Micro CoGen.

Microcogen/***/SOMRAD Forums => General Discussion => Topic started by: Henry W on July 19, 2021, 01:26:06 AM

Title: Hydrogen powered engines. Could this be the future for Cogen?
Post by: Henry W on July 19, 2021, 01:26:06 AM
Been thinking of Hydrogen powered engines. Byproducts would be Water and NOx. But there would be no carbon emissions. I would imagine that the NOx levels can be reduced with a catalyst.

Could cheap efficient Hydrogen Generators be made to produce enough hydrogen to run an internal combustion engine powered CHP unit to run a home?

Is there a possibility that this could work?
Title: Re: Hydrogen powered engines. Could this be the future for Cogen?
Post by: Henry W on July 19, 2021, 01:54:45 AM
Here are some clips to watch.

https://youtu.be/3IPR50-soNA

https://youtu.be/zMK9p07pXz4
Title: Re: Hydrogen powered engines. Could this be the future for Cogen?
Post by: DKMC on July 19, 2021, 06:53:51 AM

Have they solved the problem of Hydrogen embrittlement these days?
Title: Re: Hydrogen powered engines. Could this be the future for Cogen?
Post by: Henry W on July 19, 2021, 07:36:37 AM
Learned something, thanks for posting. I believe Toyota has a hydrogen fueled automobile. How serious could Hydrogen Embrittlement be?
Does it take hours, months or years for metals to get so brittle that components fail? Can and engine be engineered to resist failure?
Title: Re: Hydrogen powered engines. Could this be the future for Cogen?
Post by: DKMC on July 19, 2021, 07:46:58 AM

Don't know the answers to those questions, but they are good questions to ask.
Title: Re: Hydrogen powered engines. Could this be the future for Cogen?
Post by: mike90045 on July 19, 2021, 06:16:21 PM
Quote from: Henry W on July 19, 2021, 07:36:37 AM
Learned something, thanks for posting. I believe Toyota has a hydrogen fueled automobile. How serious could Hydrogen Embrittlement be?
Does it take hours, months or years for metals to get so brittle that components fail? Can and engine be engineered to resist failure?

I think it's months for the high pressure areas.  Then years in the low pressure areas.  That's the big problem.
Title: Re: Hydrogen powered engines. Could this be the future for Cogen?
Post by: Henry W on July 19, 2021, 07:47:33 PM
That's not good at all. It's something, I never heard about Hydrogen Embrittlement until today. I'm thinking how dangerous high pressure cylinders loaded with Hydrogen could be. None of this has ever been released to the majority of people from companies promoting Hydrogen fueled vehicles and CHP units. I guess it's all amounts to companies and investors selling the people the idea so they can turn around and make a profit off the grants from the research.
Title: Re: Hydrogen powered engines. Could this be the future for Cogen?
Post by: cujet on July 29, 2021, 08:05:08 AM
Quote from: Henry W on July 19, 2021, 01:26:06 AM
Could cheap efficient Hydrogen Generators be made to produce enough hydrogen to run an internal combustion engine powered CHP unit to run a home?

Is there a possibility that this could work?

Hydrogen is energy intensive to produce using conventional means. However, it is possible to use the waste heat of a nuclear reactor to disassociate hydrogen from oxygen. The process starts in earnest at about 3000 degC. and by 4000C, it's really impossible to keep the atoms together.

But to produce hydrogen on your own is a non starter. Not because it's too difficult, but because it uses too much electrical energy. The energy you can get out exactly equals the energy you put into the process. Unfortunately, we can't combust hydrogen at 100% efficiency, so there is always a loss.

Might as well directly use the electrical power from the solar cells or generator.
Title: Re: Hydrogen powered engines. Could this be the future for Cogen?
Post by: BruceM on July 29, 2021, 09:48:06 AM
Mike Strizki in New Jersey stores his summer's excess PV energy  via electrolysis of water as low pressure hydrogen in a big tank farm in his yard.  He runs a fuel cell system to generate electricity, which runs a geo source heat pump heating system in winter. 

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/hydrogen-house/

Payback of never on the electrolyzer and fuel cell system, I expect, but interesting.  PV sized for winter use means gross excess of power, most of the time, and it would be great to be able to put that into long term storage once the batteries are full.  Too bad the cost is out of sight.

It's a pity there's no miniature home power version of the Hall-Héroult process for converting aluminum oxide to aluminum as long term energy storage.  Aluminum is readily converted to heat and hydrogen via lye and water. The waste aluminum oxide could then be converted back to aluminum via PV power.


Title: Re: Hydrogen powered engines. Could this be the future for Cogen?
Post by: DKMC on July 29, 2021, 03:01:11 PM

Wowzers sounds like a La-BOMB-a

Quote from: BruceM on July 29, 2021, 09:48:06 AM
Mike Strizki in New Jersey stores his summer's excess PV energy  via electrolysis of water as low pressure hydrogen in a big tank farm in his yard.