1 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:07,800 Speaker 1: Welcome to tech Stuff, a production from my Heart Radio. 2 00:00:12,000 --> 00:00:14,319 Speaker 1: Hey there, and welcome to tech Stuff. I am your host, 3 00:00:14,520 --> 00:00:17,160 Speaker 1: Jonathan Strickland. I'm an executive producer with I Heart Radio 4 00:00:17,200 --> 00:00:20,599 Speaker 1: and I love all things tech. It is time for 5 00:00:20,720 --> 00:00:24,840 Speaker 1: a classic episode of tech Stuff. This episode originally published 6 00:00:25,079 --> 00:00:29,800 Speaker 1: April twenty third, two thousand fourteen. It is titled How 7 00:00:29,880 --> 00:00:33,919 Speaker 1: Hydrogen Fuel Works, Part one. Yep, this was back when 8 00:00:33,960 --> 00:00:36,480 Speaker 1: we would say part one or part two in our episodes, 9 00:00:36,920 --> 00:00:38,839 Speaker 1: and I don't really do that anymore now. I give 10 00:00:38,840 --> 00:00:42,000 Speaker 1: each episode a different title. But yes, as the title reveals, 11 00:00:42,440 --> 00:00:45,720 Speaker 1: this is the first half of a two parter about 12 00:00:45,800 --> 00:00:49,440 Speaker 1: hydrogen fuel. Fascinating stuff. And you know, there were a 13 00:00:49,440 --> 00:00:52,640 Speaker 1: lot of people who were predicting a hydrogen fuel based 14 00:00:52,680 --> 00:00:56,520 Speaker 1: economy probably about two decades ago, and we're still not 15 00:00:56,800 --> 00:00:59,600 Speaker 1: there yet. So we're gonna learn more about this fuel 16 00:00:59,640 --> 00:01:03,240 Speaker 1: source and what it is and how it works and 17 00:01:03,520 --> 00:01:08,440 Speaker 1: why we don't actually have hydrogen fuel fueling everything these days. 18 00:01:09,280 --> 00:01:13,320 Speaker 1: So let's take a listen. We're going to describe everything 19 00:01:13,319 --> 00:01:17,479 Speaker 1: about hydrogen and how it's being used in multiple ways. Yeah, 20 00:01:17,520 --> 00:01:20,479 Speaker 1: because hydrogen is a really simple element with a huge 21 00:01:20,520 --> 00:01:24,399 Speaker 1: amount of potential. Simplest element in the universe one proton, 22 00:01:24,520 --> 00:01:27,759 Speaker 1: one electron. That is it, get yourself a proton, get 23 00:01:27,760 --> 00:01:30,200 Speaker 1: yourself electron and let them make friends. You've got a hydrogen. 24 00:01:30,800 --> 00:01:34,000 Speaker 1: So it's also the most abundant element in the universe. 25 00:01:34,040 --> 00:01:37,640 Speaker 1: It's it's everywhere. This is the stuff that the Sun 26 00:01:37,760 --> 00:01:42,000 Speaker 1: fuses into helium at a temperature of millions of degrees. Yeah, 27 00:01:42,120 --> 00:01:45,000 Speaker 1: we have had to put that in there. Uh yeah, 28 00:01:45,040 --> 00:01:48,520 Speaker 1: so so it's technically fueling well everything, I suppose once 29 00:01:48,560 --> 00:01:50,720 Speaker 1: you've got it working in the sun. Yeah. Yeah, pretty 30 00:01:50,800 --> 00:01:55,640 Speaker 1: much everything on Earth, life as we know it exists 31 00:01:55,800 --> 00:01:59,760 Speaker 1: because of hydrogen being built into helium in the sun. 32 00:02:00,160 --> 00:02:02,800 Speaker 1: There are some exceptions, like you could look at some 33 00:02:02,880 --> 00:02:06,800 Speaker 1: extreme of files in Earth where they're living off chemicals 34 00:02:06,800 --> 00:02:10,480 Speaker 1: that are being produced by the gases and things being 35 00:02:10,480 --> 00:02:14,120 Speaker 1: released in deep undersea fissures. But most of life, the 36 00:02:14,240 --> 00:02:16,880 Speaker 1: vast majority of it, depends at least in some part 37 00:02:17,400 --> 00:02:21,560 Speaker 1: on light. Yes, and hydrogen. Although we have only known 38 00:02:21,639 --> 00:02:24,760 Speaker 1: about its existence as an element for a relatively short 39 00:02:24,800 --> 00:02:29,600 Speaker 1: period of time, has has been kind of theorized about. Yeah, 40 00:02:29,800 --> 00:02:32,680 Speaker 1: there's been people who have worked with what they called 41 00:02:32,720 --> 00:02:36,359 Speaker 1: like they had various words for it, inflammable air, being 42 00:02:36,360 --> 00:02:39,119 Speaker 1: a popular one because they realized, hey, there's the stuff 43 00:02:39,639 --> 00:02:42,400 Speaker 1: that when you do things to other things happens. And 44 00:02:42,440 --> 00:02:45,359 Speaker 1: then if you put a fire near it, it blows up, right, 45 00:02:45,400 --> 00:02:49,520 Speaker 1: inflammable meaning inflammable meaning inflammable, Yes, exactly able to be 46 00:02:49,600 --> 00:02:51,880 Speaker 1: set fire to. Right, And in this case, it's not 47 00:02:51,960 --> 00:02:56,400 Speaker 1: just that it burns, it's exclusive. So the word hydrogen's 48 00:02:56,400 --> 00:03:00,160 Speaker 1: actually combination of two words from Greek hydro and genus, 49 00:03:00,440 --> 00:03:05,080 Speaker 1: which together mean water forming. And once you know about 50 00:03:05,160 --> 00:03:07,959 Speaker 1: hydrogen and you know what water is, it's H two O. 51 00:03:08,520 --> 00:03:11,280 Speaker 1: Makes perfect sense. You've gotta have hydrogen or you don't 52 00:03:11,320 --> 00:03:13,080 Speaker 1: have water. Of course, if you don't have oxygen, you 53 00:03:13,080 --> 00:03:17,359 Speaker 1: still don't have water. And while this hydrogen stuff is everywhere, 54 00:03:17,400 --> 00:03:19,920 Speaker 1: I mean, it's the most abundant element in the universe, 55 00:03:20,480 --> 00:03:24,560 Speaker 1: it isn't often found on it's lonesome. That's because it 56 00:03:24,560 --> 00:03:27,760 Speaker 1: makes friends really easily. Yeah, it's it's kind of like 57 00:03:27,800 --> 00:03:31,480 Speaker 1: the opposite of me. It actually gets real buddy buddy 58 00:03:31,520 --> 00:03:34,720 Speaker 1: really fast, and and and the buddies like it. See 59 00:03:34,960 --> 00:03:39,400 Speaker 1: I got half that equation. But anyway, hydrogen forms compounds readily, right, 60 00:03:39,440 --> 00:03:41,720 Speaker 1: you get compounds and all sorts of stuff. You get 61 00:03:41,960 --> 00:03:44,960 Speaker 1: water being a big example at hydrogen bonds with oxygen. 