Tech & Biz

Breakthrough Process Generates Hydrogen from Aluminum Alloy

by nukegingrich | May 17, 2007 at 03:59 am

1068 views | 5 Recommendations | 2 comments

Water added to aluminum mixed with Gallium can produce hydrogen on demand. As a catalyst, the Gallium is not consumed. The oxidized aluminum can be recycled. The process is close to being cost competitive with gasoline.

A Purdue University engineer has developed a method that uses an aluminum alloy to extract hydrogen from water for running fuel cells or internal combustion engines. The technique could be used to replace gasoline, though it is not quite cost-competitive yet.

The method makes it unnecessary to store or transport hydrogen - two major challenges in creating a hydrogen economy, said Jerry Woodall, a distinguished professor of electrical and computer engineering at Purdue who invented the process.

"The hydrogen is generated on demand, so you only produce as much as you need when you need it," said Woodall, who presented research findings detailing how the system works during a recent energy symposium at Purdue.

The Purdue Research Foundation holds title to the primary patent, which
has been filed with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and is pending. An Indiana startup company, AlGalCo LLC., has received a license for the exclusive right to commercialize the process.

As with many breakthrough discoveries throughout history, this one came as an accident...

"I was cleaning a crucible containing liquid alloys of gallium and aluminum," Woodall said. "When I added water to this alloy - talk about a discovery - there was a violent poof. I went to my office and worked out the reaction in a couple of hours to figure out what had happened.

This could be big, big, big.

Nuke

Update 1: Others have taken notice:

Read more at CNet, Reuters, (I love scooping the big boys) and PhysOrg

PLUS, here is Jerry Woodall's Powerpoint Presentation

Update 2: More links...

NewMax, SciIT News, and

Mobile Magazine does the math:

"
A pound of aluminum gives forth about two kilowatts of power, meaning
that a 350-mile trip in a standard vehicle would require 350 pounds of
aluminum and cost about $60. That dollar figure is fairly
representative of current gasoline costs for the same distance."

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