Monday, April 4, 2011

Facts about Hydrogen

But unfortunately you will need to put your brain in gear before you put your hands in motion, because you will be dealing with an element that is lighter than air, harder to compress and store it and with an explosion speed 10 times faster than gasoline.
The good news, is that this gas called "HHO" or "Brown Gas", dissipates very rapidly into the atmosphere and turns into water molecules, that is great for our environment!!! and a lot healthier for all human life.
So, please get yourself well informed about HHO and start working on your own project. Start from the "roots level,  changing the way you were so "dependent"          (slaves) on foreign oil, because if you wait for the government to do it, you will wait forever.

Remember that all the great inventions started, not in magnificent buildings but in small basements, garages and small work shops, by people like you and me and thanks to them we are able to enjoy the life style we are so used to it and take for granted.
Who knows, maybe you will be the person that will take our generation and our planet into the next frontier: The Hydrogen Energy revolution.
We wish the best of luck in your project and keep us informed about your project, if you send us pictures and testimonials, we will try to publish them here, so we all can learn from your experiences.  http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=360232803470

What is Hydrogen?

Hydrogen is the simplest, lightest element in the universe. It is made up of one proton and one electron. Because of its simplicity, it is believed by some that hydrogen is the root of all elements.
It’s Light! When hydrogen escapes into the atmosphere, it is so light that it scatters immediately upward in the air (it’s 14 times lighter than air) This means that a hydrogen spill won’t pool on the ground, pollute groundwater, or soak into clothing—it removes itself!

It’s Everywhere! Hydrogen is the most abundant element in the universe, making up more that 90% of all matter. On Earth, it is the third most abundant element in the Earth’s surface, found in water and all organic matter.

What’s Its Nature? In its normal gaseous state, hydrogen is colorless, odorless, tasteless, and is nontoxic, which makes it different from every other common fuel we use.

What Happens When Hydrogen Burns? Hydrogen burns readily with oxygen, releasing considerable energy as heat and producing only water as exhaust. When hydrogen burns in air (which is mostly nitrogen), some oxides of nitrogen (NOx, contributors to smog and acid rain) can be formed, but much fewer pollutants are formed than when normal hydrocarbon fuels such as gasoline and diesel are burned. Because no carbon is involved, using hydrogen fuel eliminates carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, and does not contribute to global warming.

A Brief History of Hydrogen

1766 – Renowned English chemist and physicist Henry Cavendish is the first to recognize hydrogen gas as a distinct substance. He also described the composition of water as a combination of hydrogen and oxygen.

Early 1800’s to mid 1900’s – Town gas, a gaseous product manufactured from coal, supplies lighting and heating for America and Europe. Town gas is 50% hydrogen, with the rest comprised of mostly methane and carbon dioxide, with 3% to 6% carbon monoxide. Town gas is celebrated as a wonder, bringing light and heat to the civilized world. Then, large natural gas fields are discovered, and networks of natural gas pipelines displace town gas. (Town gas is still found in limited use today in Europe and Asia.)

1911 – Chemist Carl Bosch directs the development for ammonia and fertilizer to be manufactured from hydrogen and nitrogen gases. This innovation leads eventually to synthetic fertilizers, making it possible for agriculture to feed a rapidly increasing world population.

1937 – After several years of safe and elegant passenger travel by many airships, the zeppelin Hindenburg, landing at Lakehurst, New Jersey, is ignited by electrical discharge after its flight across the Atlantic from Germany. Within seconds, the airship burns and crashes to the ground, with a death toll of 35 of the 97 people on board and one on the ground. Although the Hindenburg was filled with seven million cubic feet of hydrogen for buoyancy, the fire spread because of the coating, which contained rocket propellant components. Thirty-four of the deaths were attributed to people jumping or falling from the airship, and two from burns from the flammable skin and on-board diesel. Even though the hydrogen burned safely above the passengers and didn’t cause a single death, hydrogen was stigmatized by association with the Hindenburg disaster for decades afterward.

1959 – Francis Bacon, engineer and descendent of the famous scientist,produced a 5-kW fuel cell system. Later that year, Harry Karl Ihrig demonstrated the first fuel cell-powered vehicle, a 20-horsepower tractor.
20th Century – Hydrogen is used extensively as a key component in the manufacture of ammonia, methanol, gasoline, and heating oil. It is also used to make fertilizers, glass, refined metals, vitamins, cosmetics, semiconductor circuits, soaps, lubricants, cleaners, margarine, peanut butter and rocket fuel.

1958 to Present – The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is formed, continuing work by the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) and several universities and businesses on using hydrogen as a rocket fuel and electricity source via fuel cells. NASA becomes the worldwide largest user of liquid hydrogen and is renowned for its safe handling of hydrogen.
Late 20th Century/Dawn of 21st Century – Many industries worldwide begin producing hydrogen, hydrogen-powered vehicles, hydrogen fuel cells, and other hydrogen products. From Japan’s hydrogen delivery trucks to BMW’s liquid hydrogen passenger cars, to Ballard’s fuel cell transit buses in Chicago and Vancouver, BC, to Palm Desert’s Renewable Transportation Project, to Iceland’s commitment to be the first hydrogen economy by 2030, to the forward-thinking work of many hydrogen organizations worldwide, to Hydrogen Now!’s public education work, the dynamic progress in Germany, Europe, Japan, Canada, the US, Australia, Iceland, and several other countries launch hydrogen onto the main stage of the world’s energy scene.

