HYDROGEN ENERGY – CHALLENGES AND PERSPECTIVES Edited by Dragica Minić Hydrogen Energy – Challenges and Perspectives http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/2824 Edited by Dragica Minić Contributors Vladimir A. Blagojević, Dejan G. Minić, Jasmina Grbović Novaković, Dragica M. Minić, Doki Yamaguchi, Liangguang Tang, Nick Burke, Ken Chiang, Lucas Rye, Trevor Hadley, Seng Lim, J.M. Olivares-Ramírez, Á. Marroquín de Jesús, O. Jiménez-Sandoval, R.C. Pless, Dominic Deo Androga, Ebru Özgür, Inci Eroglu, Ufuk Gündüz, Meral Yücel, Iosif Mariakakis, Carsten Meyer, Heidrun Steinmetz, Raúl Pérez-Hernández, Demetrio Mendoza-Anaya, Albina Gutiérrez Martínez, Antonio Gómez-Cortés, Bilge Albayrak Çeper, Mario Toledo Torres, Carlos Rosales Huerta, Małgorzata Norek, Chanho Pak, Dae Jong You, Kyoung Hwan Choi, Hyuk Chang, Analía Leticia Soldati, Laura Cecilia Baqué, Horacio Esteban Troiani, Adriana Cristina Serquis, Agus P. Sasmito, Erik Birgersson, Arun S. Mujumdar, Denver Cheddie, Atsushi Suzuki Published by InTech Janeza Trdine 9, 51000 Rijeka, Croatia Copyright © 2012 InTech All chapters are Open Access distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license, which allows users to download, copy and build upon published articles even for commercial purposes, as long as the author and publisher are properly credited, which ensures maximum dissemination and a wider impact of our publications. After this work has been published by InTech, authors have the right to republish it, in whole or part, in any publication of which they are the author, and to make other personal use of the work. Any republication, referencing or personal use of the work must explicitly identify the original source. Notice Statements and opinions expressed in the chapters are these of the individual contributors and not necessarily those of the editors or publisher. No responsibility is accepted for the accuracy of information contained in the published chapters. The publisher assumes no responsibility for any damage or injury to persons or property arising out of the use of any materials, instructions, methods or ideas contained in the book. Publishing Process Manager Marina Jozipovic Typesetting InTech Prepress, Novi Sad Cover InTech Design Team First published October, 2012 Printed in Croatia A free online edition of this book is available at www.intechopen.com Additional hard copies can be obtained from orders@intechopen.com Hydrogen Energy – Challenges and Perspectives, Edited by Dragica Minić p. cm. ISBN 978-953-51-0812-2 Contents Preface IX Section 1 General Aspects of Hydrogen Energy 1 Chapter 1 Hydrogen Economy: Modern Concepts, Challenges and Perspectives 3 Vladimir A. Blagojević, Dejan G. Minić, Jasmina Grbović Novaković and Dragica M. Minić Section 2 Hydrogen Production 29 Chapter 2 Small Scale Hydrogen Production from Metal-Metal Oxide Redox Cycles 31 Doki Yamaguchi, Liangguang Tang, Nick Burke, Ken Chiang, Lucas Rye, Trevor Hadley and Seng Lim Chapter 3 Hydrogen Generation by Treatment of Aluminium Metal with Aqueous Solutions: Procedures and Uses 55 J.M. Olivares-Ramírez, Á. Marroquín de Jesús, O. Jiménez-Sandoval and R.C. Pless Chapter 4 Photofermentative Hydrogen Production in Outdoor Conditions 77 Dominic Deo Androga, Ebru Özgür, Inci Eroglu, Ufuk Gündüz and Meral Yücel Chapter 5 Fermentative Hydrogen Production by Molasses; Effect of Hydraulic Retention Time, Organic Loading Rate and Microbial Dynamics 121 Iosif Mariakakis, Carsten Meyer and Heidrun Steinmetz Chapter 6 Catalytic Steam Reforming of Methanol to Produce Hydrogen on Supported Metal Catalysts 149 Raúl Pérez-Hernández, Demetrio Mendoza-Anaya, Albina Gutiérrez Martínez and Antonio Gómez-Cortés VI Contents Chapter 7 Use of Hydrogen-Methane Blends in Internal Combustion Engines 175 Bilge Albayrak Çeper Chapter 8 Hybrid Filtration Combustion 201 Mario Toledo Torres and Carlos Rosales Huerta Section 3 Hydrogen Storage 223 Chapter 9 Mg-Based Thin Films as Model Systems in the Search for Optimal Hydrogen Storage Materials 225 Małgorzata Norek Section 4 Hydrogen Power 257 Chapter 10 High Performance Membrane Electrode Assemblies by Optimization of Processes and Supported Catalysts 259 Chanho Pak, Dae Jong You, Kyoung Hwan Choi and Hyuk Chang Chapter 11 Electrode/Electrolyte Interphase Characterization in Solid Oxide Fuel Cells 279 Analía Leticia Soldati, Laura Cecilia Baqué, Horacio Esteban Troiani and Adriana Cristina Serquis Chapter 12 Computational Study of Thermal, Water and Gas Management in PEM Fuel Cell Stacks 305 Agus P. Sasmito, Erik Birgersson and Arun S. Mujumdar Chapter 13 Ammonia as a Hydrogen Source for Fuel Cells: A Review 