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The time for the use of Hydrogen to be a viable energy source is becoming more of a reality today.  The devices that will convert water into hydrogen have been around for several years.  Many of these devices have been discounted.

However today with the shrinking supply and the expensive nature of fossil fuels is making many people and companies take a more serious look at this energy conversion devices.

Stanford Ovshinsky, an inventor of rarefied stature who, many decades ago, made discoveries involving amorphous and disordered materials that created a whole new area of materials science. This work and how it led to many breakthrough applications, including his patented nickel-metal-hydride batteries (he and the company he founded, Rochester Hills, Michigan-based Energy Conversion Devices, hold the patents). As it turns out, this work has also led to the ability to store hydrogen in solid form at low pressure, a technology being developed by ECD business unit Ovonic Hydrogen Systems.

The current ideas of storing hydrogen in liquid or gaseous forms has caused a lot of concern and complications due to the inherent limitations of the supply lines and the amount of storage necessary to make them useful for everyday automobile use.

The approach offered by Ovonic Hydrogen Systems’ solid hydrogen storage, a concept that defies believability.

Ron Cogan’s article describes the system like this:

A tank containing powdered metal alloys is filled with hydrogen at a relatively low 1,500 psi. Removing heat during the process causes the metal to absorb hydrogen like a sponge, and a new material called a metal hydride is created. Hydrogen stored in solid form like this is in a safer state and can be stored within a tank at a lower 250 psi. On-board systems determine when hydrogen is needed by an engine or fuel cell, providing heat to reverse the process so gaseous hydrogen is released from the hydride and into the fuel system. In an interesting phenomenon, a greater volume of hydrogen can be stored in the same size cylinder with metal alloy than without it, a consideration that provides better driving range.

Other modifications to these vehicles have to be made including vents and leak detectors to ensure safe operation, as well as hydrogen-compatible fuel lines, an engine management computer that operates new gaseous fuel injectors, and a variety of sensors. A turbocharger is used to compensate for the lower engine output that comes with combustion of  hydrogen.

The future of this hydrogen storage system is now and very possible.

Additional information may be found here

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