Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
u
Hydrogen
on Demand
Is there any way that hydrogen fuel could be easily made in
small amounts as it is needed? Jerry Woodall, a professor
at Purdue University in Indiana, thinks he might have a way.
Woodall discovered that hydrogen is produced when water
is added to an
alloy
(a mixture of two or more metals) of
aluminum and gallium. The water is added to a tank containing
pellets of the alloy. The alloy, which has a strong reaction to
the oxygen in the water, splits the water molecules, releasing
hydrogen. The hydrogen could then be fed directly into an
engine—such as a car engine—where it would act like gasoline.
Only the hydrogen that is needed right away would be made.
The process is still in the experimental stages, but Woodall
and his students are working on making it a practical method
to produce hydrogen fuel.
fuel is more efi cient than just burning coal. More energy is
produced through gasii cation than is produced in a traditional
coal-burning power plant that makes electricity. The energy
in the form of hydrogen fuel could be used to generate far
more electricity than the coal from which the hydrogen fuel
was made. Scientists believe that this benei t outweighs the
downside of creating carbon dioxide. In addition, scientists are
looking at different processes to reduce the threat that carbon
dioxide poses. One of these processes involves taking the