62 00:03:45,000 --> 00:03:49,280 Speaker 1: You have water, you have lots of hydrocarbons, you've got um. 63 00:03:49,600 --> 00:03:53,960 Speaker 1: You even have occlusion, which is molecular condensation inside igneous rocks. 64 00:03:54,560 --> 00:03:58,520 Speaker 1: The point is is that it's bound up with other stuff. 65 00:03:58,520 --> 00:04:01,120 Speaker 1: It's not just out there its own. So if we 66 00:04:01,200 --> 00:04:05,200 Speaker 1: want to harvest hydrogen to use as fuel, you gotta 67 00:04:05,480 --> 00:04:07,480 Speaker 1: think a little outside the box. You can't just go 68 00:04:07,600 --> 00:04:10,760 Speaker 1: to the hydrogen store by it. Yeah, it doesn't grow 69 00:04:10,760 --> 00:04:12,720 Speaker 1: on any hydrogen trees. Now you have to you have 70 00:04:12,800 --> 00:04:15,240 Speaker 1: to do something to something else generally in order to 71 00:04:15,240 --> 00:04:17,080 Speaker 1: get some of it exactly, which means you've got to 72 00:04:17,200 --> 00:04:20,080 Speaker 1: expend energy in order to get this fuel. And that's 73 00:04:20,080 --> 00:04:23,040 Speaker 1: one of the things that's really important about any sort 74 00:04:23,120 --> 00:04:25,640 Speaker 1: of fuel. It's not just hydrogen. We're talking about any 75 00:04:25,680 --> 00:04:27,880 Speaker 1: kind of fuel where you're planning on getting energy out. 76 00:04:28,400 --> 00:04:31,400 Speaker 1: If it requires you to put more energy into it 77 00:04:31,800 --> 00:04:34,359 Speaker 1: to get the fuel, then you're getting as a benefit 78 00:04:34,520 --> 00:04:38,200 Speaker 1: of the fuel. Is a losing proposition, right. Although there 79 00:04:38,200 --> 00:04:41,400 Speaker 1: are lots of different ways to to produce hydrogen um. 80 00:04:41,480 --> 00:04:43,839 Speaker 1: You can use light to split water molecules, you can 81 00:04:43,920 --> 00:04:46,760 Speaker 1: gasify biomass waste, you can even just kind of let 82 00:04:46,760 --> 00:04:48,479 Speaker 1: a bunch of microbes do the work for you as 83 00:04:48,520 --> 00:04:51,279 Speaker 1: part of their normal metabolism. Um. But one of the 84 00:04:51,279 --> 00:04:54,280 Speaker 1: most popular ones right now anyway, what accounts for about 85 00:04:55,120 --> 00:04:58,640 Speaker 1: of the hydrogen in the United States is something called performing, 86 00:04:59,040 --> 00:05:02,440 Speaker 1: in which a carbon based fuels like natural gas typically methane, 87 00:05:02,560 --> 00:05:05,720 Speaker 1: are reacted with steam at high pressures and temperatures. That 88 00:05:05,760 --> 00:05:09,080 Speaker 1: produces hydrogen, a little bit of carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide, 89 00:05:09,360 --> 00:05:11,800 Speaker 1: that last of which is then reacted to produce more 90 00:05:11,880 --> 00:05:15,520 Speaker 1: hydrogen and carbon dioxide. UM. You will note that that 91 00:05:15,560 --> 00:05:18,000 Speaker 1: both of these do produce greenhouse gases, so it's a 92 00:05:18,000 --> 00:05:21,960 Speaker 1: little bit less friendly than something like electrolysis, although you 93 00:05:21,960 --> 00:05:24,120 Speaker 1: have to pump a whole lot of energy into electrolysis. 94 00:05:24,160 --> 00:05:26,799 Speaker 1: We'll talk a little bit more about that later. Overall, 95 00:05:26,839 --> 00:05:31,080 Speaker 1: reforming does have the potential to overall reduce our carbon 96 00:05:31,080 --> 00:05:33,880 Speaker 1: footprint if it could provide the hydrogen for like a 97 00:05:33,920 --> 00:05:36,920 Speaker 1: whole fleet of fuel cell vehicles. Right That's one of 98 00:05:36,960 --> 00:05:39,640 Speaker 1: the big things about hydrogen. We'll talk about that in 99 00:05:39,680 --> 00:05:42,680 Speaker 1: just a second, about how it does not give off 100 00:05:42,720 --> 00:05:46,800 Speaker 1: greenhouse gases in ideal cases. Uh, keep in mind we're 101 00:05:46,800 --> 00:05:49,800 Speaker 1: talking ideal cases because it all depends on how you're 102 00:05:49,839 --> 00:05:53,240 Speaker 1: using the hydrogen. So, uh yeah. I also read that 103 00:05:53,279 --> 00:05:57,080 Speaker 1: there have been some studies of algae that give off hydrogen, which, 104 00:05:57,120 --> 00:06:00,119 Speaker 1: you know, if we were ever able to make an 105 00:06:00,200 --> 00:06:03,440 Speaker 1: algae farm that was efficient enough, that would be a 106 00:06:03,440 --> 00:06:05,120 Speaker 1: great way. But there are a lot of people who 107 00:06:05,200 --> 00:06:08,000 Speaker 1: question whether or that that's practical. It may not ever 108 00:06:08,080 --> 00:06:10,880 Speaker 1: be something that generates enough hydrogen for it to be 109 00:06:10,920 --> 00:06:13,000 Speaker 1: worth the amount of effort it would take. Again that 110 00:06:13,160 --> 00:06:17,200 Speaker 1: sort of energy losing proposition night. So some other things 111 00:06:17,240 --> 00:06:21,080 Speaker 1: about hydrogen. It has a low ignition energy. That means 112 00:06:21,120 --> 00:06:22,800 Speaker 1: you don't have to apply a lot of energy to 113 00:06:22,920 --> 00:06:25,520 Speaker 1: it to get it to ignite. That makes sense, you know, 114 00:06:25,520 --> 00:06:27,600 Speaker 1: it doesn't take much to set it on fire, essentially, 115 00:06:27,680 --> 00:06:30,280 Speaker 1: is what we're talking about here. It actually requires an 116 00:06:30,400 --> 00:06:34,640 Speaker 1: order of magnitude less energy to ignite hydrogen than it 117 00:06:34,720 --> 00:06:38,680 Speaker 1: does to ignite gasoline. Yeah, so that means that gasoline 118 00:06:38,760 --> 00:06:42,400 Speaker 1: is pretty pretty flammable, pretty or inflammable. Yeah. Kids, let's 119 00:06:42,440 --> 00:06:45,159 Speaker 1: not play with the stuff at home, shall we, or 120 00:06:45,200 --> 00:06:48,680 Speaker 1: anywhere else for that matter. Let's treat it like serious business. 