General
~ the simplest, lightest, and most abundant element in the universe
~ does not exist naturally on Earth by itself as a gas
~ can readily be found as part of other compounds, such as water, natural gas, or biomass
Usage
~ energy can be created from hydrogen by using traditional engines or fuel cells
~ just like with gasoline, an engine can use hydrogen as a fuel for combustion
~ another method of generating energy from hydrogen is by using a fuel cell
~ a fuel cell is a device that converts the energy from a chemical reaction into electricity
~ in a fuel cell, hydrogen is broken into protons and electrons
~ the electrons that are released are turned into an electric current
~ the leftover protons combine with oxygen, to form the fuel cell’s only emissions – water and heat
Steam Reforming
~ high-temperature steam separates hydrogen from the carbon atoms in natural gas
~ currently the most cost-effective way to recover hydrogen, but it relies on fossil fuels to produce the high-temperature steam
Electrolysis
~ water is split into its basic elements, hydrogen and oxygen, by passing an electrical current through it
~ electrolysis can use electricity generated by renewables like wind or solar
~ is much more expensive than steam reforming, resulting in a more expensive product
Burning
~ to burn biomass
~ wood chips and agricultural wastes are superheated until they turn into hydrogen and other gases
~ Biomass itself can be the fuel used to superheat other biomass, making it a "closed" cycle
Uses
~ NASA’s space program: Liquid hydrogen fuels NASA’s spacecrafts, and hydrogen fuel cells power the electrical systems onboard
~ the fuel cell's emission, pure water, is used for drinking by the astronauts
~ hydrogen, with its high-energy content and low weight, would be an ideal jet fuel
~ hydrogen, fed through fuel cells, could power electric vehicles, inlcuding air vehicles
~ car manufacturers are researching and producing model cars that use fuel cells and liquid hydrogen
~ some are working on fuel cells that can provide electric power for individual homes, businesses, or cities
Limitations
~ oil and natural gas can run through pipelines to move from one part of the country to another,
~ but there are fewer ways to ship hydrogen around within the existing infrastructure
~ a system of pipes or transportation methods will have to be developed before hydrogen is used on a national or even regional level
~ there is no large supplier of hydrogen gas either
~ large production facilities will have to be constructed
~ a system to store and transport the energy will have to be developed
~ the technologies to utilize hydrogen as a power source will have to be developed as well
~ fuel cell technology is still in its infancy, and the prototypes that do exist are very expensive
~ without products that use hydrogen, there is no push to provide hydrogen
~ without a dependable source of hydrogen, manufacturers are not yet investing much effort into creating products that use hydrogen
Benefits
Hydrogen is abundant
~ it can be found almost everywhere — from the water you drink, the food you eat, or the environment around you
It's lack of weight means
~ fuel economy could be improved with lighter vehicles (nb: high pressure tanks)
A fuel cell running on hydrogen could be very small (nb: fuel cell is to produce electricity; LH2 is liquid)
~ allowing energy to be generated closer to where it is needed
~ – imagine generating all of the power for your home from a fuel cell in your basement (nb: fuel cell is not must)
In the event of a spill,
~ hydrogen spreads out into the environment very quickly, making it virtually harmless (nb: it's cold)
Hydrogen naturally wants to bond with oxygen
~ so the byproduct is water, an excellent emission (nb: water clouds may not be harmless in ait vehicles)

»KinnVika
~ hydrogen for the balloon was produced by a generator

»MIT Observations Give Precise Estimate Of Mars Surface Ice
~ water is the predominant frozen liquid in the southern polar region of Mars according to Maria Zuber, MIT professor of geophysics
~ Zuber's team identified the composition of the southern polar cap by calculating its density
~ deposit region claimed to be about 1,220 kilograms per cubic meter,
~ indicating that it is made of mostly water, with about 15 percent silicate dust mixed in
~ (the density of water ice 1,000 kilograms/cubic meter, the density of dry ice 1,600 kilograms/cubic meter)

»Hydrogen to Fuel 1m Indian Vehicles by 2020

Hydrogen & LNG

»Air Products Brings Hydrogen Production Facility to Supply ExxonMobil’s Refinery
~ the Air Products facility, located adjacent to the refinery, is an integrated steam methane reformer and recovery system processing refinery off-gas
~ that supplies 18 million standard cubic feet per day (mmscfd) of hydrogen, as well as steam for the refinery

