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Domain: ch2bc.org

Stories and comments across the archive that link to ch2bc.org.

Comments · 6

  1. Re:Has NO ONE been paying attention? by TheWizardTim · · Score: 1 · on Hydrogen Fuel Station in Iceland

    Unlike the Hindenburg, cars will have small, reenforced, crash protected tanks (about halfway down the page). Not Huge volumes of H2. If you drove you H2 car in to a skyscrapers, you would need ALOT more fuel then what you will have in this tank. If the tank is protected for car crashes, driving it in to a building will do no more then driving you gas powered car that you have now.

  2. Hydrogen not the Hindenburg's Problem by anvilmark · · Score: 3, Informative · on A Hydrogen-Based Economy

    The problem was that the hydrogen was enclosed in cloth impregnated with (essentially) .
    rocket fuel.

  3. Other Infos by robbyjo · · Score: 4, Informative · on The (Possible) Future of Alternative Energy

    Hydrogen Fuel Cell Institute, California Hydrogen Business Council.

    Read "Hydrogen Futures: Toward A Sustainable Energy System", from WorldWatch Institute. Check out its Q & A section.

  4. No moving parts by Mandelbrute · · Score: 1 · on Australian Scramjet Launched
    but this also means the test engine is usually destroyed instead of being saved for the next test run
    An impact at mach 5 would make a mess of the test rig. The actual engine is not expensive, just the work that went into design. The one I saw twelve years ago at the University of Queensland can best be described as an oddly shaped nozzle machined out of a piece of aluminium alloy. There's an image of the current design here.
  5. Diesel fuel? by matty · · Score: 1 · on Consumer Hydrogen Fuel Cells

    No offense, Walter, but where did you get that info? Diesel fuel is generally quite stable and burns very slowly. That's why it is often used to cause fires to clear brush. I don't think it could have been the cause of the Hindenburg disaster.

    Here is the most accepted theory:

    "After years of exhaustive traveling and research, Bain uncovered what he believes is the answer to the Hindenburg mystery. His research shows that the Hindenburg's skin was covered with the extremely flammable cellulose nitrate or cellulose acetate, added to help with rigidity and aerodynamics. The skin was also coated with flecks of aluminum, a component of rocket fuel, to reflect sunlight and keep the hydrogen from heating and expanding. It had the further benefit of combating wear and tear from the elements. Bain claims these substances, although necessary at the time of construction, directly led to the disaster of the Hindenburg. The substances caught fire from an electric spark that caused the skin to burn. At this point the hydrogen became the fuel to the already existing fire. Therefore, the real culprit was the skin of the dirigible. The ironic point to this story is that the German Zeppelin makers knew this back in 1937. A handwritten letter in the Zeppelin Archive states, "The actual cause of the fire was the extreme easy flammability of the covering material brought about by discharges of an electrostatic nature." For more information about Dr. Bain's investigation, please refer to this article from the California Hydrogen Business Council."

    link

  6. Re:Won't we just run out of fossil fuels? by carlos_benj · · Score: 1 · on Slashback: Quakery, Lifespans, Barcodes
    It is a logistical nightmare. By the time we actually manage to convert everything that currently runs on petrol over to some alternative fuel we will probably have ruined this planet's atmosphere....

    The major problem, logistically, is conversion/creation of refueling stations for alternatives. Existing vehicles can be converted to hydrogen power quite readily. There are organizations (this one is local to me) that teach you how to make the conversion. This truck had difficulty passing emissions here since the readings were out of range for the equipment, but the exhaust is actually cleaner than the air drawn into the engine.