121 00:06:48,720 --> 00:06:50,880 Speaker 1: But it's both a good and bad thing, right because 122 00:06:50,880 --> 00:06:53,520 Speaker 1: the hydrogen stance it's easy to ignite, means that you 123 00:06:53,560 --> 00:06:57,400 Speaker 1: can easily implement that in an engine. Uh does it 124 00:06:57,520 --> 00:06:59,400 Speaker 1: very efficiently. You don't have to spend a lot of 125 00:06:59,520 --> 00:07:01,720 Speaker 1: energy to make it do what you wanted to do. 126 00:07:02,200 --> 00:07:04,000 Speaker 1: On the other hand, because it has such a low 127 00:07:04,040 --> 00:07:07,880 Speaker 1: ignition point, it's also a challenge engineering wise, because if 128 00:07:07,920 --> 00:07:11,360 Speaker 1: your engine gets hot enough, the engine itself could cause 129 00:07:11,440 --> 00:07:14,560 Speaker 1: the hydrogen to ignite prematurely before it gets into the 130 00:07:14,600 --> 00:07:17,800 Speaker 1: operative fits right, and then it could make everything inoperative. 131 00:07:18,440 --> 00:07:22,400 Speaker 1: You would get an operative right quick. So that's you 132 00:07:22,440 --> 00:07:25,120 Speaker 1: know that there's a there's a good and bad side 133 00:07:25,160 --> 00:07:27,720 Speaker 1: of this. If you can engineer your way around it, 134 00:07:27,720 --> 00:07:31,120 Speaker 1: it can eventually be a benefit. Oh sure, it technically 135 00:07:31,120 --> 00:07:34,040 Speaker 1: has the highest energy output by weight of any fuel 136 00:07:34,280 --> 00:07:36,440 Speaker 1: um though it is the lightest elements, so that's kind 137 00:07:36,440 --> 00:07:38,559 Speaker 1: of yeah. You kind of have to get a lot 138 00:07:38,640 --> 00:07:41,560 Speaker 1: of it together too. So it's because it's it's not dense, 139 00:07:41,800 --> 00:07:44,440 Speaker 1: you know, which is something else will chat about. So 140 00:07:45,040 --> 00:07:47,960 Speaker 1: one of the reasons why we're even talking about hydrogen, 141 00:07:48,160 --> 00:07:50,560 Speaker 1: one of the big ones, it's what we alluded to earlier, 142 00:07:50,600 --> 00:07:54,280 Speaker 1: is the fact that the combustion is really clean, particularly 143 00:07:54,760 --> 00:07:58,800 Speaker 1: if you're using hydrogen and pure oxygen as the mixture 144 00:07:58,880 --> 00:08:01,880 Speaker 1: that goes into your engine, right, because then your output 145 00:08:02,040 --> 00:08:05,240 Speaker 1: is going to be just energy and water. Yep. You 146 00:08:05,280 --> 00:08:07,280 Speaker 1: get energy in the form of the power that you 147 00:08:07,320 --> 00:08:09,760 Speaker 1: generate and some heat because of course we don't have 148 00:08:09,800 --> 00:08:12,320 Speaker 1: any perfect systems where we don't lose some energy in 149 00:08:12,360 --> 00:08:14,560 Speaker 1: the form of heat. But yeah, the only other thing 150 00:08:14,640 --> 00:08:16,920 Speaker 1: you get is water. You don't get anything else. And 151 00:08:17,240 --> 00:08:19,680 Speaker 1: this is when I when I talk about mixtures. We'll 152 00:08:19,720 --> 00:08:22,560 Speaker 1: talk about combustion engines a little later too. This is 153 00:08:22,600 --> 00:08:25,160 Speaker 1: a typical thing where you mix together some fuel and 154 00:08:25,240 --> 00:08:28,040 Speaker 1: some air to go into a combustion engine. Same sort 155 00:08:28,040 --> 00:08:31,160 Speaker 1: of thing with hydrogen. You're not putting just pure hydrogen 156 00:08:31,160 --> 00:08:33,440 Speaker 1: and you're mixing it with some form of air, in 157 00:08:33,440 --> 00:08:38,719 Speaker 1: this case oxygen. However, that being said, most hydrogen combustion 158 00:08:38,760 --> 00:08:42,400 Speaker 1: engines are not using pure oxygen to mix together to 159 00:08:42,480 --> 00:08:47,360 Speaker 1: make the combustible mixture. They're using air. So air has 160 00:08:47,400 --> 00:08:51,199 Speaker 1: stuff in it besides oxygen. In fact, the primary component 161 00:08:51,320 --> 00:08:55,000 Speaker 1: of our atmosphere is not oxygen, it's nitrogen. So one 162 00:08:55,000 --> 00:08:57,920 Speaker 1: of the byproducts you get with using a hydrogen combustion 163 00:08:57,960 --> 00:09:02,160 Speaker 1: engine that uses air is that you get some nitrous oxides, 164 00:09:02,360 --> 00:09:05,040 Speaker 1: nitrogen oxides, I should say, not nitrous oxides, which would 165 00:09:05,080 --> 00:09:10,319 Speaker 1: be hilarious until you suffocated, but nitrogen oxides. Uh, that's 166 00:09:10,360 --> 00:09:13,320 Speaker 1: a that's a pollutant. You don't want that. Um. And 167 00:09:13,360 --> 00:09:16,600 Speaker 1: you can also get carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide if 168 00:09:16,840 --> 00:09:21,679 Speaker 1: you get some oil seeping into the combustion chambers, because uh, 169 