Hydrogen as

fuel
Preface


 Our prosperity as a nation depends upon the

students. The aim of preparing such project report is
to enable us to gain a sound knowledge about the
topic. Every effort has been made to present the
project in simple form. Our main objective is to
prepare the needy project report for the teaching aid
purpose and then it makes understanding more
effective and worthwhile. We do not claim the work
as perfect but hoping that it will serve the purpose in
good condition.

Acknowledgement
 A student is a letter on which no address is written. This shows that
student have no direction without guidance.
 I pay my profound great fullness and express my indebtedness to
the esteemed Mr. M Sreedhar ( Lect. Mechanical Engg) and all my
lecturers of the department of the Mechanical Engineering for
getting useful information and guidance in the project report and
particularly for their encouragement during making of this report.
 Overall the credit of completion of this project report goes Mr. M
Sreedhar for his valuable suggestions and helping me in removing
the difficulties in preparing time.
 My thanks are also to my friends who directly and indirectly
provided their esteemed corporation that made it possible to see
light of day.


Content
 Introduction
 Reason for choosing
 Benefits
 Limitations
 Literature review
 Ways of production of Hydrogen
 Detailed study
 Conclusion
 Problem Definition
 Thing which bothering me
 Work done so far
 Work to be done
 References

Introduction
There are number of projects on mechanical engineering but I am


choosing the topic of my project as alternative fuels (Hydrogen

as fuel).


Benefits:-
 These sources are being continuously produced in nature
 They are not exhaustible.
 These resources are in exhaustible for the next hundreds of
thousands of years.
 The sources give energy continuously.
 Reduce our dependence on imported fuels
 Improve the environment
 Drive economic growth
Limitation:-

 it is very difficult to establish a method of extraction of energy

from these method but not impossible.
 Some of them are not easy to handle.
 Storage



Literature Review
 Hydrogen does not naturally exist in its elemental form on Earth. Pure hydrogen must be
produced from other hydrogen-containing compounds such as fossil fuels, biomass, or
water.

 Different ways of producing Hydrogen

 Production from

 From hydrocarbons

 Steam reforming

 Partial oxidation

 Coal

 From water

 Electrolysis and thermolysis

 From urine

 Bio hydrogen routes

 Fermentative hydrogen production

 Enzymatic Bio hydrogenizes

 Bio catalyzed electrolysis



From Hydro carbon
Steam reforming


Bulk hydrogen is usually produced by the steam reforming of methane or



natural gas. At high temperatures (700–1100 °C), steam (H2O) reacts with

methane (CH4) to yield syngas.

CH4 + H2O → CO + 3 H2


Gasification


In a second stage, further hydrogen is generated through the lower-



temperature water gas shift reaction, performed at about 130 °C:

CO + H2O → CO2 + H2


Partial oxidation


Coal


Coal can be converted into syngas and methane, also known as town gas, via


coal gasification. Syngas consists of hydrogen and carbon monoxide.


From Water
 Electrolysis and thermolysis
Hydrogen is produced on an industrial scale by the electrolysis of water. While


this can be done with a few volts in a simple apparatus like a Hofmann
voltameter
Water spontaneously dissociates at around 2500 C, but this thermolysis occurs


at temperatures too high. Catalysts are required to reduce the dissociation

temperature.

From Urine


Hydrogen can also be made from urine. Using urine, hydrogen production is 332%
more energy efficient than using water. The research was conducted by Geraldine
Botte from the Ohio University.
Conclusion regarding
selection of the best method
As there are many methods which I have studied for the extraction of


the hydrogen, out which I am selecting the extraction of hydrogen from

water because
 It is easily available
 It is easy to handle
 It emits no harmful gases as compared to extraction of hydrogen
from hydrocarbon.
 It has Low initial cost as compared to other processes



Problem definition
To generate the Hydrogen which is used for various applications


(alternative fuel) with the effective method and storage of the Hydrogen
using electrolysis process.


Thing which is bothering me
Hydrogen Safety
I have concerned with hydrogen's safety. And with good reason. Hydrogen is a fuel and is
therefore combustible. Its combustion properties deserve the same caution any fuel should be
given (NHA Handling). Hydrogen has been suffering an image problem since the Hindenburg
tragically caught fire and burned in New Jersey in 1937. Hydrogen can be and has been
handled carefully and safely, just like any other inherently dangerous fuel such as gasoline.
Hydrogen tanks have been put through series of demanding safety tests.

1.avi.flv 2.avi.flv Hindenburg Disaster.avi.flv

Work Done So Far
 Till the date on my project I have designed a
functional design of electrolysis apparatus with the
help of which we can produce Hydrogen.
 Electrolysis of water is the decomposition of
water (H2O) into oxygen (O2) and hydrogen gas

(H2) due to an electric current being passed

through the water.

Description:


A simple demonstration of


electrolysis – electrocuting water

to convert it into hydrogen.

