Jerry Woodall, professor of electrical and computer engineering and director of the Burton D. Morgan Center for Entrepreneurship at Purdue University has invented a method of spontaneously producing hydrogen by utilizing aluminum alloy pellets. Woodall’s method mixes aluminum alloy pellets with water and gallium.
Hydrogen, the most abundant element in the universe, has long been viewed as a potential alternative fuel source for the standard internal combustion engine that, today, basically runs on gasoline. However, the full realization of hydrogen as an alternative energy source has been frustrated by gaps in technology, which have yet to find a safe, cost-effective and the efficient way to store and transport hydrogen in a vehicle, until it is needed as a direct fuel source. Woodall research now suggests that using aluminum pellets in the tank – along with gallium and plain water - may be an efficient way to close this technology gap.
While it has long been known that aluminum and oxygen produce a powerful reaction when combined – which is why aluminum is often used as an accelerant in rocket fuel - typically, that reaction is mitigated in "real life" by the fact that when the oxygen is released in the reaction, the oxidation results in the formation of a patina or "skin" on the surface of the metal – which dramatically slows down the continued reaction. But adding gallium to the mix, Woodall found, prevents that from happening.
The mixture of aluminum alloy, water and gallium causes a reaction that spontaneously produces hydrogen by splitting the water molecules into its component parts: hydrogen and oxygen. The actual process, says Woodall, is as simple as the oxidation that allows iron to rust, copper to turn green or other metals (like aluminum) to form a "skin" or patina when exposed to oxygen for long periods of time.
Gallium, it seems, prevents the aluminum alloy from forming that skin or patina when exposed to oxygen – and it’s the skin that forms that keeps the oxidation from fully reacting with the alloy and completing the process efficiently.
According to Woodall, when the aluminum alloy pellets come in contact with water, a reaction begins which splits the water molecules (H20) into two parts hydrogen and one part oxygen. But the very act of splitting off the oxygen actually acts as a barrier to the full reaction – creating the skin. Gallium, by prohibiting formation of this skin, allows the reaction to continue until all of the aluminum is spent. After the reaction, the gallium remains unchanged and unspent. Even batter, gallium remains unchanged after the reaction, allowing it to react with the aluminum and water indefinitely.
Woodall discovered that hydrogen could be produced out of water, aluminum alloy, and gallium while working in the semiconductor industry in 1967.
"I was cleaning a crucible containing liquid alloys of gallium and aluminum. When I added water to this alloy--talk about a discovery--there was a violent poof. I went to my office and worked out the reaction in a couple of hours to figure out what had happened. When aluminum atoms in the liquid alloy come into contact with water, they react, splitting the water and producing hydrogen and aluminum oxide," Woodall said in a recent statement.
Woodall, some of his students and AlGalCo are now trying to refine the process and make it a cost-effective and practical alternative to gasoline, ethanol and other fuels on the market. The Purdue Research Foundation holds the primary pending patents on Woodall’s research.
This spontaneous and continual production of hydrogen eliminates the need for storing the combustible hydrogen in some sort of onboard tank. By controlling and timing the reaction process, hydrogen may be created when and as it is needed to power the engine. Woodall estimates that the technique could produce fuel that would compete with gas at $3 a gallon (assuming that the commodities market for aluminum remains fairly stable at around $1 a pound). The actual fuel pellets, researchers admit, would probably be more expensive, but because hydrogen engines are more efficient, the cost difference would still make hydrogen competitive with oil...and far more stable in the global marketplace.
Someday, instead of filling up with gasoline, motorists may simply pour water into onboard tanks containing aluminum alloy pellets and gallium. The molecular reaction that results will spontaneously produce hydrogen – which will be fed into the internal combustion engine’s chambers to produce exactly the same result as injecting gasoline into the chambers….at a far lower cost, both in terms of price and in terms of carbon emissions.
Other researchers are also working on hydrogen solutions. In New York, Signma Chemistry
Meanwhile, Stanford University professor James Swartz has found a microrganism
Fuel cell makers are also trying to come up with vehicles that can be powered by aluminum. Horizon Fuel Cell Technologies recently showed how hydrogen can power small, unmanned aerial
says it can pull hydrogen out a reaction from sodium, water and silicon. Ecotality has also come up with a way to produce hydrogen – with magnesium oxide pellets. that splits water molecules by using sunlight. Swartz's work has generated a start-up called Fundamental Applied Biology. vehicles . Daimler Chrysler says it will soon come out with a new prototype hydrogen can and that hydrogen cars will be on the road in the 2012 to 2015 time frame.
