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Aluminum as Fuel

Unread postPosted: Thu 07 Jun 2012, 10:17:15
by Timo
I know that sounds very strange, and waaaaaay out there, but, yes indeed, it apparently is possible.

Green Car Reports

Alydro technology
So how does aluminum become a fuel? Through Alydro technology, explains an Alchemy Research white paper.

The system uses only two reactants, aluminum and water. Those are the only two things you'd need to add to an Alydro car, the rest being dealt with under the hood.

Aluminum and water react, and that reaction generates three things - huge quantities of heat--50 percent of the reaction's energy output--aluminum oxide, and hydrogen. And, if you've not guessed already, that hydrogen can then be used in fuel cells, to generate electricity for powering a car.

Refueling would take around 5 minutes according to the paper, to fill the aluminum tank, remove the waste aluminum oxide, and top-up whatever water wasn't replenished by the 65 percent-efficient condenser.


There's more. Surely not an answer, in and of itself, but progress, none-the-less.

Re: Aluminum as Fuel

Unread postPosted: Thu 07 Jun 2012, 12:36:46
by Fishman
No, not really progress. This shows aluminum can be used as a fuel, after its been processed, a high energy process. Just as water can be used, after a high energy process breaks the hydrogen and oxygen bonds. You would have to invest huge amounts of energy. Remember, energy returned on energy invested is the key.
But to be fair Timo, thanks for the thread. Aluminum might be our "tank" for hydrogen production in cars.

Re: Aluminum as Fuel

Unread postPosted: Thu 07 Jun 2012, 18:09:25
by dissident
You can burn nanoparticle Aluminum in pure CO2. The problem is making the nanoparticles. There are no free lunches.

Re: Aluminum as Fuel

Unread postPosted: Thu 07 Jun 2012, 19:47:00
by SeaGypsy
Reminds me of the turkey fat biodiesel project, except that worked. Anyone who thought it would make any noticeable impact on the market? Anyone think this will? Really you can burn bloody anything. With no concern for EROI you could probably burn medical waste or like that genius last year, chocolate, howabout gold?

Re: Aluminum as Fuel

Unread postPosted: Fri 08 Jun 2012, 06:19:12
by Tanada
This seems to me to just be a variation on the theme, after all I have been reading about solid Boron fueled engines for a very long time. The basic principle is the same, you oxidize a solid fuel capturing all of the oxidized waste product which you then re-refine into fresh fuel electrically. You could in theory do this with almost any easily burning metal starting with Lithium right up to the Actinides. See http://www.eagle.ca/~gcowan/235_248.pdf

Re: Aluminum as Fuel

Unread postPosted: Fri 08 Jun 2012, 10:09:36
by dissident
Tanada wrote:This seems to me to just be a variation on the theme, after all I have been reading about solid Boron fueled engines for a very long time. The basic principle is the same, you oxidize a solid fuel capturing all of the oxidized waste product which you then re-refine into fresh fuel electrically. You could in theory do this with almost any easily burning metal starting with Lithium right up to the Actinides. See http://www.eagle.ca/~gcowan/235_248.pdf


Indeed. And there is no way that this fuel cycle yields net positive energy.

Re: Aluminum as Fuel

Unread postPosted: Fri 08 Jun 2012, 11:35:10
by GideonYampolsky
Fishman wrote:No, not really progress. This shows aluminum can be used as a fuel, after its been processed, a high energy process. Just as water can be used, after a high energy process breaks the hydrogen and oxygen bonds. You would have to invest huge amounts of energy. Remember, energy returned on energy invested is the key.
But to be fair Timo, thanks for the thread. Aluminum might be our "tank" for hydrogen production in cars.


It requires 50MJ of electric energy to convert oxide to 1 Kg of aluminum, containing 31MJ of chemical energy. 60% efficiency, not that bad. Electricity is not the only component of conversion cost, there are also costs of smelter construction and running. Market price of aluminum is $1.9/kg, including all costs and manufacturer's margin. Based on that, it is less expensive to run electric car powered by aluminum than ICE / gasoline car.

Re: Aluminum as Fuel

Unread postPosted: Fri 08 Jun 2012, 11:50:40
by GideonYampolsky
Metal sodium is explosive in h20, all by itself without a match. But like aluminum it also cost a crap load of energy to mine and process.

All alkaline metals will react with water, the problem is that there is no safe way to store them in car's fuel tank. Aluminum is exceptional because:
It is save, thanks to its self-passivation property.
It is relatively cheap to recycle (refine) the oxide back to aluminum metal. Sodium, for example, is two times more expensive.
It bears more chemical energy (in terms of release by oxidation) than any other metal.

For chemical energy storage, aluminum is preferential material. This problem was to find a method to release its energy in controllable and inexpensive manner. That is what Alydro reactor does.