»Analysis of availability and accessibility of hydrogen production
~ methane is advantageous for hydrogen production from the viewpoint of energy efficiency as measured by thermodynamic analysis
~ this paper therefore proposes combining existing technology for hydrogen production with an unconventional methane source
~ in order to facilitate the realization of a hydrogen energy system
~ this paper proposes combining the process of steam reforming with use of untouched natural gas hydrate (NGH) resources
~ Gas hydrate deposits, which are distributed worldwide, hold great amounts of methane gas
~ consideration is given to (1) independence from current fossil fuels; (2) energy transport using the hydrate system;
~ (3) CO2 sequestration — replacement of methane hydrate with CO2 hydrate in the submarine layer and
~ (4) improvement of current steam reforming of methane by CO2 reuse and zeolite application
~ this paper proposes a new solution that will make a key contribution to the systematic development of a new sustainable energy structure

»A hydrogen production method using latent heat of liquefied natural gas

»GT research experience in industrial and utility energy systems analyses



Hydrogen Energy Chains

NTNU Trondhein, Norway
SYSTEM ANALYSIS OF HYDROGEN ENERGY CHAINS

Background
~ with today's technology, the production of hydrogen from natural gas appears to be the least costly alternative,
~ even when the cost of CO2 removal and deposition is taken into account
~ technologies based on natural gas are thus expected to become very important;
~ at least as a first stage towards sustainable use of energy
~ however, the use of hydrogen as an energy carrier should be viewed as one alternative in a larger context,
~ focusing on the sustainable energy production and use

The objectives
to develop novel generic methods for process synthesis, design and optimization of production technologies
to demonstrate the application of the methodology to CO2-free hydrogen production from natural gas
to obtain a basis for comparing different hydrogen production technologies
to develop and demonstrate a flexible tool to optimise the energy system between natural gas sources and end users of fuel cells in the transport sector
Activities
~ develop a basis for comparing different hydrogen production processes, and to make a comparison of the different technologies
Examples of such processes are:
~ H2 from natural gas
~ H2 from electrolysis of water
~ H2 from bio-mass
~ Photo-electrochemical (PEC) H2-production
~ Photo-biological production

Hydrogen from Water Production

»Milestone for H2 Production by High-Temperature Electrolysis
Standard electrolysis
~ the technology of hydrogen production through conventional water electrolysis is well-established
~ conventional electrolysis splits water into its components—hydrogen and oxygen—by charging water with an electrical current
~ the charge breaks the chemical bond between the hydrogen and oxygen and splits apart the atomic components
~ the resulting ions form at two poles: the anode, which is positively charged, and the cathode, which is negatively charged
~ hydrogen ions gather at the cathode and react with it to form hydrogen gas, which is then collected
~ oxygen goes through a similar process at the anode
~ the main drawbacks for large-scale hydrogen production are the amount of electricity required for the process and the high cost of membrane production

Hydrogen from BIO-mass Production

»Hydrogen from Biomass
~ a small company in Madison, WI developed a novel way to generate hydrogen cheaply and cleanly from biomass
~ the technology, developed by Virent Energy Systems, used to continuously produce electricity from a small 10-kilowatt generator
~ the unit is fueled by corn syrup, similar to the kind used by soft drinks manufacturers
~ the company to begin work on a $1 million U.S. Navy project to build portable fuel-cell generators
~ the goal to make self-contained units capable of producing their own hydrogen from a biomass-derived glycerol solution or even antifreeze.
~ the vast majority of hydrogen is currently made from fossil fuels -- oil, coal, and,
~ most commonly, natural gas, through a process called steam reforming
~ in this process, a mixture of steam and methane is heated to temperatures above 800 degrees Celsius,
~ and then reacts with a catalyst to produce hydrogen and carbon monoxide
~ although it's possible to use a similar process to generate hydrogen from biomass-derived ethanol,
~ there are disadvantages in doing so
~ the high temperatures required and use of pressurized steam mean the conversion process only practical on the industrial scale
~ Virent's conversion process, which is called aqueous phase reforming (APR),
~ avoids these problems by carrying out the reformation at relatively low temperatures and with liquids rather steam
~ their process is a significant advance, because it means you don't have to put as much energy into the system to make steam,
~ and at the same time you're working with liquids, which have a higher energy density than gases for a given volume
~ the process uses extremely active catalysts, which allow 15 times more hydrogen to be converted per gram of catalyst,
~ compared with steam reforming
~ this efficiency allows 90 percent of the feedstock to be converted in the first cycle, and the rest to be recycled
~ as a result, Virent claims it's able to produce hydrogen for $2-3 per kilogram -- competitive with natural-gas-derived hydrogen