00:09:21,800 --> 00:09:24,800 Speaker 1: oxygen does. Our atmosphere doesn't have like tons of carbon 170 00:09:24,840 --> 00:09:28,440 Speaker 1: in it, but oil does. So there are chances of 171 00:09:28,520 --> 00:09:32,280 Speaker 1: having a hydrogen combustion engine this kind of pollutants. You 172 00:09:32,280 --> 00:09:33,920 Speaker 1: can get around that if you wanted to go with 173 00:09:33,960 --> 00:09:37,400 Speaker 1: fuel cells, and we'll talk about those two. We'll be 174 00:09:37,520 --> 00:09:40,800 Speaker 1: back with more discussion about hydrogen fuel in just a second, 175 00:09:40,800 --> 00:09:51,560 Speaker 1: but first let's take a quick break. So the amount 176 00:09:51,600 --> 00:09:55,960 Speaker 1: of power that hydrogen engine can generate is dependent upon 177 00:09:56,000 --> 00:09:58,480 Speaker 1: a few different things. It depends upon the mix of 178 00:09:58,559 --> 00:10:01,960 Speaker 1: air and fuel and how that fuel is injected into 179 00:10:02,040 --> 00:10:07,079 Speaker 1: those combustion chambers in your engine. So, theoretically, the maximum 180 00:10:07,120 --> 00:10:10,439 Speaker 1: output of a hydrogen based combustion engine using a pre 181 00:10:10,520 --> 00:10:15,199 Speaker 1: mixed method. This is where you have like a carburetor 182 00:10:15,600 --> 00:10:18,840 Speaker 1: type situation that is mixing air and fuel together and 183 00:10:18,840 --> 00:10:22,120 Speaker 1: then it goes into the combustion chamber. Uh. If you're 184 00:10:22,200 --> 00:10:25,079 Speaker 1: using that method, theoretically your maximum output is about eight 185 00:10:26,120 --> 00:10:29,680 Speaker 1: of the power generated in a comparable gasoline engine, So 186 00:10:29,880 --> 00:10:33,520 Speaker 1: not as powerful, right, But if you were to take 187 00:10:33,640 --> 00:10:37,040 Speaker 1: a direct injection approach, which mixes the fuel and air 188 00:10:37,120 --> 00:10:41,360 Speaker 1: after the intake valve in the combustion chamber closes, then 189 00:10:41,440 --> 00:10:45,800 Speaker 1: the hydrogen based engine can theoretically produce fift more power 190 00:10:45,840 --> 00:10:48,240 Speaker 1: than a gasoline engine. So you kind of have a 191 00:10:49,480 --> 00:10:53,960 Speaker 1: less in one way or pent more the other way. Um, However, 192 00:10:54,960 --> 00:10:57,400 Speaker 1: this is all based upon the idea that you're using 193 00:10:57,520 --> 00:11:01,000 Speaker 1: exactly the amount of air you need to complete combustion, 194 00:11:01,280 --> 00:11:03,360 Speaker 1: so you're using just the right mixture of air and 195 00:11:03,400 --> 00:11:07,000 Speaker 1: just the right mixture of hydrogen. But the downside of 196 00:11:07,040 --> 00:11:11,720 Speaker 1: that is that you also produce more pollutants that way. Right. 197 00:11:12,360 --> 00:11:14,959 Speaker 1: Although okay, so, so this is a complicated issue and 198 00:11:15,000 --> 00:11:16,960 Speaker 1: the numbers on it are always going to be rough. 199 00:11:16,960 --> 00:11:20,840 Speaker 1: But when you're talking about fuel efficiency, you you need 200 00:11:20,880 --> 00:11:24,400 Speaker 1: to use more gasoline in order to make an engine 201 00:11:24,440 --> 00:11:28,360 Speaker 1: do the same amount of work than you would hydrogen. Yeah, exactly, 202 00:11:28,400 --> 00:11:32,120 Speaker 1: Like you have this note about gasoline vehicles operating at 203 00:11:32,280 --> 00:11:38,320 Speaker 1: around efficiency. What that means is that of all the 204 00:11:38,440 --> 00:11:41,040 Speaker 1: energy that's being generated is actually going to doing the 205 00:11:41,040 --> 00:11:43,800 Speaker 1: thing you needed to do. The other is being lost 206 00:11:43,960 --> 00:11:46,319 Speaker 1: in some way or another. Sure, you usually due to 207 00:11:46,360 --> 00:11:49,280 Speaker 1: heat loss. That's the big one, especially with engines. I mean, 208 00:11:49,360 --> 00:11:52,760 Speaker 1: engines generate lots and lots of heat. The the ideal 209 00:11:52,840 --> 00:11:55,960 Speaker 1: of a fuel cell vehicle using hydrogen, it's closer to 210 00:11:56,320 --> 00:12:00,360 Speaker 1: six efficiency. For for the record, electric cars may manage 211 00:12:00,360 --> 00:12:03,839 Speaker 1: somewhere between twenty five and sixty fuel efficiency depending on 212 00:12:03,840 --> 00:12:07,040 Speaker 1: where you get the electricity to recharge that battery. Right, 213 00:12:07,200 --> 00:12:09,840 Speaker 1: and and if you want to be really technical, a 214 00:12:09,880 --> 00:12:13,880 Speaker 1: fuel cell vehicle is kind of a subset of electric vehicles. 215 00:12:13,960 --> 00:12:15,920 Speaker 1: It's just that it's an electric vehicle that you are 216 00:12:16,000 --> 00:12:22,480 Speaker 1: refueling with hydrogen rather than a closed battery system exactly. So, yeah, 217 00:12:22,480 --> 00:12:24,240 Speaker 1: it's a great point. And that's another thing that we 218 00:12:24,280 --> 00:12:27,760 Speaker 1: have to take into consideration. Now. Typically, if if we're 219 00:12:27,760 --> 00:12:29,959 Speaker 1: talking about you know, I just mentioned about having just 220 00:12:30,080 --> 00:12:33,400 Speaker 1: enough air and fuel to complete combustion, and you get 221 00:12:33,400 --> 00:12:36,479 Speaker 1: that that crazy hundred and fifteen percent of a gasoline 222 00:12:36,480 --> 00:12:39,880 Speaker 1: power engine, but you produce more more pollutants as well. 223 00:12:40,880 --> 00:12:44,720 Speaker 1: Usually we're not using exactly the amount of air because 224 00:12:45,200 --> 00:12:47,400 Speaker 1: