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Sunday, April 15, 2012

New Hydrogen atom- a source of cheap energy?

Hydrogen has been accepted as a source of clean energy for many reasons. Hydrogen can completely eliminate anthropic greenhouse gas emission into the atmosphere and stop global warming. It has high energy content than any other fossil fuels we are currently using, making it an efficient fuel. The combustion product of Hydrogen is only water which is recyclable. Many individuals, Governments and institutions around the world are trying develop cheaper methods of generating Hydrogen from various sources both renewable as well as non-renewable. The non-renewable sources are supposed to facilitate a smooth transition from fossil fuel economy to Hydrogen economy. However, all attempts to generate Hydrogen at a cost lower than the projected cost of $ 2.50 per kg by DOE has not been successful, even though many recent technologies are promising. Meanwhile massive investments are made on renewable energy sources including wind, solar and biological all over the world. Generating Hydrogen from water using Solid Polymer Membrane Electrolyzer is a known technology using renewable energy sources. One can easily deploy such systems for commercial applications even though it is currently expensive. Many individuals and institutions are also claiming ‘free energy’ sources with or without generating Hydrogen. In some cases researches are claiming an abnormal production of Hydrogen using ‘Cold Fusion’ or ‘Plasma electrolysis’ of water, as much as 800% more than the theoretical values. Some companies claim low energy consumption using photo- catalyst to generate Hydrogen using direct sunlight and water. Hydrogen generation using renewable sources is a distinct possibility to reduce the cost of Hydrogen in the long run. However, the world is in hurry to develop a cheap and sustainable method of Hydrogen generation without any greenhouse gas emissions. One US based company is claiming to have invented a new Hydrogen atom which has not been reported previously in the literature. According to the inventor, this new atom of Hydrogen is called ‘Hydrino’.He has presented a detailed theory called ‘Grand Unified Theory’ that predicts catalysts that allow energy to be extracted from lower energy state of Hydrogen atom. They have demonstrated the process using a proto type in the laboratory and their claims have been validated by an independent Laboratory after conducting trial runs and analyzing the results using spectrum analysis and other techniques. The process involves generation of Hydrogen by using electrolysis of water. The resulting Hydrogen is then reacted with a proprietary solid catalyst developed by the company. According to the company, “Since certain proprietary catalysts cause the hydrogen atoms to transition to lower-energy states by allowing their electrons to fall to smaller radii around the nucleus with a release of energy that is intermediate between chemical and nuclear energies, the primary application is as a new primary energy source. Specifically, energy is released as the electrons of hydrogen atoms are induced by a catalyst to transition to lower-energy levels (i.e. drop to lower base orbits around each atom's nucleus). The lower-energy atomic hydrogen product called "hydrino" reacts with another reactant supplied to the reaction cell to form a hydride ion bound to the other reactant to constitute a novel proprietary compound. Alternatively, two hydrinos react to form a very stable hydrogen-type molecule called molecular hydrino. Thus, rather than pollutants, the byproducts may have significant advanced technology applications based on their stability characteristics. For example, hydrino hydride ions having extraordinary binding energies may stabilize a cation (positively charged ion of a battery) in an extraordinarily high-oxidation state as the basis of a high-voltage battery. Further, significant applications exist for the corresponding molecular hydrino wherein the excited vibration-rotational levels could be the basis of a UV laser that could significantly advance photolithography and line-of-sight telecommunications. A plasma-producing cell based on the extraordinarily energetic Process has also been developed that may have commercial applications in chemical plasma processing and as a light source.” The company claims that an average generating capacity of a system will be 1000kw, with installed cost at $1000/kw with fuel cost at less than $0.001/kw with zero greenhouse emission.The solid catalyst is regenerated and recycled. The cost of Hydrogen from electrolysis becomes insignificant due to generation of large excess thermal energy, to generate power. The above claims are too attractive to ignore and it could be a game changer in the energy industry. The output energy is more than the theoretical values calculated, thus violating the Law of Thermodynamics. This excess energy is attributed to the presence of ‘Hydrino’. However, one has to be open to new ideas because science is ever-changing and even well-established theories and concepts are challenged as Science evolves with new discoveries and inventions.

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