogen is currently much more expensive than gasoline ---
primarily due to the massive tax breaks that are given to the oil
companies. However, as we saw in 2005 and 2006, gasoline and other
petroleum products will become more and more expensive as we
approach peak oil. Simultaneously, new technologies will
allow the cost of hydrogen continue to decline in price.
d) Danger of
hydrogen. Like any other combustible gas or liquid, hydrogen is
flammable, and even explosive under certain conditions. However,
hydrogen has a long history of safety; and the technology and
practices to keep it safe are already in place. Many experts think
that hydrogen is safer than any of the fossil fuels.
e) Fuel cell
challenges. Fuel cells are currently too expensive. Many of them
also have problems running in very cold weather; although the
manufacturers are working to overcome problems with cold weather. The
biggest challenge in the long term for fuel cells may be that
there is not enough copper in the world to produce all of the
electric motors that are going to be required for fuel cells.
Aluminum can be substituted, although it will take up more space
in a motor than copper will. We believe scientists will come up
with new motors that do not require so much copper, or that may
use materials we haven't even considered yet.
15.
At what temperature does hydrogen liquefy?
Hydrogen
becomes liquid at -423 F.
16.
Is there any way to invest in this industry at the moment?
Yes, you can
get a lot of information at the following web site: http://www.h2fc.com/defaultIE4.html.
17.
It seems that using salt water, as it is in most oceans, would be
a viable source of hydrogen. Is this true?
All
commercial electrolyzers require fairly pure water, usually as
pure as potable water. Some of them require deionized water.
Commercial electrolyzers that will accept standard potable water
have additional filtering systems built in. The cleaner the water
is that enters the system, the less frequently filters will have
to be changed.
The only way
seawater can be used is if it is distilled first. Commercial
electrolyzers use electrolytes that are designed to provide the
most efficient operation possible. You would not want to mix it with
salt water.
Many of the
commercial electrolyzers use a PEM (Proton Exchange Membrane - the
same type used in fuel cells). If the water is not deionized, it
would quickly clog up the system.
18.
Is not hydrogen a carrier of energy, such as electricity? Does it
not take more energy to produce hydrogen than is realized?
Yes,
hydrogen is an energy carrier. It is not energy itself, but
requires energy to produce it. Hydrogen Now! promotes the use of
renewable energy to produce hydrogen. Since renewable energy, such
as wind, is inexhaustible, we will never run out of the ability to
produce all the hydrogen we need. The only costs are installation
of wind turbines, the equipment for electrolysis and
transportation. The same
applies to solar and geothermal resources. It does take energy to
produce hydrogen. However, it also takes energy to produce
gasoline, including drilling, pumping, storing, refining and
transportation. A better way is to produce hydrogen from renewable
energy, totally eliminating the dirty pollution of the oil
refinery process.
19.
Is the storage of hydrogen efficient, space wise?
Hydrogen
does occupy more space than any other fuel, whether it be in
gaseous or liquid state. However, new tanks are providing for more
storage of compressed hydrogen gas. The U.S. government recently
certified 5,000 psi hydrogen tanks for use in automobiles. The
German government has certified 10,000 psi tanks; and the U.S. is
soon to follow. Dynetek Industries has also developed a 12,500 psi
tank that should be certified within the next two years. BMW uses
liquid hydrogen, which provides more hydrogen per volume than
gaseous hydrogen, but is more expensive to produce. Liquid
hydrogen tanks also require venting of the gas as it warms in the
tank. BMW claims that their tanks will not require any venting for
up to one week.
20.
How does it relate to gasoline or diesel storage?
Hydrogen has
more energy per weight, but less energy per volume than any other
fuel. One kilogram of hydrogen has approximately the same amount
of energy as one gallon of gasoline. Hydrogen is ideal for use in
jet airplanes because it is so light. Jet airplanes that use
hydrogen require larger fuel tanks, but, because hydrogen is so
light, the wings can be smaller, the engines less powerful and the
number of passengers can be increased. Note that if the airplanes
that had hit the WTC towers in New York had been carrying
hydrogen, instead of jet fuel, the towers would still be standing
today. The fire from hydrogen would have been over in a matter of
seconds, meaning that there would not have been enough prolonged
heat to melt the steel girders. Airbus is currently manufacturing
a new plane to run on hydrogen, called the "Cryoplane".
The Russian airline, Aeroflot, is also working on a hydrogen
airplane for commercial passenger travel.
21.
Is it practical for automobiles to have such a huge storage tank?
Hydrogen
tanks do require more space than gasoline tanks. However, they are
much safer. Similar tanks have been used in natural gas vehicles
for years. They can withstand armor-piercing bullets and dynamite,
with no explosion or leaks. A hydrogen tank behind the passenger
compartment actually makes the entire car safer from rear-end
collisions. So, I would say it is much more practical than a
gasoline tank, which will rupture, causing the gasoline to ignite,
and frequently, explode. A gasoline fire in an automobile can
engulf the passenger compartment, burning passengers to death.
Gasoline wicks to the skin when spilled on a person. If hydrogen
is spilled, it disperses quickly into the atmosphere. There is no
radiant heat from burning hydrogen, so a hydrogen flame will not
burn skin unless the body is put directly into the middle of the
flame.
22.
How many protons and neutrons does hydrogen have?
1 proton
1 electron
0 neutrons
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