When the Hindenburg dirigible go about its docking facility in Lakehurst , N.J. , on May 6 , 1937 , theblimpthat held the passenger decks aloft was fill up with hydrogen . This component , the simplest – and most abundant – in the universe , has one proton with a individual electron orb around it . Hydrogen also weighs the least of all the elements atomically . It can pile quite a clout , creating immense total of energy when oxygen and an firing source are introduced . When the Hindenburg burst , the human beings witnessed the power of atomic number 1 .
As the Hindenburg was tail that May evening , the Colonel Blimp ’s outer peel was expose to a static Muriel Spark . In a matter of seconds , flamestore across the airship , reducing it to a ball of flames and twisted metal . Thirty - six people lose their life in the disaster [ source : National Archives ] . And as fast as the Hindenburg cut , so , too , did the world ’s opinion of hydrogen . For many 10 following the cataclysm , H was viewed with skepticism and even alarm . A " hydrogen fearfulness gene " developed regarding the element [ source : Edwards ] .
Today , as concerns grow about a possiblydwindling world-wide supply of oil– and increase emission of pollutants from that rock oil – energy researchers are reconsidering hydrogen as a source offuel . It for sure has a tremendous amount of promise : Hydrogen emits little or no nursery gas ( GHGs ) . Its major byproducts are weewee evaporation and estrus . Hydrogen has the highest energy outturn by system of weights of any fuel [ origin : CECA ] . And it ’s ample ; atomic number 1 can be bring about by a number of sources , from natural natural gas to water itself .
But the inquiry still remain : Is hydrogen fuel a good origin of energy for our cars ? How can hydrogen even be used as fuel ? There ’s a quick undercoat on the next varlet .
Hydrogen Fuel Cell Challenges
Hydrogen is n’t actually an energy author – it ’s anenergy carrier[source : CECA ] . Hydrogen carry the vigor that ’s produce when it ’s make . It ’s similar to electricity : We ca n’t burn electrical energy ( which is an energy newsboy ) , but electrical energy can be produce by cauterize energy sources like instinctive gas or oil . Then electricity ship this energy to other places , like the outlets in your home .
This means that the energy carrier has to be given the energy to dribble , artlessly speaking . So we must create vigour to make H . This is a lot easier than the conventional method of obtaining our primary fuel author , vegetable oil . Getting oil requiresdrillinginto reserves , pumping it out of the ground , refiningit , and broadcast it to the gas place . By using hydrogen as a fuel source , fundamentally we can produce our own fuel and pass all of these stair – and perchance the geopolitical strife that oil causes .
Hydrogen is make through a process known asreforming . for sure , we can generate hydrogen as a means of Department of Energy transfer by burn natural gasoline or some other carbon - based fuel source . In fact , methane reforming ( separate H from hydrocarbons by burn up natural gas ) is currently the most workable method acting of develop atomic number 1 fuel . But through this method , we ’re aright back at straight one , as far as greenhouse gas ( GHG ) emissions go . While the process of transferring energy from hydrogen will be a clear one , the process of produce hydrogen will still fire fossil fuel and emit GHGs .
Just as there are cleaner ways to produce electrical energy ( like hydroelectric world power ) , atomic number 1 can also be create flawlessly throughwindorsolar power– even through microbes that eat alga and grow hydrogen as a waste ware [ author : NREL ] . research worker are value these method as reliable manner of producing atomic number 1 without burning fogey fuels . And others are cypher out the unspoilt way to use this produced hydrogen to power your car .
Auto engineers have devisedhydrogenfuel cells . These fuel cell create electrical energy to power your car throughelectrochemical conversion . The pure chemical element atomic number 1 is split into its proton and electron , a cognitive process which generates electrical energy . When it mixes with O , the by-product of the unconscious process is water . Since a fuel cellular telephone ca n’t produce enough electricity on its own to power a automobile , cell must be put together to createfuel cell stacks[source : Fuel Economy.gov ] . Once you put a few stacks together , though , your car can zoom along .
