Hydrogen storage no longer up in the air

[mik]

http://www.abc.net.au/science/articl...16/3569478.htm

Stuart Gary
ABC


Scientists have developed a safe and practical method of storing hydrogen in nanoparticles, opening the way for its wide spread use as a fuel source.

Hydrogen has long been touted as a fuel of the future with applications ranging from powering buildings and cars, to portable electronic devices such as computers.

However, developing a useful means of storage has been a major stumbling block.

Existing methods involve cryogenic storage at extremely high pressures.

Meganne Christian and Dr Kondo-Francois Aguey-Zinsou of the University of New South Wales have successfully used a core-shell nanostructure to store, release and reabsorb hydrogen at practical temperatures and pressures.

The research, reported in the journal ACS Nano, uses tiny particles of synthesised sodium borohydride encased in nickel shells.

Aguey-Zinsou says the compound, which includes lithium and sodium, was known to be an effective storage material because it could bond large amounts of hydrogen.

"Hydrogen is a gas of very low density, so if you want to power a car with it you need big volumes," says Aguey-Zinsou. "[You would need] a five metre diameter tank to drive 400 kilometres."

"But sodium borohydride acts like a sponge, allowing you to store the same amount of hydrogen in something the size of a normal car fuel tank."

Initial hurdles
Normally the compound could only be used once because it requires temperatures above 550° Celsius to release hydrogen, causing it to break apart. It can be recombined, but only under extremely high temperatures and pressures.

"Encasing the compound in tiny nanoshells lets us fine tune their properties, making them reversible at lower pressures and temperatures, allowing them to continually reabsorb and release hydrogen," says Aguey-Zinsou.

"Initial hydrogen release is now happening at just 50°C with significant release at 350°C."

Ongoing research
Aguey-Zinsou and colleagues are currently working to better understand the features of the nanostructure, and are building a demonstration project showcasing the technology.

"It will use electricity from solar and wind energy to extract hydrogen out of water using an electrolyser," says Aguey-Zinsou. "This is then stored in a tank of sodium borohydride and used to drive a fuel cell to generate electricity at night or when there's no wind."

"The first commercial applications could be just three or four years away."

[XP6]

Thats a pretty big achievement... help us keep those pistons pumping way into the future!

[MWTB]

Fantastic news!

[2011G6E]

Great news...still doesn't get away from the fact that hydrogen is an energy negative fuel that takes far more energy to produce than is contained in the final product, making it effectively useless as a fuel for vehicles except as an interesting technical exercise.

It'll come if they ever develop a catalyst that will produce hydrogen at low cost in energy and price.
I wonder how the space of the storage would change? I recall the V12 BMW sedan they built which had a tank the size of a 44 gallon drum taking up the boot and part of the back seats, and which produced less power than the V8 version because of the low energy content of the fuel...

I was a little concerned at the sentence "Initial hydrogen release is now happening at just 50°C with significant release at 350°C."
I wouldn't feel comfortable with a highly flammable fuel source for my vehicle that is sitting there having to be heated to 350 degrees C to get it to release "significant" amounts of fuel...

[Luke Plaizier]

So what does this actually mean? Would it be a sand that you pour in your tank and pour out again when empty? Or is it capable of absorbing hydrogen at one temperature and then releasing it at another?

i imagine if you are at a fuel station waiting for your tank to cool down that might be inconvenient. But dumping and refilling might be practical.

Lukeyson

[Nikked]

Originally Posted by 2011G6E

Great news...still doesn't get away from the fact that hydrogen is an energy negative fuel that takes far more energy to produce than is contained in the final product, making it effectively useless as a fuel for vehicles except as an interesting technical exercise.

But oil is becoming expensive to extract as crude oil supplies are requiring deeper wells, and other methods such as sand oil.


Hopefully a way of storing hydrogen in a practical way will be achieved, internal combustion is way mote cooler then electric engines...instant torque be dammed!

[SSD-85]

Originally Posted by 2011G6E

I was a little concerned at the sentence "Initial hydrogen release is now happening at just 50°C with significant release at 350°C."
I wouldn't feel comfortable with a highly flammable fuel source for my vehicle that is sitting there having to be heated to 350 degrees C to get it to release "significant" amounts of fuel...

Autoignition temperature of Hydrogen is 500°C (provided its not mixed with certain oxidisers). In my opinion, its about as comfortable as having petrol swill around freely in a tank, or a pressure vessel of cooled LPG.

Not having a go at you, just pointing out how relative it is to current liquid fuels in cars.

[flappist]

Originally Posted by 2011G6E

Great news...still doesn't get away from the fact that hydrogen is an energy negative fuel that takes far more energy to produce than is contained in the final product, making it effectively useless as a fuel for vehicles except as an interesting technical exercise.

It'll come if they ever develop a catalyst that will produce hydrogen at low cost in energy and price.
I wonder how the space of the storage would change? I recall the V12 BMW sedan they built which had a tank the size of a 44 gallon drum taking up the boot and part of the back seats, and which produced less power than the V8 version because of the low energy content of the fuel...

I was a little concerned at the sentence "Initial hydrogen release is now happening at just 50°C with significant release at 350°C."
I wouldn't feel comfortable with a highly flammable fuel source for my vehicle that is sitting there having to be heated to 350 degrees C to get it to release "significant" amounts of fuel...

Ah yes but nuclear power generation can make up for any shortfalls.

Which country has all the uranium again?

[Buntz]

Originally Posted by flappist

Ah yes but nuclear power generation can make up for any shortfalls.

Which country has all the uranium again?

The waste of which can be turned into MOX and used again.

That or clean renewable energies like Solar to extract Hydrogen. Or those funky bacteria's they experiment with that release Hydrogen? In fact they have bacteria's for other gases too.

As long as you can store it, and package within what the requirements are now for a petrol or LPG car, and it's relatively easy on refuelling... then it could become a replacement for sure.

Good thing FoA and Monash Uni worked together on a Hydrogen powered Barra 6.