~ the Navy's interest is in powering the increasing number of rechargeable batteries used in military equipment,
~ ranging from night-vision goggles to communication and positioning equipment
~ they want a unit no bigger than two cubic feet and quieter than a generator
~ the result will be a device capable of producing about one kilowatt of electricity, enough to power about 20 laptops
~ running the generator on antifreeze will be an added bonus,
~ since the substance is already in the military supply chain
»Virent

Hydrogen Photo-electrochemical (PEC) Production

»Photoelectrochemical Water Systems for H2Production
~ to develop a stable, cost effective, photoelectrochemical based system that will split water using sunlight as the only energy input

Hydrogen from Nuclear Power Production

»Milestone for H2 Production by High-Temperature Electrolysis
~ High-temperature electrolysis (HTE) adds in some of the energy needed to split the water as heat instead of electricity
~ it reduces the overall energy required
~ HTE uses a device very similar to an Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC)
~ the electrolytic cell consists of a solid oxide electrolyte with conducting electrodes deposited on either side of the electrolyte
~ a mixture of steam and hydrogen at 750-950ºC is supplied to the anode side of the electrolyte
~ oxygen ions are drawn through the electrolyte by the electrical potential and combine to O2 on the cathode side
~ the steam-hydrogen mixture exits and the water and hydrogen gas mixture is passed through a separator to separate hydrogen
~ using heat directly is more much efficient that first converting heat to electricity
~ the overall efficiency of the high-temperature system is much higher
~ that assumes you have a readily-available, non fossil-fuel-based source of high heat available
~ that you have an advanced high-temperature nuclear reactor or an adapted solar energy system at hand

~ current nuclear thinking on HTE presumes a helium-cooled, high-temperature Next Generation Nuclear Plant
~ as an element of the entire system
~ the helium, heated by the nuclear reaction to a temperature of approximately 1,000ºC,
~ spins a turbine to generate electricity and also heats water to superheated steam for the HTE process

Hydrogen from Volcanoes Production

»Volcanic Gases
~ emitted during all types of eruptions
~ also can be released during repose periods by inactive eruptive vents and by fumaroles, vents that may never have produced any lava
~ the gas plume rising from an active vent on Kilauea consists of about 80 percent water vapor with lesser amounts of sulfur dioxide, carbon dioxide, and hydrogen
~ small quantities of carbon monoxide, hydrogen sulfide, and hydrogen fluoride are also present
~ extremely small amounts of mercury and other metals have been detected in gases emitted from vents along the east rift zone of Kilauea

»Hydrogen and oxygen isotope geochemistry of Ascension Island lavas
~ the H-isotope compositions and low H2O and Cl (167 ppm) contents of the granites are consistent with the major degassing (loss of >90% of initial H2O)
~ of an H2Osaturated magma derived from the interaction of sea (or possibly meteoric) water with the H2O-undersaturated comenditic melt
~ it is proposed that, associated with caldera subsidence and stoping,
~ water was sucked in around the residual magma before the system had time to be sealed up
~ the H2O-undersaturated magma consumed this H2O with possibly some minor partial dehydration and
~ dewatering of the hydrated volcanic roof blocks, at a pressure of about 1.5 kb
~ the granites are the plutonic equivalents of rhyolitic pyroclastics and not directly of the comendites
~ granites from oceanic islands may, in general, be a result of generating an H2O-saturated acid melt by such direct or
~ indirect crustal water-magma interaction processes

» Hydrogen isotopic composition of hornblende and biotite phenocrysts from Japanese island arc volcanoes

Hydrogen in Iceland

»Iceland sees the future — in hydrogen

Hydrogen from Wood Production

»Hydrogen from Saw Dust
~ by Michael Jerry Antal, Jr. and Xiaodong Xu
Abstract
~ by mixing wood sawdust with a corn starch gel, a viscous paste can be produced
~ that is easily delivered to a supercritical flow reactor by means of a cement pump
~ mixtures of about 10 wt wood sawdust with 3.65 wt % starch are employed in this work
~ estimated to cost about $0.043 per lb
~ significant reductions in feed cost can be achieved by increasing the wood sawdust loading,
~ but such an increase may require a more complex pump
~ when this feed is rapidly heated in a tubular flow reactor at pressures above the critical pressure of water (22 MPa),
~ the sawdust paste vaporizes without the formation of char
~ a packed bed of carbon catalyst in the reactor operating at about 650 °C causes the tarry vapors to react with water,
~ producing hydrogen, carbon dioxide, and some methane with a trace of carbon monoxide
~ the temperature and history of the reactor's wall influence the hydrogen-methane product equilibrium
~ by catalyzing the methane steam reforming reaction
~ the water effluent from the reactor is clean

