With the search for newer and better fuel options continuing relentlessly, aluminum has been added to the frame by a Purdue University researcher. His experiment extracts hydrogen from water by using an aluminum alloy so as to power fuel cells.
Even internal combustion engines can be run using the same method. Jerry Woodall, professor of electrical and computer engineering at Purdue said the method of extracting hydrogen means it is unnecessary to either transport or store it.
"The hydrogen is generated on demand, so you only produce as much as you need when you need it," said Woodall, who is the inventor of this exciting process. Devices like portable lawn mowers, emergency generators and chain saws can also be powered using this method. Woodall expressed hope that this method could in fact replace gasoline in the future.
"When water is added to the pellets, the aluminum in the solid alloy reacts because it has a strong attraction to the oxygen in the water," Woodall explained. He said this reaction would split water into hydrogen and oxygen, thus releasing the hydrogen available. Gallium is an element that is critical in the reaction because it cleanses aluminum of a film formed on its surface following the reaction, Woodall explained.
The main patent to this process is held by Purdue Research Foundation, while AlGalCo LLC has the license to commercialize the process.
