First Use Of Hydrogen As A Fuel example essay topic

Why are we as Americans so afraid to change? Even if it is a change for the better? The world has been using oil coal and other petroleum products to power just about everything that moves for the last 150 years. Yet most cars in the United States only get 10-20 miles a gallon and even the "good" ones can get only a petty 20-50 miles a gallon. So why do we put up with the inefficiency when there are far better alternatives out there? Hydrogen, the first element of the periodic table, is composed of one proton and one electron.

More than 90% of the universe is made up of this simple element. More than 30% of the mass of the sun is atomic hydrogen. It is the third most abundant element in the earth's surface, and is found mostly in water. Normally, hydrogen is a colorless, odorless, tasteless, and nonpoisonous gas composed of diatomic molecules (H 2). In a perfect world when cars burn gasoline, they would burn it perfectly and create nothing but carbon dioxide and water in their exhaust. Unfortunately and realistically the internal combustion engine is far from perfect.

In the process of burning gasoline, it also produces: Carbon monoxide, a poisonous gas, Nitrogen oxides, the main source of smog, unburned hydrocarbons, one of the main causes of ozone depletion. Catalytic converters eliminate much of this pollution, but they aren't perfect either. Air pollution from cars is a real problem in today's world. It's time for a change. Scientists predict that the world's oil reserves will not last for long and we need to find out alternative forms of fuel for our ever growing fuel needs.

In addition, the quantum of pollution that occurs by burning fossil fuels is an ever growing threat to the already fragile ecosystems of the world. It is in this scenario that the world has turned its attention to non-conventional fuels that are cheap, non-polluting and easily producible. While a variety of fuels have been considered as non-conventional alternate fuels, the potential of hydrogen as a fuel of the future is promising. For total usage, it is believed that the United States, above all other nations, consumes the most fuel, reaching twelve million barrels a day. The amazing part of this statistic is that sixty six percent of this fuel, that is eight million barrels are burned on the roads and highways to power cars and trucks.

Therefore, the United States also produces the most carbon dioxide above all other nations; carbon dioxide that contributes most to the green house effect. Importing costs for so much oil a day is a puts a lot of pressure on the economy [Tucker, 2003]. The hydrocarbons that are used in the gasoline-powered engines release huge quantities of Hydrogen, Carbon dioxide, Nitrous Oxide, Lead, cadmium, and other compounds that are harmful to the environment either in the free state, or in the combined form. Perhaps the first use of hydrogen as a fuel happened when it was used in balloons that were used for flying. Hydrogen being lighter than air could propel the balloon up into the air. Similarly they were also used in Zeppelins, which were much more advanced than balloons.

However the use of hydrogen in these primitive flying machines soon had to stop because of the inflammable and explosive nature of hydrogen. After some major accidents that took a lot of lives, hydrogen was phased out and was replaced by the static Helium for flying operations. Many people are concerned with hydrogen's safety. Hydrogen is a fuel and is therefore combustible. Its combustion properties deserve the same caution any fuel should be given (NHA Handling).

Hydrogen has been suffering an image problem since the Hindenburg tragically caught fire and burned in New Jersey in 1937. (There were 62 survivors and 35 fatalities; 27 of the deaths resulted from jumping from the airship. Some died from burns and injuries caused by the diesel fuel fire, not from the burning hydrogen (Nadis and MacKenzie 86; MacKenzie 69). "Fortunately... hydrogen is not a particularly dangerous fuel. If it leaks or spills, hydrogen disperses and evaporates much faster than gasoline, which minimizes the explosion hazard" (Nadis and MacKenzie 86). "The hazards of hydrogen are different from but not greater than those of conventional fuels" (Williams 23).

Hydrogen can be and has been handled carefully and safely, just like any other inherently dangerous fuel such as gasoline (Zygmont 20). Hydrogen tanks have been put through series of demanding safety tests. They have been completely engulfed in flames at over 1,650^0 F for up to 70 minutes, perforated by solid objects (such as armor-piercing bullets), and squeezed until they break with safety valves completely blocked. Sometimes the gas leaked out, sometimes it burnt, but it never exploded (Edwards 42).

Renewed interest in hydrogen as a source of fuel arose because of the fact that hydrogen is a major component of water. With the fuel costs spiraling higher each year, scientists turned to water as a fuel source. It was out of this research that hydrogen, a major component of water, was considered to be an efficient alternate fuel. There are two different ways in which hydrogen may be used as a fuel to run automobiles. It can either be burnt inside a modified engine to produce power or it can be used in fuel cells which derive electric power that can be used to run the motor. In either case, the byproducts are water and / or oxygen, which are not polluting and so such engines will not pose any environmental hazard.

