G
G. R. L. Cowan
Guest
David Harper wrote:
Interestingly, in the first few miles of each of its flights,
when it was flying, more than half the Shuttle's power
came from aluminum combustion. You might be interested in
the following thought experiment:
(1) Take a serious hydrogen car such as the recent BMW 750.
Like every such car it has a combustion motor
and a cryogenic liquid hydrogen tank.
Remove most of this tank's guts -- the vacuum
superinsulation, the heater, the 140-L inner tank.
Keep only the 175-L outer steel shell;
if you want, change it to aluminum.
(2) Put 63 litres of aluminum pellets into it.
(3) Replace -- this is a difficult step, but it's all the
same price to think about -- the hydrogen burner motor
with an aluminum-burning one.
As proof that such motors can exist, I offer the
space shuttle's SRBs. When the shuttle was flying,
the first 10 miles or so of every flight was
principally aluminum combustion-powered.
(4) Run the vehicle until all the aluminum has burned.
Pressed into small briquettes, the resulting oxide
should fill up about 96 litres of space, so it can
go back in the tank. In fact, it can have its own
compartment there.
(5) Note how far you drove: well over a thousand km,
over three times as far as is possible using the
same space for hydrogen.
--- Graham Cowan
http://www.eagle.ca/~gcowan/Paper_for_11th_CHC.doc --
How individual mobility gains nuclear cachet.
Link if you want it to happen
If he does, it might not be their first clue ...Dan Bloomquist <EXTRApublic20@lakeweb.com> wrote in message news:<40FC2260.9080707@lakeweb.com>...
You have shown examples where individuals lack an understanding of the
potential applications. Hydrogen doesn't fit here.
To speak of hydrogen as the wonder fuel of the future is like saying
nuclear fusion would be 'the' energy source of the next decade back in
the 50s.
When did I ever say hydrogen was a "wonder fuel" and will be the fuel
of the 2010's? I only made the statement that saying 'hydrogen will
never be viable energy source due to cost' was short sighted.
Hydrogen as a 'fuel' has serious physical limitation. One of the biggest
is that it is not an energy source.
What?! What about fuel cells? The shuttle main engines? Sure, you
need oxygen too, but saying it's not a source of energy...???
And what physical limitations are you talking about? The only one I
can think of is volume when it's not cryogenic.
And to imply that this can be
overcome by 'vision' means you would have to defy nature, which is not
the case in the examples you have posted above.
Best, Dan.
How would using hydrogen as a fuel "defy" nature? Afterwards, you
might want to inform NASA that their shuttle doesn't work.
Interestingly, in the first few miles of each of its flights,
when it was flying, more than half the Shuttle's power
came from aluminum combustion. You might be interested in
the following thought experiment:
(1) Take a serious hydrogen car such as the recent BMW 750.
Like every such car it has a combustion motor
and a cryogenic liquid hydrogen tank.
Remove most of this tank's guts -- the vacuum
superinsulation, the heater, the 140-L inner tank.
Keep only the 175-L outer steel shell;
if you want, change it to aluminum.
(2) Put 63 litres of aluminum pellets into it.
(3) Replace -- this is a difficult step, but it's all the
same price to think about -- the hydrogen burner motor
with an aluminum-burning one.
As proof that such motors can exist, I offer the
space shuttle's SRBs. When the shuttle was flying,
the first 10 miles or so of every flight was
principally aluminum combustion-powered.
(4) Run the vehicle until all the aluminum has burned.
Pressed into small briquettes, the resulting oxide
should fill up about 96 litres of space, so it can
go back in the tank. In fact, it can have its own
compartment there.
(5) Note how far you drove: well over a thousand km,
over three times as far as is possible using the
same space for hydrogen.
--- Graham Cowan
http://www.eagle.ca/~gcowan/Paper_for_11th_CHC.doc --
How individual mobility gains nuclear cachet.
Link if you want it to happen