Equipment Needed:


 A 9-volt battery

 Wire (something low-gauge

and flexible is preferred,
like copper wire)

 Scissors

 Wire stripper  (optional, if

you’re handy with scissors)

 Tape (durable tape is required,

like duct tape or electrical
tape)

 A glass of water

 Salt



 First, we need to make the
electric device that will make
the electrolysis happen: get
the 9-volt battery, your wire,
the scissors and tape. Start
stripping the ends of the
wire. You will need two
strands of wire at least six
inches in length. Use the
wire stripper or the scissors
to strip the rubber sheath
from both ends of each wire
with the scissors. This will
expose the wire itself
 After you’ve stripped both ends
from both wires, take one wire and
securely tape one stripped metal
end to one terminal of the 9-volt
battery. Next, do the same with the
second wire – tape it to the
remaining battery terminal. The
result will be our electrolysis
device, all ready to go.
 The rest is easy:
 Get your glass of water. Put a
tablespoon or two of salt into it. Stir
the salt to dissolve it. The water
will become a little cloudy.
 Get the electrolysis device. Dip
both ends of the wire into the salt
water.


 You will immediately see bubbles start to fizzle
off of one wire. (If you don’t see bubbles, then
check to make sure that your wires have a good
connection to the battery, and that the battery
still holds a charge.) What’s happening here?
 when you electrocute water (which is
made of hydrogen and oxygen), the
electricity breaks apart water molecules.
The bubbles you see are the hydrogen from the
water being released. Salt water improves
the electrolysis reaction 


Work To Be Done
 In the next phase of this project we will try
to design an engineering design for the
electrolysis equipment and then we will
try to store it which can be used for the
various purposes.
 The trial generation of hydrogen production
will be also carried in the next phase.
 Storage part will be done in the next phase

Storage
Developing safe, reliable, compact, and cost-


effective hydrogen storage technologies is

one of the most technically challenging
barriers to the widespread use of hydrogen as
a form of energy.
Hydrogen has a very high energy content by


weight (about three times more than

gasoline), but it has a very low energy content
by volume (about four times less than
gasoline). This makes hydrogen a challenge to
store.

Hydrogen May be store with
the help of following
methods.

 Compressed Gas
 Chemical Compound
 Liquid Form
 Metallic Hydride

Compressed Hydrogen
Storage

Compressed hydrogen is the gaseous state of the element hydrogen which is



kept under pressure. Compressed hydrogen in hydrogen tanks at 350 bar

(5,000 psi) and 700 bar (10,000 psi) is used for in hydrogen vehicles.

 Since the cost of liquefaction is high the bulk storage of hydrogen can be

made in form of compressed gas in underground caverns, where it can be

stored like a natural gas. And the principle disadvantage of gaseous hydrogen

as a storage medium is that it takes up large space, it is explosive if it is not

leak proof.

 Liquid hydrogen Storage
 Hydrogen can be stored in chemical combination with other elements like methane
and ammonia. The main drawback of liquid storage hydrogen is that it has a mass
energy density three times greater than oil. Its use is attractive for heavy surface
transport and aircraft.
 Liquid hydrogen or slush hydrogen may be used, as in the Space Shuttle. However
liquid hydrogen requires cryogenic storage and boils around 20.268 K (–252.882 °C
or -423.188 °F). Hence, its liquefaction imposes a large energy loss (as energy is
needed to cool it down to that temperature).

 Hydrogen storage as Metal
Hydride
 Metal hydrides, such as MgH2, NaAlH4, LiAlH4, LiH, LaNi5H6, and TiFeH2, with varying
degrees of efficiency, can be used as a storage medium for hydrogen, often
reversibly. Some are easy-to-fuel liquids at ambient temperature and pressure, others
are solids which could be turned into pellets. These materials have good energy
density by volume.
Proposed hydrides for use in a hydrogen economy include simple hydrides of magnesium


or transition metals and complex metal hydrides, typically containing sodium,

lithium, or calcium and aluminium or boron. Hydrides chosen for storage applications
provide low reactivity (high safety) and high hydrogen storage densities. Leading
candidates are Lithium hydride, sodium borohydride, lithium aluminium hydride and
ammonia borane.

 What is a Fuel Cell?
In principle, a fuel cell operates like a


battery. Unlike a battery, a fuel cell does

not run down or require recharging. It will
produce energy in the form of electricity
and heat as long as fuel is supplied.
A fuel cell consists of two electrodes


sandwiched around an electrolyte. Oxygen

passes over one electrode and hydrogen
over the other, generating electricity,
water and heat.
Hydrogen fuel is fed into the "anode" of


the fuel cell. Oxygen (or air) enters the

fuel cell through the cathode. Encouraged
by a catalyst, the hydrogen atom splits
into a proton and an electron, which take
different paths to the cathode. The proton
passes through the electrolyte. The
electrons create a separate current that
can be utilized before they return to the
cathode, to be reunited with the hydrogen
and oxygen in a molecule of water.



Working
 Benefits
q Zero emission

q Clean energy

q Highly reliable

q High performance
References

For the above collection of data I have gone through



various sources which are as follows

 www.wikipedia.org
 Google Search engine
 Altavista search engine
 Power plant engineering by AK Raja director , HOD of
Electrical Deptt Saroj Institute of Technology &
Management
 National Hydrogen Association


 Time Line
ac &study
Allotment
Detailed selection
Selection ofDesign
of Ways of
of Project
extracting
Electrolysis
DesignHydrogen
process
of functional
Trial
Design
generation
of Engineering of Hydrogen
Component
tivi
ty

16 1 15 1 15 1
Se Se O O N
au
ct ct ov
g p p 2
2 2
20 20 20 01 01 01
10 10 10 0 0 0
Thank you