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Post by lowell on Mar 26, 2021 11:41:33 GMT -6
"UK homes with hydrogen boilers and hobs to be built in April" In April, the UK’s first homes to be fitted with boilers and hobs that run on hydrogen rather than fossil fuel gas will be built in Gateshead. The semi-detached houses will use 100% hydrogen for heating and cooking in appliances including boilers, hobs, cookers and fires under a new government scheme intended to offer the British public a glimpse into “the potential home of the future”. The UK Government hopes to create entire “hydrogen neighbourhoods” and even a “hydrogen town” within the next ten years as part of its plan to cut the carbon emissions from UK homes and become a net-zero carbon nation by 2050. Anne-Marie Trevelyan, the energy minister, said the two houses “will showcase how low-carbon hydrogen can transform the way we power our homes and offer a glimpse of what the future holds as we build back greener”. Using fossil fuel gas for heating and cooking is responsible for about 30% of the UK’s emissions, but burning hydrogen is emissions-free and could play a key role in helping the UK to meet its climate targets by blending with existing gas supplies or replacing gas entirely, The Guardian reports. Ministers are soon expected to outline a detailed strategy for the future uses of hydrogen, which could also be used to cut emissions from heavy industry and the transport sector. The role of hydrogen in UK homes is considered controversial by some in the energy industry who believe it would be safer and more efficient to use electric hobs and heat pumps. Hydrogen can be costly to produce without contributing to climate emissions because it relies on either using renewable energy to split water into hydrogen and oxygen to make “green hydrogen”, or using carbon capture technology to prevent the emissions released by splitting fossil fuel gas into “blue hydrogen”. The Gateshead houses will run on tanks of regular hydrogen provided on site, rather than via the local gas grid which still uses fossil fuel gas. The first homes in the world to use green hydrogen through a local gas grid will move ahead in Fife, Scotland by the end of next year. Tags: UK Government
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Post by lowell on Mar 26, 2021 13:07:33 GMT -6
Hob In modern British English usage, the word refers to a cooktop or hotplate, as distinguished from an oven.
Cooker cooker in British English 1. an apparatus, usually of metal and heated by gas, electricity, oil, or solid fuel, for cooking food; stove.
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Post by James T. Kirk on Mar 27, 2021 3:55:05 GMT -6
So you turn your hot plate on with a "Hob-Knob"?
But seriously, this reminds me of an encounter with an old uncle of mine back in the late 1970s. I was driving past his house and saw him standing in the driveway staring into the hood compartment of his six cylinder 1966 Chevrolet Biscayne. I stopped and asked him what he was doing. He said "I'm figuring out how to get this thing to run on water". Being young and not at all scientific, I chuckled and said "riiight". He was as serious as a heart attack. He was a retired machinist and all-around smart old guy. He built his own airplane back in the 1940s. He passed away not long after that driveway talk, but it's become obvious to me over the years there are a lot of smart people, like him, who are able to do amazing things. Over the years those who profited from things like cars that don't run on water, made sure that cars that could never got developed. Eventually things will change, and hopefully it won't be too late.
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Post by lowell on Mar 27, 2021 15:26:12 GMT -6
A steam powered car heated by a hydrogen flame might be practical. It would need a warm up time before it could roll down the highway though. Perhaps it could be remotely started before a person needed it.
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Post by James T. Kirk on Mar 27, 2021 16:41:54 GMT -6
My uncle's theory was the engine would run on hydrogen and the exhaust would be oxygen if I remember correctly. Of course this was around 1978 and he was in his late 70s. All I know was he was dead serious. If he had been a young man we might all be filling up our tank with a garden hose.
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Post by lowell on Mar 27, 2021 22:25:15 GMT -6
Wikipedia has an article on internal combustion engines that have used hydrogen.
It says, in part:
"Francois Isaac de Rivaz designed in 1806 the De Rivaz engine, the first internal combustion engine, which ran on a hydrogen/oxygen mixture.[4] Étienne Lenoir produced the Hippomobile in 1863. Paul Dieges patented in 1970 a modification to internal combustion engines which allowed a gasoline-powered engine to run on hydrogen.[5]
Tokyo City University have been developing hydrogen internal combustion engines from 1970.[6] They recently developed a hydrogen fueled Bus[7] and Truck.
Mazda has developed Wankel engines that burn hydrogen. The advantage of using ICE (internal combustion engine) such as Wankel and piston engines is that the cost of retooling for production is much lower. Existing-technology ICE can still be used to solve those problems where fuel cells are not a viable solution as yet, for example in cold-weather applications.
