Novas Tecnologias...

Um novo método de dissociar o Hidrogénio do Oxigénio na Àgua, através de dois passos, utilizando um Complexo Metálico, uma nova solução para a produção de Hidrogénio, e que aproveita também o Oxigénio:

Unique Approach For Splitting Water Into Hydrogen And Oxygen

by Staff Writers

Rehovot, Israel (SPX) Apr 07, 2009

The design of efficient systems for splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen, driven by sunlight is among the most important challenges facing science today, underpinning the long term potential of hydrogen as a clean, sustainable fuel.

But man-made systems that exist today are very inefficient and often require additional use of sacrificial chemical agents. In this context, it is important to establish new mechanisms by which water splitting can take place.

http://www.energy-daily.com/reports

...E progressos importantes estão a ser feitos no campo da Astronáutica Privada, uma Bomba (de bombear) para Hidrogénio, mais barata e de longa vida:

XCOR Aerospace and United Launch Alliance Announce Successful Hydrogen Piston Pump Tests

June 8th, 2010, Mojave, CA, USA and Littleton, CO, USA: XCOR Aerospace, the developer of the Lynx, a manned suborbital spacecraft and related technologies, and United Launch Alliance (ULA), the primary launch services provider to the US Government, announced the first successful demonstration of XCOR’s long life, high performance piston pump technology with liquid hydrogen.

XCOR engineers Mark Street (L) and Mike Valant

discuss an upcoming test in the control room.

XCOR has been developing piston pumps for space applications for more than eight years as an alternative to turbopumps, demonstrating longer life and lower cost. XCOR’s piston pumps have other advantages including the ability to operate over a wide range of speeds and inlet conditions. After XCOR performed risk reduction and demonstration projects in 2009 that validated high performance cryogenic (liquid oxygen and liquid nitrogen) piston pump operations, ULA asked XCOR if the pump technology could be extended to liquid hydrogen. Implementing rapid prototyping techniques and working on a fixed price basis, XCOR developed a single piston work-horse test article and test bench, and then successfully tested the pump with hydrogen in less than four months. Based on this success, ULA and XCOR have begun the next phase of the project to further mature the technology.

http://www.xcor.com/press-releases