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Hydrogen Properties for Energy Research (HYPER) Laboratory Cool. Fuel.

Forget space elevators, we need a space pipeline!

A few years ago I attended a seminar on using extremely long carbon nanotubes for a space elevator. And so I started thinking…

Here’s the wiki for the space elevator concept. Here’s a graphic:

To be clear, space elevators may be harder than controlled thermonuclear fusion to achieve (that’s at least 50 years out). Although carbon nanotubes may have the strength to make it possible, the very best we can do could be ~1m in length. Compare that to the image above and you see how far we have to go. Not to mention running an … » More …

Making a Cryogenic-compatible O-ring seal

One issue that I ran up against while re-designing CHEF for my thesis research was the connection point on the hydrogen liquefaction tanks. I decided to use VCR connectors because of their reliability at vacuum and low temperatures, this meant that a VCR connection directly to the tank would be easiest for design and build. As all VCR connections, off the shelf, are made of stainless steel, and the liquefier tanks were made from Aluminum (because of thermal concerns), welding a connector directly on was not an option. NPT connections were another possibility, but ultimately not chosen for fear of leakage at low temperatures. Luckily, … » More …

Doing what Hilsch couldn’t

He didn’t have access to modern day computers. A lot of research is in progress and you may wonder how they work. Good news! You can build one in your home with some hardware store parts. Here is an instructable on How to build a Vortex tube in your own home!

My undergraduate research project is on the computational modeling of the vortex tube. The long term goal of determining the most important geometric parameters. It is also important to determine how each of these factors into various fluids, specifically hydrogen. With patented technology the plan is to use the vortex tube in … » More …

Decorating The Thermodynamic Property Tree

At the 18th Symposium on Thermophysical Properties Eric Lemmon and Vince Arp had a presentation on the Gruneisen (Γ) and Phase Identification Parameter (Π) as useful properties for fitting Equations of State. In that talk they showed a slide titled “The Thermodynamic Property Tree”:Thermodynamic Property Tree

The exact origins of the tree are unknown and this was the first version I’ve personally seen. Unlike our Christmas trees that are ready to come down, this tree is just beginning. For example, the Helmholtz Free Energy (A) at the top is actually at the same … » More …

The colors of hydrogen

Two ways to color sort hydrogen have become popular. Although this post was originally developed with the physical colors that hydrogen fluoresces in mind, the community has since developed a color coordinated renewability scheme which is shown after the physical color scheme.

Hydrogen has signature colors that appear when the atoms are excited. This image from NASA-Ames shows a hydrogen arc lamp fluorescing:

Neils Bohr used the emission spectra of hydrogen to develop his model of the atom. In short, quantized energy levels release specific bands of light with unique colors. A description of the physics is … » More …

Ortho–Para Effects on Hydrogen Mixture Measurements

While conducting composition measurements on helium-hydrogen mixtures using a Varian gas chromatograph at WSU’s Analytical Chemistry Service Center, I discovered that the ratio of orthohydrogen–parahydrogen has a significant effect on the measurements.  An in depth discussion of the allotropic forms of hydrogen can be found in the previous post “Why equilibrium hydrogen doesn’t exist”.  In my system, gaseous hydrogen is condensed in a copper test cell at 20 K.  An ortho-para catalyst is placed in the bottom of the test cell to ensure all of the hydrogen is converted to parahydrogen. Helium gas is then introduced into the test cell to the desired pressure. The amount … » More …

Why equilibrium hydrogen doesn’t exist

As you already know, hydrogen is unique among fluids for a number of reasons. I like to introduce one of these key differences from the historical perspective:

In 1932, Werner Heisenberg won the Nobel Prize in physics “for the creation of quantum mechanics, the application of which has, inter alia, led to the discovery of the allotropic forms of hydrogen.” These allotropic forms of hydrogen called orthohydrogen and parahydrogen exist due to parity between the nuclear spin and rotational spin function for the hydrogen molecule. Orthohydrogen is a higher energy triplet restricted to odd rotational energy levels (J = 1,3,5…) and parahydrogen is a lower … » More …

Seattle is waking up to hydrogen’s future in the Northwest

The Seattle Times recently posted a user testimony of the Hyundai Tucson hydrogen fuel cell vehicle:

http://blog.nwautos.com/2015/05/hydrogen_headway_roadblocks_to_fuel-cell_cars_are_vanishing.html#.VV7e4zIPTuk.mailto

Sadly, the closest fueling station to Seattle is in San Francisco. Let’s take this moment and think about Seattle’s commute and the zero-emission options.

Seattle's Electrified buses

Downtown Seattle is extensively electrified for trolley buses. Aside from the mountain of copper it took to run the wires, that’s great for the environment, not so great for tourism or the pocket book. Electrification of just Seattle … » More …

A hydrogen economy for Jefferson County Washington

Jefferson County Washington is embracing their sustainable energy future. I recently gave a presentation at their Clean Energy luncheon in Port Townsend and was both proud and amazed by the level of engagement combined with a sense of urgency from the community. Video from the full talk starts at 5:00 here: http://porttownsendmedia.com//energy/Leachman.php A major part of humanities sustainable energy future will rely on local county and community efforts to work together for mutual benefit. Good luck Jefferson County!

UK report quantifies need for cryogenics research

A report by the Science and Technology Facilities Council of the United Kingdom was just released that emphasizes and quantifies the benefit of cryogenics to the UK economy. Here are a few statistics from the full report:

-Total direct and indirect annual contributions to UK economy is $492 million.

-Between $2.4-$5 billion generated in next 10 years.

To place this into context, the US economy is 2.5 times the size of the UK’s. If it scales, that could mean $1.5 billion/year generated in the US from a field that produces less than a handful of graduate engineers/year across the US. NASA and other … » More …