Between 2005 - 2007, BMW tested a luxury car named the BMW Hydrogen 7, powered by a hydrogen ICE, which achieved 301 km/h (187 mph) in tests.[citation needed] At least two of these concepts have been manufactured.[citation needed]
HICE forklift trucks have been demonstrated [8] based on converted diesel internal combustion engines with direct injection.[9]
In the year 2000, a Shelby Cobra was converted to run on hydrogen in a project led by James W. Heffel (principal engineer at the time for the University of California, Riverside CE-CERT). The hydrogen conversion was done with the aim of making a vehicle capable of beating the current land speed record for hydrogen powered vehicles.[10][11][12] It achieved a respectable 108.16 mph, missing the world record for hydrogen powered vehicles by 0.1 mph.[13]
Alset GmbH developed a hybrid hydrogen systems that allows vehicle to use petrol and hydrogen fuels individually or at the same time with an internal combustion engine. This technology was used with Aston Martin Rapide S during the 24 Hours Nürburgring race. The Rapide S was the first vehicle to finish the race with hydrogen technology.[14]
Hydrogen internal combustion engine development has been receiving more interest recently, particularly for heavy duty commercial vehicles. Part of the motivation for this is as a bridging technology to meet future climate CO2 emission goals, and as technology more compatible with existing automotive knowledge and manufacturing.
Adaptation of existing engines
The differences between a hydrogen ICE and a traditional gasoline engine include hardened valves and valve seats, stronger connecting rods, non-platinum tipped spark plugs, a higher voltage ignition coil, fuel injectors designed for a gas instead of a liquid, larger crankshaft damper, stronger head gasket material, modified (for supercharger) intake manifold, positive pressure supercharger, and a high temperature engine oil. All modifications would amount to about one point five times (1.5) the current cost of a gasoline engine.[21] These hydrogen engines burn fuel in the same manner that gasoline engines do.
The theoretical maximum power output from a hydrogen engine depends on the air/fuel ratio and fuel injection method used. The stoichiometric air/fuel ratio for hydrogen is 34:1. At this air/fuel ratio, hydrogen will displace 29% of the combustion chamber leaving only 71% for the air. As a result, the energy content of this mixture will be less than it would be if the fuel were gasoline. Since both the carbureted and port injection methods mix the fuel and air prior to it entering the combustion chamber, these systems limit the maximum theoretical power obtainable to approximately 85% of that of gasoline engines. For direct injection systems, which mix the fuel with the air after the intake valve has closed (and thus the combustion chamber has 100% air), the maximum output of the engine can be approximately 15% higher than that for gasoline engines.
Therefore, depending on how the fuel is metered, the maximum output for a hydrogen engine can be either 15% higher or 15% less than that of gasoline if a stoichiometric air/fuel ratio is used. However, at a stoichiometric air/fuel ratio, the combustion temperature is very high and as a result it will form a large amount of nitrogen oxides (NOx), which is a criteria pollutant. Since one of the reasons for using hydrogen is low exhaust emissions, hydrogen engines are not normally designed to run at a stoichiometric air/fuel ratio.
Typically hydrogen engines are designed to use about twice as much air as theoretically required for complete combustion. At this air/fuel ratio, the formation of NOx is reduced to near zero. Unfortunately, this also reduces the power output to about half that of a similarly sized gasoline engine. To make up for the power loss, hydrogen engines are usually larger than gasoline engines, and/or are equipped with turbochargers or superchargers.[22]
In the Netherlands, research organisation TNO has been working with industrial partners for the development of hydrogen internal combustion engines.[23]
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Post by James T. Kirk on Mar 28, 2021 3:56:55 GMT -6
I suspect my uncle knew all about Francois Isaac de Rivaz and his engine. I also suspect he really thought he could convert his six banger Biscayne to run on water if his health hadn't declined. He had a machinist shop in his garage after he retired from P Lorillard and more tools than anyone I know. I have many of his hand tools now but when my aunt went in a nursing home on 2014 my brother an I were tasked with finding homes for his machine shop tools. I had no idea how to use them. One particular lathe was especially large. it took a skid loader and flatbed truck to get it out. I still use many of his tools and other treasures I got from his shop. I've got a new valve cover gasket still in the box for that 66 Biscayne hanging on the wall of my garage.
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Post by gl5662 on Apr 4, 2021 18:36:28 GMT -6
There's nuclear reactors that can instantly switch to hydrogen generators.
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Post by lowell on Apr 5, 2021 2:29:16 GMT -6
There's nuclear reactors that can instantly switch to hydrogen generators. Fission reactors produce too much radioactive waste that is difficult to dispose of. Fusion reactors will use hydrogen and the fusion of it into helium and lithium to create energy. A boron-laser fusion reactor is under development in Australia and that reactor may be the source of unlimited energy for us all.
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