The Nature of Hydrogen:

Hydrogen is less flammable than gasoline. The self-ignition temperature of hydrogen is 550 degrees Celsius. Gasoline varies from 228-501 degrees Celsius, depending on the grade. When the Hindenburg burned, it took some time before the hydrogen bags were ignited.

Hydrogen disperses quickly. Being the lightest element (fourteen times lighter than air), hydrogen rises and spreads out quickly in the atmosphere. So when a leak occurs, the hydrogen gas quickly becomes so sparse that it cannot burn. Even when ignited, hydrogen burns upward, and is quickly consumed, as shown in the Hindenburg picture. By contrast, materials such as gasoline and diesel vapors are heavier than air, and will not disperse, remaining a flammable threat for much longer.
Hydrogen is a non-toxic, naturally-occurring element in the atmosphere. By comparison, all petroleum fuels are poisonous to humans.

Hydrogen combustion produces only water. When pure hydrogen is burned in pure oxygen, only pure water is produced. Granted, that’s an ideal scenario, which doesn’t occur outside of laboratories and the space shuttle. In any case, when a hydrogen engine burns, it actually cleans the ambient air, by completing combustion of the unburned hydrocarbons that surround us. Compared with the toxic compounds (carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, and hydrogen sulfide) produced by petroleum fuels, the products of hydrogen burning are much safer.

Hydrogen can be stored safely. Tanks currently in use for storage of compressed hydrogen (similar to compressed natural gas tanks) have survived intact through testing by various means, including being shot with six rounds from a .357 magnum, detonating a stick of dynamite next to them, and subjecting them to fire at 1500 degrees F. Clearly, a typical gasoline tank wouldn’t survive a single one of these tests.

What Have We Learned? 
No fuel we currently use or have yet to develop will be totally without hazards, through all the processes of production, transportation, and consumption, just as no kitchen knife can be used without risk to the chef. Hydrogen has long been considered close to ideal as a fuel due to its abundance, non-toxic characteristics, and international availability. We must recognize that each of us has learned to use knives safely, and do so daily. As long as we use wisdom in our methods of production, storage, and use of hydrogen, we’ll enjoy the same safety we have had with petroleum fuels, with the additional benefit of fewer health hazards when leaks do occur.

The Hydrogen Economy

Mankind’s energy needs have evolved for centuries and are continuing to evolve today. From wood and animal fat, to coal, to petroleum, to propane, to natural gas, we have used a succession of fuels to heat us, manufacture our goods, light our lamps, and move about our planet. Hydrogen is the latest in the succession of energy providers, with many social, economic, and environmental benefits to its credit.

The technology is now available to begin converting from a petroleum-based economy to a hydrogen-based economy. 

All three energy sectors (transportation, industry, and heating and cooling buildings) stand to benefit. Of these, the transportation sector will likely have the most profound immediate effect.

Transportation
Research is advancing on fuel cells and many other hydrogen technologies; so we need to begin building the supply and distribution systems to energize these products.

We will not immediately dispose of the 800 million vehicles that are presently in the World. Millions of new internal combustion engine vehicles will be produced before the transition to manufacturing totally clean vehicles can be completed. These new and older cars will be on our roads for at least the next 30 years. If they are powered with hydrogen, billions of tons of greenhouse gases and pollutants will not be thrust into the air.

Converting internal combustion engines in automobiles is possible today. See our Automobile page for more information.

Sources of Hydrogen
Currently, natural gas (methane) is the primary source for producing hydrogen, using a method called "Steam Methane Reformation" (SMR). However, as the cost of natural gas rises, and the cost of electricity from wind and other renewable energy sources diminishes, more and more of our hydrogen will come from clean renewable energy.

Research is striving to improve renewable methods of generating hydrogen (from livestock waste, landfill biomass, waste-water sludge, chemical reactions and electricity from solar, wind and water power). As fossil fuel companies become basic energy companies, harvesting hydrogen from these sources can make it a completely renewable resource.

A Series of Transitions
Converting to the hydrogen economy is a series of transitions: first, a transition when both conventional fuels and hydrogen will be available, and used, for example, in the same internal combustion engine, and second, when hydrogen alone will be used. The complete transition will stretch at least a decade. It could even take 20 years or more before we produce hydrogen from completely renewable resources. The transition can be done in a very short period of time if all people of the world put their collective efforts into it and demand that it be done.

The world’s energy systems continue to evolve, and no single source of energy will meet all mankind’s needs forever.

Let’s start this important next step together! Now!

Is burning hydrogen like the hydrogen bomb?

No. Burning hydrogen, just like burning gasoline, natural gas, or a candle,is a chemical reaction, which means that only the electrons get shifted around and new compounds are made, like water, but the basic atoms are the same. In a nuclear reaction, the actual nucleus of the atom (the protons and neutrons) is changed.

How was hydrogen named?

Hydrogen was named by Antoine Lavoisier in 1783. A Frenchman, he called it hydrogène, naming it after the Greek words hydor and gennan (or geinomai) roughly translated as "water generating" or "water forming".


http://hho-hydrogen-energy.com/

 Conclusion

Basing our findings and with the facts given, hydrogen is the solution to our current global economic and environmental crisis.  Harnessing it's power with the use of modern high technology gadgets and know how contributed by those who use it and  had in in depth research and intensive experiments on this element, humanity is headed towards change and should start adopting ways of preserving fossil fuels for mankind's future generation as well as save the earth from further destruction brought about by  green house gases.  Support drives and innovation pertaining to the proliferation of Hydrogen commercial use. 

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