IIT Madras Scientists Extract Clean Hydrogen From Seawater To Run Cars, And Lower Pollution
What¡¯s different with their approach is that hydrogen can be produced on-demand, without the need arising of actually storing it. The reason people prefer hydrogen and call it the fuel of the future because unlike gasoline or diesel, its combustion doesn¡¯t release carbon dioxide.
Researchers across the world have been trying to harness the power of hydrogen to release us from our dependence from fossil fuels -- but extracting hydrogen from water is easier said than done.
IIT Madras/ Reuters
What¡¯s more difficult is storing hydrogen due to its extremely inflammable nature. However, now researchers at IIT Madras have developed a technology that extracts hydrogen from seawater.
What¡¯s different with their approach is that hydrogen can be produced on-demand, without the need arising of actually storing it. The reason people prefer hydrogen and call it the fuel of the future because unlike gasoline or diesel, its combustion doesn¡¯t release carbon dioxide.
According to Abdul Malek from the Department of Chemistry (in a conversation with PTI), "As the hydrogen can be produced at the point of use on-demand, safety issues associated with the storage and transportation of hydrogen is avoided. The solid starting materials can be transported from one place to another place very conveniently. This bypasses the transportation bottleneck associated with hydrogen sector,"
According to the researchers, the production of hydrogen can be tuned to the application, without the need for heat, electricity or even sunlight. Moreover, it is scalable to all kinds of sectors including automotive, aviation etc.
Seawater passes through a machine, from one compartment to another, and the rate of water addition can be altered depending on the environment. Conventional hydrogen extraction machines need temperatures going as high as 1000 degrees celsius with a 25 bar pressure. However, the technology developed by IIT Madras does this in room temperature with 1 bar pressure.
Reuters
Malek further added, "Our current estimates indicate that the cost is likely comparable to the available prices -- things could change with scale. However, the key selling point is enhanced safety, and elimination of point-of-use environmental pollution.¡±
Malek along with researcher Tiju Thomas, Associate professor at IIT Madras and his team is working on a way to create a hydrogen system that can be used in vehicles.
