Development and utilization of hydrogen energy

main content:

  • 1. Hydrogen vehicles
  • 2. Hydrogen power generation
  • 3. Hydrogen battery
  • There are many aspes of hydrogen energy utilization, some of which have been realized, and some people are striving to achieve the goal of clean new energy. The utilization of hydrogen will fill all aspects of human life.

    In 1869, the famous Russian scholar Mendeleev sorted out the periodic table of chemical elements. He put hydrogen at the top of the periodic table. Since then, he started from hydrogen to find the relationship with hydrogen, which laid the foundation for many elements. The research and utilization of hydrogen will be more scientific. By 1928, the German Zeppelin company used the huge buoyancy of hydrogen to create the world's first "LZ-127 Zeppelin" airship, which transported people from Germany to South America for the first time, realizing the voyage across the Atlantic by air. After about ten years of operation, the voyage is more than 160,000 kilometers, and 13,000 people have received the taste of heaven. This is the miracle of hydrogen.

    However, what is more advanced is that in the 1950s, the United States used liquid hydrogen as fuel for supersonic and subsonic aircraft, so that the B57 twin-engine bomber was modified with a hydrogen engine, and a hydrogen-powered aircraft was realized. In particular, in 1957, the former Soviet astronaut Gagarin traveled in space on an artificial earth satellite, and in 1963, an American spacecraft took to the sky, followed by the Apollo spacecraft in 1968, which achieved the first human landing on the moon. All of this relies on the credit of hydrogen fuel.

    In May 2004, the first hydrogen station was established in the United States, and the "Home Energy Station Third Generation", a stationary hydrogen production power generation device in California, began trial use. This device uses natural gas to make hydrogen to maintain fuel cells. The third generation is 30% lighter than the second generation, while the power generation is increased by 25%, while the hydrogen production and storage capacity is increased by 50%. In July 2005, the "fifth generation new battery vehicle" developed by Daimler-Chrysler, one of the first companies in the world to produce hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, successfully crossed the United States and refreshed the way fuel cell vehicles drive on the road. The car is powered by hydrogen, with a total driving distance of 5245km and a top speed of 145km per hour.

    In 2005, the "New Energy Award" of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan awarded an energy-saving building. This building uses fuel cells to supply energy and uses various technologies such as thermoelectric interchange and energy-saving materials.
    In the utilization of hydrogen energy technology, Canada has put forward a number of development plans as follows. For example, the "Hydrogen Energy Village Program", the government and private enterprises will establish hydrogen energy villages in the Toronto area to deploy and demonstrate different hydrogen facility technologies; "Vancouver Fuel Cell Vehicle Program", Canada's United Ford Motor Company will test fuel in the lowlands of British Columbia Battery car performance. In addition, the plans under preparation include the “Hydrogen Energy Corridor”, that is, setting up a hydrogen refueling station on the 900km highway between Windsor and Montreal; Hydrogenation of transportation vehicles.

    In addition, the research of cooking stoves, generator sets and hydrogen lighting lamps fueled by hydrogen energy has also made significant progress.

    1. Hydrogen vehicles

    Hydrogen vehicles

    The use of hydrogen instead of gasoline as the fuel for automobile engines has been tested by many automobile companies in Japan, the United States, and Germany. The technology is feasible. At present, the main issue is the source of cheap hydrogen. Hydrogen is an efficient fuel, producing 33.6 kilowatt-hours of energy per kilogram of hydrogen combustion, almost 2.8 times that of a car. Hydrogen combustion not only has a high calorific value, but also has a fast flame propagation speed and low ignition energy (easy to ignite), so the total fuel utilization efficiency of hydrogen energy vehicles can be 20% higher than that of gasoline vehicles. Of course, the main product of hydrogen combustion is water, with very little nitrogen oxides, and absolutely no harmful components such as carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, and sulfur dioxide that are produced when gasoline is burned. Hydrogen vehicles are the cleanest ideal means of transportation.