we want to cut back on those pollutants. One of 225 00:12:47,400 --> 00:12:49,520 Speaker 1: the big reasons we want to use hydrogen is to 226 00:12:49,920 --> 00:12:52,559 Speaker 1: cut back on pollutants. So if we're producing more pollutants 227 00:12:52,559 --> 00:12:55,000 Speaker 1: by making it really efficient, then we're like, well, we 228 00:12:55,160 --> 00:12:57,000 Speaker 1: just kind of traded off. That was a lot of 229 00:12:57,000 --> 00:13:00,400 Speaker 1: money to not do any better exactly. So what we 230 00:13:00,600 --> 00:13:03,360 Speaker 1: tend to see our engines that use about twice as 231 00:13:03,440 --> 00:13:07,360 Speaker 1: much air as is actually required to complete combustion. Now, 232 00:13:07,360 --> 00:13:10,640 Speaker 1: this reduces pollution, but it also reduces the output of 233 00:13:10,679 --> 00:13:16,040 Speaker 1: the engine. Yeah, sad trombone. Okay, so these are just tradeoffs. 234 00:13:16,040 --> 00:13:17,600 Speaker 1: This is the way the real world works. We have 235 00:13:17,679 --> 00:13:19,520 Speaker 1: to sit there and say, Okay, there's not a magic 236 00:13:19,720 --> 00:13:23,040 Speaker 1: solution that is going to solve all the problems equally, 237 00:13:23,200 --> 00:13:25,320 Speaker 1: we have to start making tradeoffs. This is a pretty 238 00:13:25,360 --> 00:13:27,560 Speaker 1: good one because you can you can enlarge the engine 239 00:13:27,559 --> 00:13:30,280 Speaker 1: size and make up for a lot of it. Right, 240 00:13:30,320 --> 00:13:32,960 Speaker 1: So if you make the hydrogen based engine larger than 241 00:13:33,000 --> 00:13:35,600 Speaker 1: a gasoline based engine, you can kind of make up 242 00:13:35,640 --> 00:13:37,520 Speaker 1: this this loss. Now that does, of course, mean you 243 00:13:37,559 --> 00:13:40,200 Speaker 1: have to redesign vehicles around a larger engine. So I 244 00:13:40,200 --> 00:13:42,319 Speaker 1: mean it's you know, it's those domino effects, right. You 245 00:13:42,360 --> 00:13:45,719 Speaker 1: could also include what's called a turbo charger or supercharger, 246 00:13:45,720 --> 00:13:48,079 Speaker 1: and you might wonder, hey, how did those work. We'll 247 00:13:48,120 --> 00:13:51,200 Speaker 1: do another episode because it's already going to be a 248 00:13:51,200 --> 00:13:53,120 Speaker 1: long one for this one. So we can't. We can't 249 00:13:53,160 --> 00:13:55,600 Speaker 1: sit there and uh and jump into that and hope 250 00:13:55,600 --> 00:13:57,880 Speaker 1: to make it out alive, because no will kill us. 251 00:13:58,440 --> 00:14:01,839 Speaker 1: The protective barrier is only so strong. Okay. So, like 252 00:14:01,880 --> 00:14:05,520 Speaker 1: we said, hydrogen not very dense. When you've got one 253 00:14:05,559 --> 00:14:08,320 Speaker 1: proton and one electron, you don't expect it to be Nope, 254 00:14:08,600 --> 00:14:12,400 Speaker 1: So it's uh room temperature is a gas. Getting enough 255 00:14:12,480 --> 00:14:14,680 Speaker 1: hydrogen together in one place to be useful as a 256 00:14:14,720 --> 00:14:16,680 Speaker 1: fuel takes a lot of work, and some of the 257 00:14:16,679 --> 00:14:19,880 Speaker 1: easiest ways of storing it, like in extremely cold liquid form, 258 00:14:19,880 --> 00:14:23,080 Speaker 1: aren't really practical for toting around in a consumer motor 259 00:14:23,160 --> 00:14:26,240 Speaker 1: vehicle that might not want to incorporate a complex cooling 260 00:14:26,240 --> 00:14:30,720 Speaker 1: system due to you know, cost and weight and space issues. 261 00:14:30,760 --> 00:14:32,640 Speaker 1: So usually we end up having to figure out a 262 00:14:32,640 --> 00:14:36,840 Speaker 1: way of pressure rizing it under intense amounts of pressure. Now, 263 00:14:36,880 --> 00:14:39,720 Speaker 1: that of course creates another safety issue. Anytime you have 264 00:14:39,800 --> 00:14:42,160 Speaker 1: a compressed gas, it's under a lot of pressure. If 265 00:14:42,160 --> 00:14:46,040 Speaker 1: you rupture that containment unit in some way. Yeah. You 266 00:14:46,200 --> 00:14:48,280 Speaker 1: that's and then at on top of that that the 267 00:14:48,320 --> 00:14:51,800 Speaker 1: gas itself is inflammable, and you've got the potential for really, 268 00:14:52,240 --> 00:14:55,440 Speaker 1: really a bad day, Which is why a lot of 269 00:14:55,520 --> 00:14:58,040 Speaker 1: companies that have looked into using hydrogen as a fuel 270 00:14:58,120 --> 00:15:00,920 Speaker 1: in one way or another, whether as a bustin engine 271 00:15:01,000 --> 00:15:04,120 Speaker 1: fuel or whether as a fuel sell fuel, have put 272 00:15:04,120 --> 00:15:07,280 Speaker 1: in a lot of research and development in safety for 273 00:15:07,520 --> 00:15:10,560 Speaker 1: these hydrogen canisters or you know else. They will never 274 00:15:10,640 --> 00:15:12,440 Speaker 1: be able to market it because it would just be 275 00:15:12,480 --> 00:15:16,119 Speaker 1: too dangerous. Although some people argue that, I mean, gasoline 276 00:15:16,240 --> 00:15:18,960 Speaker 1: tanks being driven around are also that's a it's a 277 00:15:18,960 --> 00:15:21,040 Speaker 1: good point. It's a fair point. I mean, we're we've 278 00:15:21,080 --> 00:15:25,080 Speaker 1: been relying on a technology that has a an inflammable 279 00:15:25,160 --> 00:15:28,080 Speaker 1: fuel for more than a century. And you know, although 280 00:15:28,080 --> 00:15:30,320 Speaker 1: it's not quite as dangerous as movies make it out 281 00:15:30,320 --> 00:15:32,600 Speaker 1: to be. I mean, it's not that. Yeah where where 282 