Phillips announces world's best catalyst for producing hydrogen fuel from water

Phillips announces a hydrogen-from-water breakthrough that successfully uses carbon to split water to produce hydrogen, while retaining oxygen in the water. Hydrogen storage tanks are no longer needed because of this new low-cost, safe method for producing hydrogen fuel at high flow rates. End Quote

(1888PressRelease) February 08, 2012 - Hydrogen fuel storage tanks are no longer needed because of a new low-cost, safe method for producing hydrogen fuel at high flow rates using carbon, one of the world's safest and lowest-cost industrial materials. The hydrogen-from-water breakthrough was a result of a catalytic chemistry development that successfully uses a special carbon catalyst to split water to produce hydrogen, while retaining oxygen in the water.

The unique thing about this new process is that it requires no power input after the hydrogen-producing reaction is started, making possible, for the first time, the scale-up to high rates of hydrogen on demand (HOD).

Experts agree that hydrogen will command a key role in future renewable energy when a relatively cheap, safe, efficient and non-polluting means of producing hydrogen can be developed, on demand, at very high rates which make hydrogen storage tanks unnecessary. That goal has been met, for the first time, using the new CC-HOD process developed by a pharmaceutical company.

Catalytic chemistry research resulted in the discovery that an inexpensive activation process can convert normal carbon into a carbon catalyst that can effectively generate hydrogen gas from water, using a small amount of aluminum. The process uses about 3 times more water than aluminum, and the aluminum does not have to be pure, making the fuel less expensive. The carbon catalyst does not require electrolytes or organic additives. It can operate in pH-neutral water, even if it is dirty, and can operate in sea water, the most abundant source of hydrogen on earth.

Hydrogen is an energy dense and clean fuel, which upon combustion releases only water vapor. Today, most hydrogen is produced from electrolysis which requires large amounts of electrical energy or from natural gas which results in excessive carbon-dioxide emissions. An alternative, clean method is to make hydrogen from water using carbon. The new process is called CC-HOD, or Catalytic Carbon, Hydrogen on Demand.

Before this new process was developed, the use of hydrogen fuel was limited by the lack of a cheap catalyst that can speed up the generation of hydrogen from water. A vital part of the development success was combining predictive theoretical chemistry and testing to accelerate the process of identifying catalytic carbon as a new catalyst. This is a new development in the field of catalytic chemistry that has historically relied on trial and error. "Now that we have found new ways of rationally designing catalysts, we can speed up the development of new catalytic materials enormously," said a company spokesman.

Hydrogen purity measurements were made by an independent test laboratory. The new process produces 93% pure hydrogen with 7% water vapor. When hydrogen from this process was added to the air intake to an otherwise unmodified Buick test vehicle, mileage improvement ranged from 32% to 40%.

Catalytic Carbon has been provided to 45 evaluation sites internationally with very positive results. Independent evaluators have produced hydrogen at high flow rates ranging from 1 to 40 liters per minute. The process produces high-purity hydrogen because when the water is split, the oxygen remains in the water in the form of aluminum hydroxide. The chemistry technology is completely developed, well understood, and ready for commercialization. "We are in discussion with potential licensees. Business agreements with additional licensees, particularly manufacturing companies, are planned," said a company spokesman.

Equipment development and manufacturing is the next step toward commercialization. The new carbon catalyst was developed by Phillips Company, an Oklahoma-based FDA-registered pharmaceutical manufacturing company. Phillips is not an energy products company. Accordingly, the development and commercialization of hardware products will be done by other companies.

Phillips is searching for companies that can produce hardware and commercialize the technology in the form of fuel for vehicles, hydrogen fuel for heating, and hydrogen fuel for water distillation. "We think using hydrogen to fuel ships is promising because the process works well with sea water. More importantly, we think it makes sense to use hydrogen to fuel electric power generators on islands or in remote locations where water is plentiful and cheap, compared to the cost of importing oil/diesel via tanker ships.

These applications are now possible because this process is the world's first low-cost process that can be scaled up to produce hydrogen on demand at very high flow rates. Because the hydrogen-producing process uses pH-neutral chemistry, the hardware corrosion problems are virtually nil.

In the recent State of The Union address, the President said, "This country needs an all-out, all-of-the-above strategy that develops every available source of American energy - a strategy that's cleaner, cheaper, and full of new jobs." Most Americans agree. "We are searching for companies that can become strategic alliances to produce the equipment and commercialize the use of hydrogen for fuel," said A. Shrava, the licensing agent for Philllips Company. He can be reached by telephone at 917-494-7252.

The world's best catalyst for producing hydrogen from water is described online at www.PhillipsCompany.4T.com/HYDROGEN.html

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