    For the hydrogen supply of hydrogen vehicles, metal hydrides are currently used as hydrogen storage materials, and the heat required to release hydrogen can be provided by engine cooling water and exhaust heat. There are two types of hydrogen vehicles, one is a full-burning hydrogen vehicle, and the other is a hydrogen-fueled vehicle in which hydrogen and gasoline are co-fired. As long as the engine of a hydrogen-mixed vehicle is slightly changed or not changed, the fuel efficiency can be improved and the exhaust pollution can be reduced. The average thermal efficiency can be increased by 15% and the gasoline can be saved by about 30% by using a car with about 5% hydrogen. Therefore, in the near future, more hydrogen-filled vehicles are used, and full-fuel hydrogen vehicles will be promoted after hydrogen can be supplied in large quantities. The German Mercedes-Benz car company has successively launched various hydrogen-fueled vehicles, including vans, buses, postal cars and cars. Taking a hydrogen-burning van as an example, using 200 kg of titanium-iron alloy hydride as a fuel tank instead of a 65-liter gasoline tank, it can drive more than 130 kilometers continuously. The hydrogen-doped car made by the German Mercedes-Benz company can run on the highway, and the hydrogen storage tank used in the car is also titanium-iron alloy hydride.

    The characteristic of hydrogen-mixed vehicles is that the mixed fuel of gasoline and hydrogen can work in lean and lean fuel, which can improve the combustion condition of the entire engine. In many cities in China, where traffic is congested, car engines are often run at part load, and it is particularly advantageous to use hydrogen-filled vehicles. In particular, some industrial residual hydrogen (such as synthetic ammonia production) cannot be recycled. If it is used as a hydrogen-mixed fuel, its economic and environmental benefits are desirable.

    2. Hydrogen power generation

    Hydrogen power generation

    Use hydrogen and oxygen to burn to form a hydrogen-oxygen generator set. This type of unit is a rocket-type internal combustion engine with a generator. It does not require a complicated steam boiler system, so it has a simple structure, convenient maintenance, and quick start. When the grid load is low, it can also absorb excess electricity to electrolyze water to produce hydrogen and oxygen for power generation during peak hours. This regulating action is advantageous for operation with the net. In addition, hydrogen and oxygen can directly change the operating conditions of conventional thermal power generating units and improve the power generation capacity of the power station. For example, the combustion of hydrogen and oxygen constitutes magnetic fluid power generation, and liquid hydrogen is used to cool the power generation device, thereby increasing the power of the unit. 

    3. Hydrogen battery

    Hydrogen battery

    Hydrogen can be converted into energy through conventional combustion, and can also be used in fuel cells through electrochemical processes. Hydrogen fuel cells are a newer way of generating hydrogen energy. This is a device made using the principle that hydrogen and oxygen (into air) are directly electrochemically reacted to generate electricity. In other words, it is also the reverse reaction of the water electrolyzer to produce hydrogen and oxygen. The simple principle of a hydrogen fuel cell is to directly convert the chemical energy of the fuel into electrical energy without combustion. The energy conversion efficiency can reach 60% to 80%, with less pollution and less noise. The device can be large or small, and is very flexible.

    Essentially, hydrogen fuel cells work differently from internal combustion engines. Hydrogen fuel cells generate electricity through chemical reactions to propel cars, while diesel locomotives propel cars through combustion to generate heat. Since the working process of the fuel cell vehicle does not involve combustion, there is no mechanical loss and corrosion, and the electric energy generated by the hydrogen fuel cell can be directly used to propel the four wheels of the vehicle, thus omitting the mechanical transmission device. Experiments have shown that the carbon emission of vehicles using hydrogen fuel cells is only 30% of that of conventional internal combustion engines, and the air pollution caused by them is only 5% of that of internal combustion engines.

    In the 1960s, hydrogen fuel cells have been successfully used in the aerospace field. The "Apollo" spacecraft that traveled between space and the earth was equipped with such a small and large-capacity device. After entering the 1970s, as people continued to master a variety of advanced hydrogen production technologies, hydrogen fuel cells were soon used in power generation and automobiles. Since the 1970s, Japan, the United States and other countries have stepped up research on various fuel cells, which have now entered commercial development. Japan has established a 10,000-kilowatt fuel cell power station, and more than 30 manufacturers in the United States are developing fuel cells. Germany, Britain, France, More than 20 companies in Holland, Denmark, Italy and Austria have also invested in fuel cell research, and this new power generation method has attracted worldwide attention.