00:15:32,640 --> 00:15:35,760 Speaker 1: you you your car your car sways a bed and 283 00:15:35,800 --> 00:15:39,200 Speaker 1: then explodes. Y. Yeah, so if Michael Bay made cars, 284 00:15:39,320 --> 00:15:42,440 Speaker 1: no one would ever get in them. But fortunately, as 285 00:15:42,440 --> 00:15:45,160 Speaker 1: far as I know, he has not made one. Uh so, 286 00:15:45,360 --> 00:15:48,440 Speaker 1: uh yeah, We've we've been making use of this hydrogen 287 00:15:48,480 --> 00:15:51,720 Speaker 1: for a long time, and in fact, we, like Lauren said, 288 00:15:51,720 --> 00:15:53,560 Speaker 1: we were kind of playing with this stuff before we 289 00:15:53,600 --> 00:15:56,680 Speaker 1: even had any idea of what it was. We didn't 290 00:15:56,680 --> 00:16:01,080 Speaker 1: really know about elements or even gas is. So we're 291 00:16:01,080 --> 00:16:03,760 Speaker 1: gonna take you on a historical journey, and along this 292 00:16:03,840 --> 00:16:06,480 Speaker 1: journey will be explaining how some of this stuff works, 293 00:16:06,560 --> 00:16:09,640 Speaker 1: because we figured we'd kind of incorporate both the history 294 00:16:09,760 --> 00:16:14,800 Speaker 1: and the technical stuff altogether. It's an experiment. Now before 295 00:16:14,880 --> 00:16:17,320 Speaker 1: we jump into the way back machine, because I know 296 00:16:17,360 --> 00:16:19,800 Speaker 1: all you guys have been missing it, Laurence looking at 297 00:16:19,840 --> 00:16:22,160 Speaker 1: me terrified. Yeah, Lauren, that's what that big thing is 298 00:16:22,200 --> 00:16:24,320 Speaker 1: in the corner that we haven't been using. It's all 299 00:16:24,440 --> 00:16:27,640 Speaker 1: dusty and stuff. Turns out it wasn't in Mongolia. It 300 00:16:27,720 --> 00:16:31,040 Speaker 1: was just in a supply closet. Alright. Well, our our 301 00:16:31,080 --> 00:16:33,360 Speaker 1: fuel gauge is not on empty yet. We still got 302 00:16:33,400 --> 00:16:35,680 Speaker 1: a bit more to go, but first let's take another 303 00:16:35,760 --> 00:16:45,240 Speaker 1: quick break. Okay, So we're back and we're ready to 304 00:16:45,280 --> 00:16:47,520 Speaker 1: get into the way Back Machine, which I know is 305 00:16:47,560 --> 00:16:50,800 Speaker 1: going to sound absolutely amazing. I can't believe all the 306 00:16:50,800 --> 00:16:53,120 Speaker 1: bells and whistles that indicate to you that we've actually 307 00:16:53,160 --> 00:16:56,040 Speaker 1: traveled back in time. Because in truth, it's silent. But 308 00:16:56,160 --> 00:16:58,600 Speaker 1: we have to give you some you know, way of 309 00:16:58,640 --> 00:17:01,040 Speaker 1: knowing that that's what's happened. Otherwise it's not it's not 310 00:17:01,080 --> 00:17:03,840 Speaker 1: fun radio trauma exactly. So let's let's just go ahead 311 00:17:03,840 --> 00:17:06,280 Speaker 1: and get in now. Over here, we've got the dial 312 00:17:06,720 --> 00:17:10,320 Speaker 1: which I'm going to set back to uh early seventeenth century. 313 00:17:11,359 --> 00:17:13,679 Speaker 1: You know, I don't know how it knows where I 314 00:17:13,720 --> 00:17:16,879 Speaker 1: wanted to go. It just does. But when is really tricky. 315 00:17:16,880 --> 00:17:24,800 Speaker 1: All right, let's just hit the button. Here here we are. 316 00:17:26,880 --> 00:17:30,800 Speaker 1: It's a glorious and smelly So I want to introduce 317 00:17:30,840 --> 00:17:34,600 Speaker 1: you to Johann Baptista van Helmont, who is the first 318 00:17:34,640 --> 00:17:38,680 Speaker 1: person to describe hydrogen as a gas, and not only that, 319 00:17:38,880 --> 00:17:41,679 Speaker 1: he's the first person to come up with the word 320 00:17:42,240 --> 00:17:45,879 Speaker 1: gas to describe substances that have the qualities of a gas. 321 00:17:45,880 --> 00:17:48,440 Speaker 1: He was thinking of stuff that is heavier than air, 322 00:17:48,600 --> 00:17:50,719 Speaker 1: or misty, or he was just trying to come up 323 00:17:50,720 --> 00:17:54,600 Speaker 1: with like a collective noun to call this stuff. He 324 00:17:54,720 --> 00:17:58,720 Speaker 1: proposed gas, and it's stuck. So he goes on to 325 00:17:58,800 --> 00:18:01,280 Speaker 1: make some more observation which in a few decades get 326 00:18:01,280 --> 00:18:04,800 Speaker 1: picked up by another person of philosopher, A natural philosopher, 327 00:18:04,800 --> 00:18:06,919 Speaker 1: and we'll chat about him. His name is Robert Boyle. 328 00:18:07,520 --> 00:18:11,560 Speaker 1: So between Robert Boyle and Johan we have in sixteen 329 00:18:11,600 --> 00:18:15,719 Speaker 1: fifty Serteodor Turk with the men May yearn which I 330 00:18:15,760 --> 00:18:19,880 Speaker 1: know I've absolutely butchered based Swiss, so so I'm sure 331 00:18:19,880 --> 00:18:22,840 Speaker 1: he's fine with it. Yeah, They the Swiss have a 332 00:18:22,880 --> 00:18:28,280 Speaker 1: beautiful way with words that escapes the physical contortions my 333 00:18:28,280 --> 00:18:31,800 Speaker 1: mouth can go through. So, but he produced hydrogen and 334 00:18:31,840 --> 00:18:37,240 Speaker 1: he called it inflammable air by combining iron with sulfuric acid. Now, 335 00:18:37,640 --> 00:18:41,000 Speaker 1: hydrogen is found in a lot of different compounds, including 336 00:18:41,040 --> 00:18:43,840 Speaker 1: all the acids, So if you are able to combine 337 00:18:43,880 --> 00:18:46,720 Speaker 1: it with other stuff, usually that that reaction you get 338 00:18:46,960 --> 00:18:52,320 Speaker 1: by introducing an element into acid will release the hydrogen exactly. Now, 339 00:18:52,560 --> 00:18:55,439 Speaker 1: sixteen seventy one we get to that Irish philosopher I 340 00:18:55,480 --> 00:18:59,800 Speaker 1: had mentioned, Robert Boyle. Now he experimented with producing hydrogen 341 00:18:59,800 --> 00:19:02,439 Speaker 1: as well, and he was of the New philosophy movement. 