Re: Alternete Fuel Sources

[Bill Garmer <bgarmer@tsc.net>]

At 11:18 AM 4/22/97 -0400, Alan Ross Chambers wrote:
>Please forgive me,I'm at Online Mailing List And I'm Helpless without a
>Spell check Program.What I'm Looking for is information on burning hydrogen
>gas in
>an Internal Combustion engine.I need fuel for my Bad Guy's vehicles.Iguess
I saw
>Mad max to many times. I don't Like useing Methane(to much crap involved) or
>Natural Gas(unsure of the supplies.I know that cracking Hydrogen takes a lot
>more
>tech,but it does give more of a Reserve supply.I think all you need is
>electicity
>and water to make it, but how do you store it? 
>Thanks-Alan  
>
There are a few ways you can do it:
1) Compressed gas - just compress in and put it into a high pressure tank.
This has three dangers - the first is corresion will weaken the tank and
cause a failure - second, is damage to the tank (in combat for example)
could cause an explosion or (more likely) a fire - third, compressing a
flamable gas is tricky in primitive situations.
2) Solid Storage - there are some materials that store gas at room
temperatures and release it when warmed.  You put this into a storage tank
and takes the hydrogen release to the engine.  The exhaust gases are passed
by (not in) the tank to warm the tank to release hydrogen.  The problem is
that from a cold condition there isn't much hydrogen available so you have
to warm up the vehicle (start the engine and let it idle).  This is being
used in a test program in Sun City, AZ (I believe they have added an
electric heater to solve the slow start problem).  There should be a web page.
3) Liquid Storage - cool the gas to a liquid and store it.  All most
impossible in a primitive situation.  

Hope this helps,
Bill