However, the costs of such engine are relatively very high [IC LEI, 2003] Other than using hydrogen directly as a fuel source, it may also be used to power automobiles and other engines using fuel cells. Electric engine vehicles are vehicles whose motors are powered through fuel cells. They produce much lower emissions than gasoline vehicles and hence result in zero air pollution. This is because they do not burn any fuel. All their power comes from fuel cells.

Also, unlike gasoline vehicles which pollute more as they grow older, in electric vehicles there is no degradation or failure of emission control systems. According to recent studies, electric vehicles are ninety eight percent cleaner than gasoline powered vehicles. Because it uses only fuel cells to generate power the only emissions which come from electric vehicles is water. This makes it a much cleaner vehicle to drive. Fuel cells, the latest development in man's quest for cleaner energy sources, combine hydrogen and oxygen to give electricity. The process that does it is an electrochemical process that will produce only water and heat as the by-products.

The power from the fuel cells may be used to run motors fitted in cars and automobiles. Recently there have been a lot of concerns regarding the sources that are used to produce hydrogen that may be later used in fuel cells or internal combustion engines. Since the production of hydrogen requires many different processes that burn fossil fuels, the process squanders away any advantage to the environment that may be obtained by using hydrogen as an alternative fuel. The most economic process that is used to split hydrogen from water uses natural gases as an energy source. The burning of the natural gases causes pollution and the degradation of the environment. Hence scientists are advocating the use of solar power to generate hydrogen from water, which can then be used to power vehicles and factories [Natural Life, 2004].

Solar energy is used to generate electric currents that are capable of splitting hydrogen from water. Hydrogen can be "packaged" in several ways, as a fuel gas in a H 2/02 powered engine or the newly devised solid state pellet of hydrogen isotopes that contains about the equivalent of 5000 cubic feet of hydrogen and is broken down and releases gas into the second chamber where it goes to the engine for processing. There are many ways to get pure hydrogen out of many compounds using methods such as electrolysis and chemical reactions. One of the easiest ways is using a chemical reaction. Today simple chemicals like aluminum, sodium hydroxide, and water can be reacted to produce heavy hydrogen to power furnaces or hot water heaters. No electrical power is required.

The reaction also gives off a tremendous amount of heat. Even the waste heat could be captured for heating purposes. The resulting sodium aluminate is harmless and could be collected at recoiling centers for complete acid / base neutralization. Using this process is much simpler than electrolysis produce hydrogen for producing power, although in an automobile it would be harder to do. While the technology that produces hydrogen may be varied and diverse, the immediate advantages of using hydrogen as a source of fuel are o Elimination of pollution o Environmentally useful by-products o Localized production o Abundance of the fuel o Efficiency of the fuel There are also a number of drawbacks in using hydrogen as a fuel source. Firstly, the technology that can use hydrogen as a full-fledged fuel is still in its development stage.

Secondly, the fuel cell technology is still very costly and cumbersome. To top it all, the power output ration of hydrogen engines are not that great when compared to gasoline engines. Hence, it may be a long time before scientists will be able to make a product that can satisfy the customer and motivate him to use hydrogen as an efficient alternate source of power. Many large and well-known corporations trust and realize the potential of hydrogen. Some companies that already have hydrogen fueled vehicles on the road are: (1) Mercedes-Benz, with about 20 cars and vans, (2) BMW, which is testing liquid hydrogen in two sedans and plans to have a fleet of 100 hydrogen vehicles on the road in the 1990's, (3) Mazda, which had 3 vehicles as of 1993, and (4) Ballard Power Systems, which is developing and selling fuel cells and hydrogen-fuel-cell-powered buses (to the city of Chicago, for example) (Nadis and MacKenzie 84-5; Cannon 297-304).

Various individuals and universities are also researching and developing hydrogen vehicles. Hydrogen-fuel-cell-powered cars are the best alternatives to polluting, gasoline-powered cars for several reasons: (1) the cars are completely emission-free, (2) the fuel cells have no moving parts, (3) hydrogen is renewable and abundant, (4) the cars are compatible with cold weather, (5) the fuel cells are compact and lightweight -- not overly bulky or heavy, (6) the cars are about 3 times as efficient as gasoline-powered cars, (7) the cars will have incredible mile ranges, (8) the tanks will be refueled quickly, and (9) hydrogen is safe, has been tested rigorously for use in vehicles, and is being used in many vehicles already.