INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT HYDROGEN - Part II

Characteristics of Hydrogen

PHYSICAL DATA ON HYDROGEN

Hydrogen is a colorless, odorless and completely non-toxic gas. Its specific weight is 0.0899 g / l (air is 14.4 times as heavy). Hydrogen boils at - 252.77oC. Liquid hydrogen has a specific weight of 70.99 g / l. Hydrogen thus has the highest mass-related energy density of all fuels: 1 kg of hydrogen contains as much energy as 2.1 kg of natural gas or 2.8 kg of gasoline (based on the lower calorific value). The volume related energy density of liquid hydrogen is about 1/4 that of gasoline and about 1/3 that of natural gas. The weight fraction of hydrogen in water is 11.2%.

ENVIRONMENTAL BENEFITS OF HYDROGEN

When combusting hydrogen with air in internal combustion engines and gas turbines, suitable combustion management produces only very small to negligible emissions.

Nitrogen oxide emissions increase exponentially with combustion temperature. They can be influenced by suitable process control. As hydrogen offers greater freedom here than other fuels, a significant reduction in NOx emissions compared to fuels and fuels based on mineral oil or natural gas is possible if a low combustion temperature is reached (e.g. with a large excess of air).

When using hydrogen in low-temperature fuel cells (e.g. membrane fuel cells: PEMFC), pollutant emissions are completely avoided. As a reaction product in the generation of electricity from hydrogen and atmospheric oxygen, only demineralized water is produced.

The use of hydrogen in fuel cells with a higher operating temperature results in emissions that are up to 100 times lower than in conventional power plants. Hydrogen as a secondary energy source offers the possibility of flexibly introducing a wide variety of renewable energies into the fuel and fuel sector. To assess environmental relevance, the entire fuel chain from primary energy to end use must be considered.

Next time I will give you insights into the production of H2

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