A big issuing remains , however : hive away the H aboard your vehicle . Some methods are already in use . atomic number 1 may be store in the chassis of a extremely pressurized gas or an super moth-eaten liquid , likecryogenichydrogen . This work for storing atomic number 1 at the fuel pumps , but it ’s not practical for carrying around fuel in your car . Cryogenic hydrogen liquid would expect an extra onboard system to keep the fuel cold . This would add weight , which impress the vehicle ’s vigour efficiency .
Researchers are still investigate the optimal ways to store and tap hydrogen as a fuel rootage . Part of that research include dispel the populace ’s awe of hydrogen fuel . Science may be capable to crack the hydrogen fuel puzzler , but if drivers still envision themselves being fanfare - burn alive in a ball of white - hot flaming after a fender curve ball , then who would buy a hydrogen - fueled car anyway ? Perhaps the next Sir Frederick Handley Page will assuage your worries .
Hydrogen Fuel Safety
In many cases , hydrogen is safer than the fuel we currently use to power our cars . carbon paper - based fuels tend to spread as liquids ( as you well know if you ’ve ever spilledgasolineon yourself at the heart ) . When it burns , conventional fuel produce hot ash , creating radiant heat . This is n’t the case with atomic number 1 . In its pure form , atomic number 1 burns no carbon and produce no hot ash tree and very short radiant high temperature [ source : RMI ] . What ’s more , when hydrogen leak , it climb up apace into the atmosphere , so it has less time to burn [ source : Princeton ] .
So what about the Hindenburg ? Both proponents and opponents of hydrogen fuel have latched onto the badly - fatedblimpin their argument . While opposition place to it as a cautionary story , proponents view it as exoneration for hydrogen .
Although the atomic number 1 aboard the Hindenburg certainly didburnwith unbelievable force , it was n’t the hydrogen that created the disaster – it was atomic number 13 powder . To muse sunlight , the skin of Hindenburg was covered in this powder , a form tantamount to Eruca sativa fuel [ informant : RMI ] . And the cotton fiber fabric that made up the sausage ’s skin was waterproofed with extremely inflammable acetate rayon [ rootage : ABC ] . Hydrogen proponents also point out that the flame in the Hindenburg catastrophe burned up rather than out because the ingredient is so lightweight . This left the rider in the newsboy beneath relatively unmolested by the flames . Thirty - five of the 36 Hindenburg deaths were the result of passenger jumping from the airship ; all of those who rest aboard survived [ source : RMI ] .
The challenge presented by atomic number 1 fuel storage is to follow up with ways to make storage tanks that wo n’t essay to be a cautionary tale against H for succeeding generations . In other words , what would make the best storage tank to prevent H from exploding in a car accident ?
Steeltanks are one possibility . They ’re firm enough to serve well as dependable carriers for hydrogen gas in automobiles . If an accident does occur , a sword tank car will likely be able to defy an impact without suffering a puncture or rupture . One problem with steel , however , is that hydrogen is so lightweight and therefore less dumb than gasoline . Any armoured combat vehicle that obligate pressurise H fuel would have to be much bigger than the established gas storage tank on your car . A steel army tank would be pretty gravid and boil down vigor efficiency .
Composite material seem to proffer even more promise than blade . tank car made of polyethylene are lightweight , can be shaped to fit a car and are design topowder– soak up the vigor of an impingement , reducing the tank car to dust and ostensibly releasing the H safely into the standard atmosphere [ source : Princeton ] .
Hydrogen may finally be hive away in materials that can bear the element and release it when needed . Some type of alloy , likemetal hydride , can ensnare atomic number 1 molecule within their compositional bodily structure . Here , the hydrogen is store safely and release when the metal is het . What make this applied science even more likeable is that the high temperature necessary for the going of hydrogen molecules from their metallic element tanks could come from the permissive waste heat bring forth by a hydrogen fuel cell [ informant : DOE ] .
It does n’t seem the " atomic number 1 fear factor " is doing much to dissuade continued research into its viability as a fuel source . And if the earth really is running out of vegetable oil , we may have to put by those fears once and for all .
For more data on hydrogen fuel and other related topics , inspect the next page .