Formula:
~ C₆H₁₀0₅ + 7 H₂0 --* 6 CO₂ + 12 H₂, where cellulose C₆H₁₀0₅

Introduction
~ earlier work shown that when biomass is heated quickly in water above its critical pressure, no char is formed
~ instead, the biomass decomposes into simple organic molecules dissolved in the water,
~ which further decompose to hydrogen, carbon dioxide, and some methane
~ when exposed to a carbon catalyst at temperatures above 600 °C

Hydrogen gas from wood chips and scrap
~ Japan produces some 15 million tons of wood scrap each year at construction sites
~ The Osaka University Joining and Welding Research Institute come up with a way to generate large volumes of hydrogen gas from wood chips and scrap
~ when wood is placed in a chamber with argon gas and a high-frequency discharge is given - voila!
~ a plasma of hydrogen and oxygen ions
~ 60 grams of charcoal generated 10 times as much hydrogen gas as that which can be obtained by a conventional gasification process
~ no tar or toxic bypoducts are left
~ the new method can also render harmless any metal and glass materials mixed in with the wood scraps,
~ and it limits the generation of dioxins

Conclusion:
1. A semi-solid gel can be made from 4 wt % (or less) corn starch in water
~ wood sawdust and other particulate biomass can be mixed into this gel and suspended therein, forming a thick paste
~ this paste is easily delivered to a supercritical flow reactor by a cement pump

2. Above the critical pressure of water,
~ wood sawdust can be steam reformed over a carbon catalyst to a gas composed entirely of
~ hydrogen, carbon dioxide, methane, and a trace of carbon monoxide
~ there are effectively no tar or char byproducts
~ the liquid water effluent from the reactor has a low TOC value, a neutral pH, and no color
~ this water can be recycled to the reactor

4. The wall affects the gasification chemistry
~ troducts from wood sawdust paste gasification decrease the activity of the wall towards hydrogen production by improving methane yields
~ these wall effects are strongly temperature dependent
~ high entrance temperatures strongly favor the methane steam reforming reaction and result in the production of a hydrogen rich gas

»Biomass Energy Foundation

Cellulose to Hydrogen

»Scientists convert cellulose into hydrogen
~ U.S. researchers have developed a method of converting cellulose and other biodegradable organic materials into hydrogen
~ Penn State University Professor Bruce Logan and research associate Shaoan Cheng
~ they said today's energy focus is on ethanol as a fuel, but economical ethanol from cellulose is at least 10 years away
~ Logan and Cheng used naturally occurring bacteria in a microbial electrolysis cell with acetic acid
~ - the predominant acid produced by fermentation of glucose or cellulose
~ the cell's anode was granulated graphite, the cathode was carbon with a platinum catalyst,
~ they used an off-the-shelf anion exchange membrane
~ the bacteria consume the acetic acid and release electrons and protons creating up to 0.3 volts
~ when more than 0.2 volts are added from an outside source, the liquid emits hydrogen gas
~ the process is claimed to produce 288 percent more energy in hydrogen than the electrical energy that is added to the process
~ Logan suggests hydrogen produced from cellulose and other renewable organic materials could be blended with natural gas for use in natural gas vehicles

»Bruce E. Logan Home Page
Department Information
~ Kappe Professor of Environmental Engineering
~ 231Q Sackett Bldg, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering
~ The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802
~ Phone: 814-863-7908, Fax: 814-863-7304, blogan@psu.edu
~ Director: Engineering Environmental Institute
~ Director: Hydrogen Energy (H2E)Center

»H₂E Center
~ several from Asian countries, specially from China !
~ Dr. Shaoan Cheng, Research Scientist (Since 2006) (Post-doctoral Researcher 2004-2006)
~ suc12@psu.edu
~ works on the design and analysis of microbial fuel cells. He is an electrochemist by training

»PSU


Links

»California Hydrogen Highway
»HyNor
»AGA
»Linde
»Woikoski
»Hydrogen by Wikipedia
»Hydrogen by periodic.lanl.gov/
»DOE & Hydrogen
»Hydrogen.gov
»Hydrogen Now!
»How Hydrogen Can Save America
»U.S. Department of Energy Hydogen Program
»Hydrogen Generating Technology Closer Than Ever
»Shell Hydrogen
»International Association for Hydrogen Energy
»Hydrogen by Stanford
»Hydrogen Energy Center
»Canadian Hydrogen Association
»Hydrogen & Fuel Cell Letter
»Hydrogen Power Inc
»Hydrogen Fuel News
»Hydrogen in the Periodic Table
»EU Energy Research
»Hydrogen & Fuel Cell Investor
»European Hydrogen Association
»H2 UCDAVIS