Debugged TECHNOLOGY OF CHEAP HYDROGEN FROM BIOMASS WASTE
In search of non-polluting energy sources environment, often talk about the great prospects of hydrogen fuel. Currently, the majority of the hydrogen produced from fossil fuels, such as natural gas, using a multistage high and processes. But chemists at the University of Wisconsin-Medisonskogo able to develop new and effective process by which it is possible to produce cheap hydrogen fuel directly from the tops of the plants.
This source of hydrogen is nontoxic and nonflammable, and therefore it can be safely transported in a conventional container as a dry solid material.
In an article published Aug. 29 in the journal Nature, authored a research scientist Randy Cortright, a graduate student Rupa Davda and Professor James Dumesika, describes the process by means of which the glucose, which is the source of energy used by the majority of plants and animals, is converted into hydrogen, carbon dioxide and alkanes with hydrogen gas is 50 percent of the product composition. A purified molecule, such as ethylene glycol and methanol, is almost completely converted into hydrogen and carbon dioxide.
This process does not affect global warming, because it is neutral, says Cortright. Carbon dioxide is produced as a by-product, but the biomass plant that grows in the fields for the subsequent production of its hydrogen feedstock will absorb that amount of carbon dioxide released in the next year, transforming it into carbon.
Glucose produced in large amounts, for example in the form of corn syrup (from maize starch), but may also be made from sugar beet or cheap biomass waste paper mill, cheese whey, corn, or wood waste topper.
Hydrogen will be the higher, the greater the amount of purified glucose molecules can be prepared from the feedstock. Therefore, unnecessary waste biomass may be the most economical and effective material for energy production.
We believe that we can make improvements to the catalyst and the reactor, which will increase the amount of hydrogen that we get from glucose, said Dumesik. Secondary gas product acyclic saturated hydrocarbons (alkanes) can be used as a power source for internal combustion engine or as a solid oxide fuel cell. And requires very little additional energy to run the process.
Since this process chemists developed at the University of Wisconsin-Medisonskogo occurs in the liquid phase and at fairly low temperatures (up to +227 | C), hydrogen is produced without the need of water evaporation. This technique is improved in comparison with the production of fuel ethanol or other conventional methods for producing hydrogen from fossil fuels based on phase evaporation and converted to its processes.
Also, such low temperatures at which it is possible to obtain the hydrogen fuel, - the result of very low concentrations of carbon monoxide (CO), which allows the desired fuel element through the full sorting of hydrogen at the first extraction process. A small amount of CO in the hydrogen fuel minimizes the drawbacks, that stood in the way of using this fuel cell in practice. The reason was that the high concentration of CO is withdrawn from the low-temperature surface electrode system of fuel cells.
Estimates of future volumes of hydrogen fuel that can be produced by waste biomass plants, have shown that this process can serve as an efficient production of clean and cheap electricity.
Before the final adjustments of the technology researchers to be more perfect this process. Platinum catalysts which run the entire reaction on the hydrogen generation are very expensive and must find new combinations of catalysts to obtain higher amounts of hydrogen of more concentrated solutions of biomass wastes containing sugar.
Contact information:
- James Dumesic (608) 262-1095, dumesic@engr.wisc.edu;
- Randy Cortright, (608) 265-9026, cortright@che.wisc.edu;
- Jim Beal (608) 263-0611, jbeal@engr.wisc.edu;
