HYDROGEN PELLET POWER

This post is from a tip by Forbes Bagatelle Black, to whose observation about the seductiveness of the “hydrogen dream” NewEnergyNews replied, “The difference between seduction and consummation is profound.”

Pellets of Power Designed to Deliver Hydrogen to Tomorrow’s Vehicles
August 22, 2007 (Department of Energy/Pacific Northwest National Laboratory via Science Daily)

WHO
Scientists of Chemical Hydrogen Storage Center of Excellence (CHSCE), Department of Energy (DOE)

A 240 mg pellet of ammonia borane (AB) storing 0.5 liter of hydrogen.

WHAT
The PNNL scientists are experimenting with a compressed form of a hydrogen solid, in pellet form, that could perhaps be carried safely in a vehicle tank and at acceptable weight and volume to serve as fuel. This might solve several of the dilemmas confronting the long-dreamed-of hydrogen highway and its utopian companion, the hydrogen economy.

WHEN
- The hydrogen dream is always just 10 years away.
- Research presented by Don Camaioni and Dave Heldebrant of PNNL at 234th American Chemical Society National Meeting, August 21.

WHERE
- Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) in Richland, Washington
- The American Chemical Society meeting was in Boston, Mass.

WHY
- If hydrogen could solve a few daunting problems, it could provide an emission-free, pollution-free source of virtually unlimitied energy.
- Aside from the utter waste of using energy to convert hydrogen to usable energy, hydrogen storage and delivery remain unanswered questions to which these pellets might provide answers.
- Ammnia borane (AB) is compressed into ¾ gram pellets which store 1.8 liters of hydrogen fuel. This would bring weight and space consumed in a vehicle lower than pressurized hydrogen gas, allowing performance comparable to current cars.
- Experiments are manipulating the release of hydrogen from the pellets and varying temperatures to control the power to fuel cells, mimicking the accelerator in a car.

You're always ten years away.

QUOTES
- Dave Heldebrant, PNNL scientist: "With this new understanding and our improved methods in working with ammonia borane…we're making positive strides in developing a viable storage medium to provide reliable, environmentally friendly hydrogen power generation for future transportation needs."
- Don Camaioni, PNNL scientist: "Once hydrogen from the storage material is depleted, the AB pellets must be safely and efficiently regenerated by way of chemical processing…This 'refueling' method requires chemically digesting or breaking down the solid spent fuel into chemicals that can be recycled back to AB with hydrogen."