Scientists have long considered the field of hydrogen engineering to be a viable source of energy. Hydrogen is considered a viable source of energy with the potential to provide a wide range of applications.
Hydrogen can be used as an important fuel for high-efficiency
power generation, air travel, space travel, and road transportation. The
world's energy consumption is constantly increasing, which is likely to cause
many problems.
The global reserves of gasoline and coal are decreasing
rapidly. The damage caused to the environment by their use is alarming. Due to
this, there is a need to find fuels that have a low environmental impact. From
this perspective, hydrogen fuel is very promising and is considered necessary
in today's times.
Need for hydrogen fuel
Recently, there have been great developments in hydrogen
energy engineering. Due to this, great opportunities have arisen for it. In
East Germany, devices are being developed that mix hydrogen and oxygen to
produce steam to produce high-efficiency electricity. Scientists in many
countries have developed methods for using hydrogen to power aircraft and space
rockets.
The fact that commercial aircraft and rockets were already
powered by hydrogen by the year 2000 is a testament to the achievements of
hydrogen-powered engineering. It is estimated that a large and developed
country would need 20,000 to 40,000 tons of liquid hydrogen to fuel aircraft
and rockets.
Road transport and power generation would need 40,000 to
50,000 tons. If the needs of oil refining and synthetic liquid fuel production
are also taken into account, a large and developed country would need 6 to 7
million tons of hydrogen for fuel and power generation systems.
Production Cost
The world's demand for hydrogen is increasing rapidly, so
there is an urgent need to further improve hydrogen production methods. It is
obtained through nuclear reactors.
Experts believe that the most advantageous method is to
produce hydrogen by electrolyzing water using electricity, but it will require
a lot of money. By electrolyzing water vapour at high temperatures, the energy
cost can be reduced by up to two times.
Then it will be less than the cost of obtaining hydrogen from
natural gas. Solid-state polymer catalysts that can produce hydrogen from 5 to 25 cubic meters per hour should be developed.
They have high efficiency and require less equipment
evolution. If hydrogen is used as a fuel in road transport, air travel, power
generation, and industry, the amount of toxins in the atmosphere will be
greatly reduced. A lot of precious oil and gas will be saved.
Since 1986, small buses that use hydrogen mixed with gasoline
have been used in many cities. Adding hydrogen will cut the cost of petrol in
half, and the amount of toxic substances emitted by buses will be reduced many
times.
Storage problem
The technology of using hydrogen as a fuel is not without
problems. Appropriate safety measures need to be taken while producing and
storing hydrogen. Economical methods need to be adopted for storing it and
transporting it to different places.
Serious research will be needed to determine whether hydrogen
will cause any harm to the environment when used as a fuel in power plants and
other industries. Research should also be carried out taking into account
whether it will cause any damage to the ozone layer in the stratosphere if it
is used as a fuel in aircraft and space rockets.
Diesel engines with vegetable oils
It would be a great advantage if some cars and trucks could run on any oil, including vegetable oils. Research was already
underway in Britain to this end. The Perkins Engine Company in Peterborough,
UK, has been researching the development of such a diesel engine.
Many companies are testing different fuels to develop diesel engines in the future that can run on coal-derived fuel, liquefied petroleum gas, and even vegetable oils. In the next 10 years, the number of cars equipped with vegetable oil-based diesel engines may increase, or the number of electric cars and bikes may increase.
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