The Hydrogen Answer

An individual hydrogen supply, produced by an ‘on-site’ Micro Energy Generation system, using renewable energy sources, complete with a fuel specific hydrogen motor, able to power an extended range electric vehicle.

Off-Grid household  with Onsite Generation of Low-voltage electrics and Hydrogen production.

Renewable Energy;                                                                                                                                                                             This will be one or a number of sources of renewable energy, being employed to generate low-voltage electricity. This will be used to recharge banks of batteries, at a 12v level.  The banks of wet cell batteries normally will be two banks of four batteries, which will be able to provide 12v, 24v or 48v  The charging circuit, will be separate from the user circuit, with systematic charge and discharge sequence

Low-voltage house circuits;                                                                                                                                                                   The house will be low-voltage, which it is planned will be 12v  and 48 with the 12v circuit for lights and low use equipment, with 48v being employed for motorised appliances such as a washing machine. There are numerous appliances which are already available in low voltage options and I feel that once this market begins to expand there will be equal options.

Extremely low emissions;                                                                                                                                                                       With all electricity being low-voltage generation from renewable energy, the equipment is smaller than mains and at a lower cost. There are no mains step downs and there are no costly import/export units linking to the grid. This also provides a lower carbon imprint from the outset. The average UK Household is credited with a carbon emission figure of 8.98 Tonnes of CO2 per year with a personal vehicle being set at 10% which equates to less than 1 Tonne but I refer to it as 1 Tonne approx.

With indirect emissions for agriculture and food transportation, holiday and travel and other linked emission accounted for by 20% being roughly 2 Tonnes that would leave the normal household functions as causing 5-6 Tonnes of CO2 per years approx.

Taking the house off-grid and providing the normal energy usage from renewable energy systems will stop that 5-6 Tonnes approx per year.

There has been concerted efforts by Government bodies to get a million electric cars on the road and that has included awarding a discount, because these vehicles do not have CO2 emissions at the exhaust/tail pipe. It should be noted that is only the case, when charging uses electricity from a renewable energy source and most of the time that is not the case. So at this point in time those electric vehicle might have a slightly lower level of CO2 emissions but the power station emits heavy metals and other toxic emissions which the petrol car did not.

This all points to the fact that taking a house Off-grid will stop 5 times more CO2  entering the atmosphere and yet the cost could be as little as the £5,000 government subsidy for an electric car, even though the vast majority of which are not zero emissions in use as made out in publicity.

Hydrogen Fuel supply;                                                                                                                                                                           It is clear that an Off-Grid house which has Onsite Low-voltage generation, can also have an integral system to produce a supply of hydrogen able to be used for household use and as fuel for a personal hydrogen electric vehicle.

There are a number of methods of producing hydrogen, but the means which I have adapted is unique and as a a result I was granted a UK Patent in 2010.

Electrolytic gasses given off by wet cell batteries consist of 2 x  part Hydrogen to 1 x part Oxygen with a very small amount of other gasses. The gasses are drawn off by a system of sealed pipes linked to a draw off container which is adapted to create a partial vacuum. This reduces the atmospheric pressure on the surface of the electrolyte and allows the gas bubbles formed by the electrolytic action on the battery plates, to flow to the surface more quickly. This theory was confirmed by research into performance of battery types and in different conditions. At altitude wet cell batteries gave off a greater amount of gasses than at lower levels. The research also found that, over charging caused a greater level of gassing off and that at altitude the gas bubbles moving rapidly to the surface allowed a certain amount of overcharging to take place without any damage to the batteries. This was found to be that the bubble that normally formed on the plates insulated the plates from the cooling effect of the electrolyte on the surface of the plates.

Outcome =  theoretically a greater amount of hydrogen will be produced by this method of producing a supply of hydrogen, than is normally thought possible.

Summary;                                                                                                                                                                                          Whilst it can be seen that, it is easy to have Off-grid housing with electricity generation only and at a reasonable cost, it is equally clear, that by having a joined up approach of using low-voltage electricity generated by renewable energy to produce hydrogen, the cost will remain low when compared to other planned methods. Whereas the combination of electricity and hydrogen as household fuel and also vehicle fuel makes savings on average outgoings which will pay the cost of the installation in a very short number of years.

When the installation cost have been recovered, by the savings from not having to pay the normal outgoings, then electricity and hydrogen fuel will be free, bar the cost of annual maintenance in a similar way as existing gas

Zero Emissions Hydrogen Electric Vehicle;

The central feature of  The Answer  to the Hydrogen Impasse, is having a low-cost, readily available supply of hydrogen, which I believe that I have arrived at above.

It is however, just as equally important, to have an electric vehicle, which will be able to make the very best use of the hydrogen, to be a truly Zero emission vehicle in use. That is especially so, in the method employed to convert the hydrogen back to electricity, to be used to power the electric motors. It is a recognised fact that at each stage of the conversion, electricity to hydrogen there is energy waste and when the stored hydrogen is used to generate electricity there will be a loss of energy in the form of heat

It is generally felt that the fuel cell being a mechanism to cause a chemical reaction of the re-bonding of the hydrogen atoms with the oxygen atom, giving off an electrical charge in the process, which transferred to a membrane in numbers causes an electrical current and is seen as a low heat loss method.

I have taken the stance of low-tech and low-cost as being better than the fuel cell and developed a combustion method, which is a high heat method, being the same method used in the Internal Combustion Engine. To this end I would make it known to those who may not be aware, that petrol is a Hydro-carbon fuel, which is carbon atoms linked to hydrogen atoms. This takes on a liquid form and is detonated in air, which is rapid burning of the hydrogen element in the fuel and the oxygen in the air, this effectively heats up the remaining gases forming air causing rapid expansion and a pressure force which forces against a piston and transfers that pressure to a rotational movement which is desired to be able to make use of the energy/force, this is termed rotational force is termed torque.

Whilst the Patent covering the H2 Pulse Jet Rotary Engine is still pending I cannot make a public statement on the details. I will simply say that in theory, there is a major amount of energy wasted, by the very nature of the internal combustion engine. I have moved away from the heavy reciprocating parts which waste the energy, which in the most efficient engine is approx 50% and 60% in the worst cases.

Remembering that we are addressing the burning of hydrogen and oxygen in both cases, neat hydrogen  does not have a carbon problem, so if you cut out the clearly recognised cause of that waste, it can be seen that a smaller engine will be needed with at least 50% lower fuel requirement and carbon emissions so low that they would be contaminants from lubricants. Latest innovation air bearings and carbon free lubricants will stop contamination.

The chassis Platform;

I believe that by taking that same “joined up” approach as applied to the micro generation, to the design of the electric vehicle, I can increase the overall energy efficiency of the whole vehicle, especially on long journeys.

In my H2 EV chassis platform and my intended prototype, which will make use of a Motor Manufacturers mass produced vehicle, I will apply the same joined up approach.  The H2 Pulse Jet Rotary engine will be used to drive two generators,  which together with other adaptations to the drive train, making good use of the benefit of electric motors with no mechanical connection, I will apply “an idea” from 1969.