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HYDROGEN FAQ’S

 

1. Is burning hydrogen like the hydrogen bomb?

   No. Burning hydrogen is a chemical reaction just like burning gasoline, natural gas, or a candle. This 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.

2. Did hydrogen cause the Hindenburg to burn?

   No. 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 onboard diesel. The hydrogen burned quickly, upward and away from the people.

3. Is hydrogen more dangerous than gasoline, diesel and/or jet fuel?

   When hydrogen is handled with care appropriate to any gaseous fuel, it is safer than fuels in standard use. 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 or polluting groundwater, or soaking into clothes.

   An example of the difference between gasoline and hydrogen is as follows: 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 released, 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.

   Further, 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 be enough prolonged heat to melt the steel girders.

4. 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 into the fuel cell 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. The electrons travel through the wire to meet up with the protons to make an electrical current. 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.

5. What is the difference between hydrogen combustion and fuel cell technology? Are they the same thing?

   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.

6. How does the energy from hydrogen compare to other fuels?

   Hydrogen is the lightest element occurring in nature and contains a large amount of energy in its chemical bond. Hydrogen has the highest energy to weight ratio of all fuels: 1 kilogram (kg) of hydrogen has the same amount of energy as 2.1 kg of natural gas or 2.8 kg of gasoline. Hydrogen burns in air at concentrations in the range of 4 to 75% percent by volume (methane burns at 5.3 to 15 percent concentrations by volume). The highest burning temperature of hydrogen is 2,318 Celsius and is reached at 20 percent concentrations by volume in air.

7. How many BTU’s are in one cubic foot (cf) of hydrogen?

   Low Heating Value: 290 BTU’s per cubic foot. High Heating Value: 343 BTU’s per cubic foot.

8. At what temperature does hydrogen liquefy?

   Hydrogen becomes liquid at -423 F.

9. How many protons and neutrons does hydrogen have?

   1 proton

   1 electron

   0 neutrons
   

10. How was hydrogen named?

    Hydrogen was named by Antoine Lavoisier in 1783. A Frenchman, he called it hydrogene, naming it after the Greek words hydor and gennan (or geinomai) roughly translated as “water generating” or “water forming”.

11. What is the difference between HYDROGEN and HYDROZINE?

    Hydrogen is the most basic element in the universe, consisting of only one proton and one electron. Its 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. 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.

12. There are many news stories about using hydrogen for energy. Why isn’t there wide spread use of hydrogen?

    There are several reasons why hydrogen is not widely used. Global Biomass to Energy LLC’s technology, the Green Power Machine overcomes many of the obstacles that have prevented the wide spread use of hydrogen.

    1. Storage. Since hydrogen is so light, it is difficult to store a lot of it in a tank unless it is stored under high pressure. High pressure tanks to store hydrogen are very expensive.

       With the Green Power Machine, there is no need to store hydrogen. The hydrogen is used as it is produced.

    2. Distribution & Transportation. There is not a widespread distribution channel for getting hydrogen to the masses and the equipment to transport hydrogen is very expensive.

       With the Green Power Machine, there is no need to use expensive storage tanks and expensive transportation equipment for the use of hydrogen. The hydrogen is used as it is produced.

    3. Fuel Cell Challenges. One of the problems for using fuel cells is where do you get the hydrogen to run a fuel cell?

       The Green Power Machine supplies the hydrogen required for the operation of fuel cells.

    4. Adapting Technologies for use with Hydrogen. Because there has not been an inexpensive way to get hydrogen to where is can be used, many technologies such as Stirling generators have not developed the components to use hydrogen and/or hydrogen rich syngas with their equipment.

       The necessary components required to use hydrogen and/or hydrogen rich syngas with equipment such as Stirling generators has been developed so that the hydrogen producing Green Power Machine technology can now be used with Stirling generators.

    5. Cost. The current methods of producing hydrogen are currently more expensive than other fuels.

       With the Green Power Machine, locally produced biomass and/or by-products from processing biomass can be used as the fuel for the production of hydrogen. Further, most countries energy needs are based on petroleum based fuels and the use of capital to bring in petroleum based fuels can reduce the standard of living in some countries that do not produce and refine petroleum. Because the Green Power Machine uses locally grown biomasses, a country can reduce the amount of imported fuel to produce energy and produce energy at a lower cost than using imported petroleum based products.

    6. Danger of Hydrogen. Most people think of the Hindenburg disaster and/or the hydrogen bomb when thinking about hydrogen and therefore think that it is dangerous to use hydrogen. (See above comments concerning the Hindenburg disaster and the hydrogen bomb.) 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.
       
       
       
       
13. Does it not take more energy to produce hydrogen than is realized?

    Yes and No. Traditional methods of producing hydrogen require more energy to produce the hydrogen than is realized. With the Green Power Machine, very little energy is used to produce energy. The Green Power Machine is very efficient in producing hydrogen syngas.

14. Why is hydrogen a good renewable fuel?

    There are two main reasons. Hydrogen is renewable through the use of biomass (plant matter) and it is the most abundant element on the earth. It comprises more than 75 percent of the environment. However, hydrogen in nature exists primarily in combination with other elements. For hydrogen to be useful as a fuel, it must exist as free hydrogen (H2). Therefore, equipment that can reform hydrogen from biomass is very beneficial for the goal to use hydrogen as a renewable fuel.

    Further, hydrogen’s physical and chemical properties make it a good candidate for a fuel. It is the cleanest fuel available. At normal atmospheric conditions, hydrogen is a colorless and odorless gas. It is stable and coexists harmlessly with free oxygen until an input of energy drives the exothermic (heat releasing) reaction that forms water.