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Now THIS is truely awesome!
(Click here to view the original thread with full colors/images)

Posted by: John

http://www.cnn.com/2007/AUTOS/05/18...reut/index.html

Fill your car up with aluminum
Researcher: Aluminum-based pellets make hydrogen when wet, offering alternative fuel source.
POSTED: 12:34 p.m. EDT, May 18, 2007

CHICAGO (Reuters) -- Pellets made out of aluminum and gallium can produce pure hydrogen when water is poured on them, offering a possible alternative to gasoline-powered engines, U.S. scientists say.

Hydrogen is seen as the ultimate in clean fuels, especially for powering cars, because it emits only water when burned. U.S. President George W. Bush has proclaimed hydrogen to be the fuel of the future, but researchers have not decided what is the most efficient way to produce and store hydrogen.

In the experiment conducted at Purdue University in Indiana, "The hydrogen is generated on demand, so you only produce as much as you need when you need it," said Jerry Woodall, an engineering professor at Purdue who invented the system.

Woodall said in a statement the hydrogen would not have to be stored or transported, taking care of two stumbling blocks to generating hydrogen.

For now, the Purdue scientists think the system could be used for smaller engines like lawn mowers and chain saws. But they think it would work for cars and trucks as well, either as a replacement for gasoline or as a means of powering hydrogen fuel cells.

"It is one of the more feasible ideas out there," Jay Gore, an engineering professor and interim director of the Energy Center at Purdue's Discovery Park, said in a telephone interview on Thursday. "It's a very simple idea but had not been done before."

On its own, aluminum will not react with water because it forms a protective skin when exposed to oxygen. Adding gallium keeps the film from forming, allowing the aluminum to react with oxygen in the water, releasing hydrogen and aluminum oxide, also known as alumina.

What is left over is aluminum oxide and gallium. In the engine, the byproduct of burning hydrogen is water.

"No toxic fumes are produced," Woodall said.

Based on current energy and raw materials prices, the cost of making the hydrogen fuel is about $3 per gasoline-gallon equivalent, about the same as the average price of gasoline in the United States. (A gallon equivalent is based on the amount of energy contained in the fuel.)

Recycling the aluminum oxide byproduct and developing a lower grade of gallium could bring down costs, making the system more affordable, Woodall said.
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Out of all the fuel sources out there, Hydrogen is the most prevolent and cleanest fuel source. It has almost as much energy as gasoline too. I think we should stop fucking around with the ethanol and other "biofuels". They are a waste of time and while renewable, they are not sustainable. An acre of corn would do much better feeding hungry people than it would trying to fullfil an insatiable desire for fuel.

If they can take this aluminum/gallium compound and make safe, hydrogen fuel cells out of it, I'mm all over it! I would love to see this kind of technology come to fruition. The only issue would be the infrastructure.

Posted by: No Rice Allowed

I alway felt that battery power wasn't the way to go, because what happens to the batteries when they die? People will trash them in lakes and what not, polluting the water supply. It has to be a fuel that burns and isn't harmful to the environment and this may be the ticket.

Posted by: TNT

Quote:


	I alway felt that battery power wasn't the way to go, because what happens to the batteries when they die?

Not only that, but it would mean the end of the cross country road trip. Imagine being limited to how far you can go on a single charge/tank? Then having to pull over for 8+ hours while your car recharges for tomorrow? FUCK THAT!

THe ONLY viable replacement for gasoline will be something that can be refilled in roughly the time it takes to pump a tank of gas and then go again.

Posted by: StoneFox

Ethanol, its cheep to make and replenishable and burns clean.....

Posted by: John

Quote:

Originally Posted by StoneFox


	Ethanol, its cheep to make and replenishable and burns clean.....

Ethanol does not burn clean. It has less hydrocarbons in it but it puts out more of all the other bad stuff than gasoline. Ethanol is also not sustainable. Even if we were to convert every farm in the country to biofuel production, we would still be about 40% short of what our current demand levels are. There would be no hope to ever fullfill all needs from biofuels. On top of that, we'd have to start importing food too. Then ethanol would be 3 times teh amount of gasoline because it would be powering the food importing infrastructure.

Posted by: John

To illustrate my previous point, take a gander at this article:

http://www.cbc.ca/consumer/story/2007/05/22/corn.html

Posted by: 65fairlane

I know that high temperature electrolysis is being studied currently. Basically what is done here is a high temperature gas cooled reactor is used to generate electricity for the grid, but some of the electricity is directed to a hydrogen production plant along with the process heat generated.

I would like to see some sort of hydrogen used, I used to believe in ethanol, but it is too demanding on our food supply, and even more demanding on the water supplies of the areas in which plants are built. I know that there is also a type of prarie grass that can be used in ethanol production that has a much higher energy yeild than corn, but for some reason we are moving towards corn anyway

Posted by: MadScientistMatt

It sounds like what you would have with this is an aluminum-powered car rather than a hydrogen powered car. Interesting idea, as you can really get aluminum to burn - search for a few thermite videos if you want twisted pyromaniac ideas.

This corn based ethanol program feels more like corporate welfare for Archer Daniels Midland than anything else. It's inefficient by nature - grow a whole corn plant and just make ethanol from the kernals in something like a giant Jack Daniel's distillery.

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