333 Denver Cheddie Section 5 Hydrogen Sensing and Safety 363 Chapter 14 Hydrogen Sensing Characteristics of a Quartz Oscillator 365 Atsushi Suzuki Preface Identifying and building a new sustainable energy system is probably one of the most critical issues that today’s society has to address for long-term sustainable development of human civilization. Limited reserves of both fossil and nuclear fuels mandate that alternative energy sources have to be developed and incorporated into the energy system with a prospect of replacing the current technology. Replacing the current energy carrier mix, based mostly on fossil fuels, with an abundant energy carrier with low environmental impact is a key piece in that system. Hydrogen is the most abundant element in the universe, burns clean, producing only water and has the highest energy density per unit mass, which is why it is considered a suitable primary energy material. Hydrogen derived from water, as an energy carrier, can address the issues of sustainability, environmental impact and energy security. However, produced from water, it, currently, costs more energy to produce hydrogen than one would recover burning it. Ideally, a hydrogen cycle would include hydrogen produced by splitting water using electrolysis with solar energy and stored reversibly in a solid. Hydrogen has already found a place, as a fuel, in experimental cars and space industry, but further breakthroughs are needed if hydrogen is to challenge the dominance of gasoline as the fuel that propels our civilization. When considering hydrogen as a renewable fuel for the future, it is only appropriate that, with all the challenges associated with its production, storage and use, we keep in mind that, in proposed systems, efficiency is only one of the factors that will determine the success of these systems. Other important aspects, such as production cost (both financial and in resource), durability and stability and safety of operation, can, more than efficiency, determine the success or failure of the proposed solutions. There are several crucial aspects of hydrogen use as a fuel that need developing in order to make hydrogen a viable energy carrier: production, storage, power generation and safety. There are several means of hydrogen production: from water and from hydrocarbons, either fossil fuels or biomass. While production from water is clean and renewable, production from fossil fuels generates similar or even higher levels of CO 2 emissions as burning of coal and gasoline. Hydrogen production from biomass is carbon-neutral, although, the negative environmental impact is considerable due to the fact that it requires large land surfaces for growth. Hydrogen storage represents a major challenge, since a variety of methods for hydrogen storage has been investigated X Preface and they have yet to reach the required performance level. An ideal system must combine high capacity with rapid reversible charging/discharging and durability, the properties which can often conflict with each other in real system, adding a degree of difficulty to the development. Power generation from hydrogen in fuel cells owes a lot of its development to the space program, as it has been used to provide electricity in space crafts for decades. However, the existing systems still face major challenges, like insufficient lifetime and high price. Finally, the properties that make hydrogen an attractive candidate for energy carrier, like its high energy density, require that it is handled with care, putting the issue of safety of all hydrogen systems at the forefront during their development. All of these aspects, their current state and some of the recent developments will be discussed in this book. The chapters have been organized into four sections, each focusing on one of these aspects. I would like to thank all of the contributors for their hard work and dedication. I would also like to acknowledge the invaluable assistance of Dr. Vladimir Blagojevic in editing of this book. Professor Dragica Minić University of Belgrade Faculty of Physical Chemistry, Belgrade, Serbia . HYDROGEN ENERGY – CHALLENGES AND PERSPECTIVES Edited by Dragica Minić Hydrogen Energy – Challenges and Perspectives http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/2824. efficient hydrogen production, storage and use in fuel cells. Among them, hydrogen storage for mobile applications is currently the most difficult obstacle. Hydrogen Energy – Challenges and Perspectives. Hydrogen Energy – Challenges and Perspectives, Edited by Dragica Minić p. cm. ISBN 978-953-51-0812-2 Contents Preface IX Section 1 General Aspects of Hydrogen Energy