The carbon equivalent of 180 million barrels of oil are
burned each day to support the Earth's growing population of 5 billion persons
search for prosperity. Carbon dioxide built up in the atmosphere has reached
levels that are about 30 per cent higher than at any time in the last 160 years.
Environmental damage and health threats due to air pollution have reached every
area of the planet. Continued dependence upon fossil fuels is detrimental to
public health and is a dangerous experiment that may have no point of return for
civilization, as we know it. Nine Americans die each hour due to air pollution.
U.S. Energy expenditures amount to about 440 billion dollars
per year. About 50 percent of our energy is produced from foreign oil. U.S.
military presence throughout the planet's oil-rich areas to secure the
oil-supply lines costs hundreds of billions of dollars each year. These great
expenses curb investment in capital goods and our economy suffers.
Finding a solution to the difficult problems of energy
sufficiency, environmental damage, and air pollution is imperative. The solution
must provide convenience for near-term market acceptance and utilize renewable
resources.
HYDROGEN AS A COMBUSTION STIMULANT
Hydrogen burns more rapidly than hydrocarbon fuels because it
is smaller and enters combustion reactions at higher velocity, has lower
activation energy, and incurs more molecular collisions than heavier molecules.
These characteristics make it possible to use mixtures of hydrogen with
conventional hydrocarbon fuels such as gasoline, diesel and propane to reduce
emissions of unburned hydrocarbons. Transition from fossil fuels to renewable
hydrogen by use of mixtures of hydrogen in small quantities with conventional
fuels offers significant reductions in exhaust emissions. Using hydrogen as a
combustion stimulant makes it possible for other fuels to meet future
requirements for lower exhaust emissions in California and an increasing number
of additional States.
Mixing hydrogen with hydrocarbon fuels provides combustion
stimulation by increasing the rate of molecular-cracking processes in which
large hydrocarbons are broken into smaller fragments. Expediting production of
smaller molecular fragments is beneficial in increasing the surface-to-volume
ratio and consequent exposure to oxygen for completion of the combustion
process. Relatively small amount of hydrogen can dramatically increase
horsepower and reduce emissions of atmospheric pollutants.
