If we were to ask you for a moment what is the most sustainable fuel in existence, you would probably know the answer (because you already know our line of content, above all). But what if they managed to make it even more renewable, clean and futuristic? This is what a team of scientists has achieved by converting alcohol into hydrogen, in a way that will revolutionize the industry.
The first methanol fuel cell? Actually, it has more to do with hydrogen
Both methanol fuel cells and hydrogen production have gained in popularity as clean energy technologies of the future because they provide a solution to energy transition. The mechanism of power cells is electrochemical, and not combustion.
This allows them to be noisy while off the grid and emitting zero pollution particles. Methanol is one of the preferred renewable fuels due to the fact that it has a high density of energy per mass, and it can be transported and provided using existing facilities.
After methanol has become hydrogen fuel, then it will be used as an input to a fuel cell. Making an important contribution to hydrogen generation, the process involves methanol reacting with water and heat to produce hydrogen. Then, the hydrogen can be fed to the fuel cell as an input to generate electricity.
Methanol fuel cells are undergoing extensive research and development and are moving toward an endless list of goods from small handheld power supplies to transportation. Another topic that nowadays becomes popular is methanol fuel cells and hydrogen generation for seagoing transportation.
Converting alcohol into hydrogen: it sounds like science fiction, but it’s real
In methanol fuel cells, electrochemical transformation apparatuses that produce electric power from a methanol fuel, are the devices (you could remember that we´ve talked about this). The key components and chemical process are:
- Anode: Catalyst of anode decompounds methanol in to hydrogen ions and electrons. It can includes the platinum-ruthenium nanoparticles as the catalyzer.
- Cathode: The cathode catalyst, usually prepared of platinum, absorbs the oxygen from air and combines it with H+ and electrons to create water.
- Electrolyte: The electrolyte is a linear membrane composed of an acid-base layer, where the protons are exchanging and electrons are being repelled. There are several things in the list, including nafion.
- Catalyst coated electrodes: The anode and cathode are normally layered with a skin of carbon fiber or cloth which is coated with nanoparticles of platinum alloy as a catalyst.
The mysterious MTH process: how it works and why it seems miraculous
In a process called Methanol to Hydrogen (MTH), generators which convert liquid methanol fuel into hydrogen gas ready for fuel cells are a kind of technology. The process utilizes a reforming method in which the carbon-based gas, known as natural gas or methane, reacts with steam at a high temperature to yield hydrogen.
The active ingredient inside the MTH which brings about an increase in the catalytic process is usually copper or nickel alloy. The catalyst comes into play to fracture down the methanol molecules with steam at higher temperatures around 230–300°C.
The system will be fed with methanol and steam and according to isothermal expansion. The methanol gas goes through a steam to release to the ambient air. The obtained product passes through the hot catalyst thus, H2O and methanol react to produce carbon dioxide gas and hydrogen.
The hydrogen batches are piped directly to the fuel cell stack, where the reactions between hydrogen and oxygen result in generation of heat and water as only byproducts. MTH airplane designers have several benefits over direct methanol fuel cells which work with liquid methanol fuel.
At this point, it is clear that converting alcohol into hydrogen is going to be an innovation that many brands will try to replicate. We’ve found this valuable fuel in the clouds, under the ground and even in the water (you know what we’re talking about), but now we’ve gone a step further by applying it to mobility and facilitating its large-scale production.