342 00:19:03,000 --> 00:19:06,720 Speaker 1: This was a really interesting movement. It combined observations and 343 00:19:06,800 --> 00:19:10,480 Speaker 1: experimentation with logical thinking to understand the world around him. 344 00:19:10,520 --> 00:19:14,560 Speaker 1: So this is sort of a proto scientist movement. It's 345 00:19:14,600 --> 00:19:17,960 Speaker 1: before we really had the formal sciences. We this is 346 00:19:18,000 --> 00:19:22,560 Speaker 1: when alchemy was starting to transform into chemistry. Right. We 347 00:19:22,640 --> 00:19:26,680 Speaker 1: had people who had made observations and calculations on things 348 00:19:26,680 --> 00:19:29,600 Speaker 1: like physics, but it's now starting to actually take form 349 00:19:29,600 --> 00:19:32,439 Speaker 1: into the sciences as we know them today. So he 350 00:19:32,520 --> 00:19:36,800 Speaker 1: produced hydrogen by combining iron and various assets, and that's 351 00:19:36,920 --> 00:19:39,800 Speaker 1: how he started to take a look at this hydrogen gas. 352 00:19:39,800 --> 00:19:43,200 Speaker 1: And he was he was pretty pretty intelligent. He noticed 353 00:19:43,320 --> 00:19:48,560 Speaker 1: that a gas volume varies inversely with pressure, hence Boil's law. Yeah, 354 00:19:48,640 --> 00:19:52,000 Speaker 1: we named it after after him. He also believed in 355 00:19:52,160 --> 00:19:55,280 Speaker 1: alchemy and transmutation, so he didn't get everything right. You know, 356 00:19:56,119 --> 00:19:58,520 Speaker 1: lots of people today still believe in alchemy and transmutation, 357 00:19:58,680 --> 00:20:01,879 Speaker 1: so well, will leave that for now. But yes, Boil, 358 00:20:02,320 --> 00:20:04,000 Speaker 1: he did a lot of work, and a lot of 359 00:20:04,000 --> 00:20:07,840 Speaker 1: his work inspired other people. So over the next several decades, 360 00:20:08,440 --> 00:20:12,840 Speaker 1: lots of different philosophers and then later chemists and scientists 361 00:20:13,480 --> 00:20:17,280 Speaker 1: began to experiment with hydrogen gas. They didn't really give 362 00:20:17,320 --> 00:20:19,720 Speaker 1: it a name yet, but they knew that the stuff 363 00:20:19,760 --> 00:20:22,760 Speaker 1: would blow up if you exposed it to flame, so 364 00:20:23,080 --> 00:20:26,400 Speaker 1: they began to really study it further until we get 365 00:20:26,440 --> 00:20:29,480 Speaker 1: to seventeen sixty six, and now we get to go 366 00:20:29,520 --> 00:20:32,760 Speaker 1: to England, because that's where Henry Cavendish was and he 367 00:20:32,800 --> 00:20:35,960 Speaker 1: was the first to recognize hydrogen as a distinct substance. 368 00:20:36,640 --> 00:20:38,720 Speaker 1: And he was also the first to describe the composition 369 00:20:38,760 --> 00:20:41,840 Speaker 1: of water. You know, before that, everyone just said it's wet, 370 00:20:43,200 --> 00:20:46,159 Speaker 1: and if it gets cold, it gets hard. That's that 371 00:20:46,320 --> 00:20:48,280 Speaker 1: was pretty much it. If it gets really hot, it 372 00:20:48,359 --> 00:20:52,480 Speaker 1: gets cloudy, that's you know, just that's where we were 373 00:20:52,480 --> 00:20:55,280 Speaker 1: with science until Cavendish came along. I might be exaggerating 374 00:20:55,280 --> 00:21:00,000 Speaker 1: a little, but he absolutely loved learning for learning, saying 375 00:21:00,240 --> 00:21:03,160 Speaker 1: he wasn't actually a scientist per se though as he no, 376 00:21:03,280 --> 00:21:05,280 Speaker 1: not really, I mean he was. He was more like 377 00:21:05,440 --> 00:21:09,560 Speaker 1: just obsessed. He was one of the wealthiest men in 378 00:21:09,640 --> 00:21:13,439 Speaker 1: all of Europe. He had inherited a crazy sum of money, 379 00:21:14,000 --> 00:21:17,320 Speaker 1: and he chose to live very frugally in London. He 380 00:21:17,720 --> 00:21:21,120 Speaker 1: wasn't interested in the trappings of wealth. He wasn't interested 381 00:21:21,119 --> 00:21:25,000 Speaker 1: in ostentation. He was actually, according to one thing I read, 382 00:21:25,320 --> 00:21:27,720 Speaker 1: the only reason we even have a sketch of him 383 00:21:28,040 --> 00:21:31,879 Speaker 1: is because an artist surreptitiously drew one while at a gathering, 384 00:21:32,000 --> 00:21:35,040 Speaker 1: a small private gathering at his house because he didn't. 385 00:21:35,280 --> 00:21:37,600 Speaker 1: He didn't you know, want he didn't. He didn't sit 386 00:21:37,640 --> 00:21:40,840 Speaker 1: for a portrait. He was introvert, super introvert, and he 387 00:21:40,920 --> 00:21:44,119 Speaker 1: didn't really publish most of his work. He published some 388 00:21:44,240 --> 00:21:45,800 Speaker 1: of it, but not all of it, because he wasn't 389 00:21:45,840 --> 00:21:47,359 Speaker 1: really interested in that. He know, he just wanted to 390 00:21:47,359 --> 00:21:50,320 Speaker 1: know how the world works. He was just fascinated with learning. 