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Mostly hydrogen is the smallest element so molecules of hydrogen (H2) are extremely hard to contain. They leak from everywhere so your entire infrastructure has
by mikeyouse 4y ago
Mostly hydrogen is the smallest element so molecules of hydrogen (H2) are extremely hard to contain. They leak from everywhere so your entire infrastructure has to be designed with very tight tolerances and even still, you’ll have leaks. In addition, those leaks can prove to be dangerous since it’s so reactive and flammable, so you have a highly leaky flammable gas at high pressure…
So you think, well fine, we can just generate it on site via electrolysis — alas, hydrogen actively destroys metal containers via embrittlement. Not so much in hydrogen gas, but any process where you’re running chemical or electrolytic reactions;
https://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrogen_embrittlement https://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrogen_embrittlement
- fsh 4y agoI have the impression that the problem of hydrogen leakage from vehicles is vastly exaggerated. A study on two commercial hydrogen cars found leakage rates of 2-6 mL/min (Table 4 in [1]). At this rate, it would take over 15 years for the tank content of a Toyota Mirai (5 kg of H2) to leak out. [1] https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s42154-020-00096-z https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s42154-020-00096-z
- mikeyouse 4y agoThe Hydrogen isn't leaking from vehicles since they take so many precautions to ensure they don't, including those tight tolerances and special materials. You just need to replicate that at every step of the supply chain which becomes onerous and expensive.