Scientists Develop New Hydrogen Reactor

Akron Beacon Journal ^ | 2/13/04 | GREGG AAMOT

[ZGuy]

Researchers say they have produced hydrogen from ethanol in a prototype reactor small enough and efficient enough to heat small homes and power cars.

The development could help open the way for cleaner-burning technology at home and on the road.

Current methods of producing hydrogen from ethanol require large refineries and copious amounts of fossil fuels, the University of Minnesota researchers said.

The reactor is a relatively tiny 2-foot-high apparatus of tubes and wires that creates hydrogen from corn-based ethanol. A fuel cell, which acts like a battery, then generates power.

"This points to a way to make renewable hydrogen that may be economical and available," said Lanny Schmidt, a chemical engineer who led the study. The work was outlined in Friday's issue of the journal Science.

Hydrogen power itself is hardly a new idea. Hydrogen fuel cells already propel experimental vehicles and supply power for some buildings. NASA has used them on spacecraft for decades.

But hydrogen is expensive to make and uses fossil fuels. The researchers say their reactor will produce hydrogen exclusively from ethanol and do it cheaply enough so people can buy hydrogen fuel cells for personal use.

They also believe their technology could be used to convert ethanol to hydrogen at fuel stations when cars that run solely on hydrogen enter the mass market.

Hydrogen does not emit any pollution or greenhouse gases. But unlike oil or coal, hydrogen must be produced - there are no natural stores of it waiting to be pumped or dug out of the ground.

The new technology holds economic potential for Midwest farmers, who are leaders in the production of corn-based ethanol.

George Sverdrup, a technology manager at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, said he was encouraged by the research.

"When hydrogen takes a foothold and penetrates the marketplace, it will probably come from a variety of sources and be produced by a variety of techniques," he said. "So this particular advance and technology that Minnesota is reporting on would be one component in a big system."

The Minnesota researchers envision people buying ethanol to power the small fuel cell in their basements. The cell could produce 1 kilowatt of power, nearly enough for an average home.

[camle]

something sounds too good to be true here. I remember pons & fleichman's cold fusion breakthrough.

has this been peer reviewed? published in a scientific journal? has anybopdy duplicated the research?

if not then there's a good chance it's PR generating bunk.

[HuntsvilleTxVeteran]

The media thinks they are a peer review.

[The_Victor]

How much energy is required to produce the ethanol?

I'm guessing this is still an energy sink, not an energy source.

[Triple Word Score]

If it promises to be a very lucrative technology, publishing it in a journal and exposing it to peer review aren't the best first steps. If they've got it they've got it and the market will prove it to the world. They ought to be well advanced in the patent process before getting any publicity.

[JimRed]

Next step coming: make the ethanol from hemp...

[camle]

agreed - not that the media has a clue on the subject.

[ZGuy]

Here is the link to the article from today's issue of the journal Science : Renewable Hydrogen from Ethanol
(Free registration is required to access the article)

[Diogenesis]

Cold fusion generates helium 4 from deuterium.
and is a better source of net future energy (has to do with mc2)
Cold fusion demonstrations in Cambridge MA
including FR thread entitled "Cold fusion gets cold shoulder from many scientists"

This report seems to describe generation of hydrogen from ethanol for fuel cells, as it says.

[camle]

if there IS any patenting to do, I'd bet it's the university's intellectual proerty - not the individual scioentist's (unless they have a real sweetheart of a contract)

the problem is that in order to gain any scientific credibility, it must be peer reviewed. i doubt that any serious investor would put their money into this unless there is a whole lot of proof and acceptance of it's success.

[camle]

next step - generating hydrogen from garbage.:-)

[frithguild]

Watch out for the Revenuers

[CasearianDaoist]

almost...they think that they are reviewers without peer.

[Jeff Chandler]

The next step is to produce ethanol from petroleum.

[Jack of all Trades]

Hydrogen does not emit any pollution or greenhouse gases.

WRONG. Water vapor is a more powerful greenhouse gas than CO2.

At least the article correctly acknowledged the realities of producing H2. 99% of the time Hydrogen is portrayed as a limitless resource being suppressed by the evil oil industry.

[Petronski]

Fine, where do we get the ethanol, and at what cost?

[tcuoohjohn]

Yes...I'm a bit chary of bold claims like this without any scientific criticism.

[HuntsvilleTxVeteran]

I have designed a second hand beer Hydrogen converter.

[VetoBill]

July 2002 by the United States Department of Agriculture analyzes many of the previous studies on the energy balance of producing ethanol. The conclusion by the study's authors is that there is 34% more energy in a gallon of ethanol than it takes to produce it.

Here (PDF file)

[BipolarBob]

posted yesterday by wallcrawlr and Pioneer Press