Research carried out by scientists at Australia’s Deakin University has determined that it is possible to store hydrogen in powder form, making it much easier to transport and opening up new options for using this inexhaustible source of energy.
Many consider that the investment being made in hydrogen is sterile and a waste of timebut the truth is that when science gets involved, nothing can be taken for granted.
It is true that, today, hydrogen does not appear to be a really viable option as an energy source in many areas, especially if we are talking about electric cars.
The boron nitride is placed in a stainless steel ball mill, together with the gases to be separated.
This, among many other reasons, occurs because hydrogen is complicated to transport and expensive to produce. However, many scientists are working day and night to find new techniques to overcome these obstacles.
While heavy transport already uses hydrogen as fuel, researchers are studying new ways to lower production costs. And our protagonists today have found a way to transport it easily.
powdered hydrogen
This is a technique by which it is possible to store hydrogen powder, specifically boron nitride.
As explained by the researchers Deakin University, Australiathis special ingredient is excellent for absorbing substances because it is so small but has a large amount of surface area for absorption.
“Boron nitride powder can be reused multiple times to carry out the same gas storage and separation process over and over again”clarifies Srikanth Mateti, principal investigator.
“There is no waste, the process requires no harsh chemicals and creates no by-products. Boron Nitride itself is classified as a Tier 0 chemical, something that is considered perfectly safe to have in your home. This means you could store hydrogen anywhere and use it when needed.”
During the process, the boron nitride powder is placed in a ball mill, a type of grinder that contains small stainless steel balls in a chamberalong with the gases to be separated.
As the chamber rotates at increasing speed, the balls’ collision with the dust and the chamber wall triggers a mechanochemical reaction that causes the gas to be absorbed by the dust.
One type of gas is always absorbed into the powder faster, separating it from the others and allowing it to be easily removed from the mill. This process can be repeated in several stages to separate the gases one by one.
The ball milling gas absorption process consumes 76.8 KJ/s to store and separate 1000 liters of gases. This is at least 90% less than the energy used in the current separation process of the oil industry.
Once absorbed into this material, the gas can be transported safely and easily. Then, when the gas is needed, the powder can simply be heated in a vacuum to release the gas unchanged.
30 years of studies
This finding was not the culmination of a recent study, as Professor Ying (Ian) Chen, chair of nanotechnology at the Institute of Border Materials (IFM)and his team, have been working on it for three decades.
“The current way of storing hydrogen is in a high-pressure tank or by cooling the gas until it becomes a liquid.. Both of these require large amounts of energy, as well as dangerous processes and chemicals,” Chen recalls.
‘We show that there is a mechanochemical alternative that does not require high pressures and low temperatures, so it would offer a way much cheaper and safer to develop things like hydrogen-powered vehicles»enlarge.
With their current research, the IFM team has been able to test their process on a small scale, separating about 2-3 liters of material. But they hope that, with industry support, it can be scaled up to a full pilot and they have submitted a patent request temporary for processing.
“We need to further validate this method with industry to develop a practical application,” says Professor Chen. «To go from the laboratory to a larger industrial scale we have to verify that this process saves costs, is more efficient and faster than traditional gas separation and storage methods».
Font: Deakin University