391 00:21:50,520 --> 00:21:53,320 Speaker 1: He wasn't not necessarily as fascinated with teaching, but he 392 00:21:53,400 --> 00:21:55,959 Speaker 1: was definitely fascinated with learning. I want someone to make 393 00:21:56,000 --> 00:21:58,840 Speaker 1: a awkward action here a movie about this guy. Yeah. 394 00:21:58,960 --> 00:22:01,280 Speaker 1: I have a feeling that we have to invent a 395 00:22:01,359 --> 00:22:04,399 Speaker 1: lot of of facts about his life, which makes it 396 00:22:04,440 --> 00:22:07,720 Speaker 1: even better. Yeah, that's what movies generally do. Anyway, I'd 397 00:22:07,720 --> 00:22:10,159 Speaker 1: be less offended if I knew less about the history 398 00:22:10,160 --> 00:22:12,960 Speaker 1: of the actual guy. So yeah, I think Henry Cavendish 399 00:22:13,119 --> 00:22:15,720 Speaker 1: Supervillain would be an awesome movie. So I'll get to 400 00:22:15,720 --> 00:22:17,440 Speaker 1: work on that. Yes, all right, then we moved to 401 00:22:17,520 --> 00:22:21,240 Speaker 1: seventeen eighty three, when Jacques Charles makes his first light 402 00:22:21,320 --> 00:22:25,560 Speaker 1: in his balloon La Charliere, which used hydrogen as it's 403 00:22:25,640 --> 00:22:29,119 Speaker 1: a lifting agent because hydrogen is lighter than atmosphere. So 404 00:22:29,160 --> 00:22:32,280 Speaker 1: if you get enough of it together, the buoyancy will 405 00:22:32,359 --> 00:22:35,240 Speaker 1: counteract gravity and then you'll float right off the ground. 406 00:22:35,280 --> 00:22:38,240 Speaker 1: Go up. Yeah. Meanwhile, in eighteen hundred, William Nicholson and 407 00:22:38,280 --> 00:22:42,320 Speaker 1: Anthony Carlyle described the process of electrolysis, in which electricity 408 00:22:42,359 --> 00:22:44,680 Speaker 1: is applied to water to break its molecules down into 409 00:22:44,680 --> 00:22:49,680 Speaker 1: their constituents, being oxygen and hydrogen. This will become important later, yeah, 410 00:22:49,800 --> 00:22:53,040 Speaker 1: but just understanding that. Hey, this process where hydrogen and 411 00:22:53,040 --> 00:22:55,440 Speaker 1: oxygen gets together to make water is reversible if you 412 00:22:55,520 --> 00:22:58,720 Speaker 1: just pour energy into it. That's pretty cool. Eighteen or 413 00:22:58,760 --> 00:23:02,719 Speaker 1: six we have Francois Isaac de Rivaz, a Swiss inventor. 414 00:23:02,800 --> 00:23:05,679 Speaker 1: He built the de Revaz engine. And again I apologize 415 00:23:05,680 --> 00:23:09,080 Speaker 1: if I'm absolutely butchering that, but this was the first 416 00:23:09,119 --> 00:23:12,639 Speaker 1: internal combustion engine to use hydrogen and oxygen as a fuel. 417 00:23:13,000 --> 00:23:17,000 Speaker 1: It would be nearly sixty five years before you get 418 00:23:17,080 --> 00:23:20,399 Speaker 1: the first gas lean powered internal combustion engine. So actually, 419 00:23:20,480 --> 00:23:25,760 Speaker 1: hydrogen combustible engines predate gas, yeah by quite a bit. 420 00:23:26,119 --> 00:23:28,240 Speaker 1: So you know, we've talked a lot about how electric 421 00:23:28,280 --> 00:23:31,720 Speaker 1: cars are older than you think, so are hydrogen combustion 422 00:23:31,760 --> 00:23:34,639 Speaker 1: engine cars. So that's kind of cool. Then in eighteen 423 00:23:34,680 --> 00:23:38,159 Speaker 1: twenty we have the Reverend W. Cecil who writes a 424 00:23:38,280 --> 00:23:41,800 Speaker 1: paper and I love this title. Here we go on 425 00:23:41,880 --> 00:23:44,480 Speaker 1: the application of hydrogen gas to produce a moving power 426 00:23:44,480 --> 00:23:46,480 Speaker 1: and machinery with a description of an engine which is 427 00:23:46,520 --> 00:23:48,760 Speaker 1: moved by pressure of the atmosphere upon a vacuum caused 428 00:23:48,760 --> 00:23:52,560 Speaker 1: by explosions of hydrogen gas and atmospheric air. I think 429 00:23:52,560 --> 00:23:55,600 Speaker 1: it's a sinct pretty much. You've read the whole article 430 00:23:56,160 --> 00:23:59,960 Speaker 1: just by the title. But yeah, he proposed an engine 431 00:24:00,040 --> 00:24:04,840 Speaker 1: and using hydrogen as the combustible material. But it's a 432 00:24:04,880 --> 00:24:08,959 Speaker 1: different style of combustion engine than what we see today. 433 00:24:09,040 --> 00:24:13,440 Speaker 1: So his design involved having a chamber that you would 434 00:24:13,480 --> 00:24:17,240 Speaker 1: fill with hydrogen plus regular old air, and it would 435 00:24:17,200 --> 00:24:20,000 Speaker 1: be connected to a valve so that you could insert 436 00:24:20,119 --> 00:24:23,639 Speaker 1: this stuff but it wouldn't escape back out. Uh. And 437 00:24:23,680 --> 00:24:27,919 Speaker 1: then the you would put a flame in there, and 438 00:24:27,960 --> 00:24:30,440 Speaker 1: then you have the valve switched so it would allow 439 00:24:30,440 --> 00:24:32,679 Speaker 1: it to escape again. Right, you put the flame in. 440 00:24:32,720 --> 00:24:37,760 Speaker 1: This causes the gas to expand rapidly. Uh. And normally 441 00:24:37,840 --> 00:24:40,080 Speaker 1: in our combustion engines we used as a pushing force, 442 00:24:40,160 --> 00:24:43,480 Speaker 1: but at this case, the the piston in this chamber 443 00:24:43,560 --> 00:24:45,800 Speaker 1: is all the way out already, so it can't be 444 00:24:45,840 --> 00:24:48,840 Speaker 1: pushed further out, so he's not using as a pushing force. Instead, 445 00:24:49,200 --> 00:24:51,879 Speaker 1: once that guest starts to cool and is released, it 446 00:24:51,960 --> 00:24:54,200 Speaker 1: starts to shrink down. It's not and he's not letting 447 00:24:54,280 --> 00:24:56,440 Speaker 1: more air in there to replace it, and the valve 448 00:24:56,560 --> 00:24:59,040 Speaker 1: is closed, so it's pulling the piston back in in 449 00:24:59,119 --> 00:25:01,720 Speaker 1: that vacuum that's created in the chamber exactly. It's a 450 00:25:01,760 --> 00:25:05,359 Speaker 1: partial vacuum and imperfect vacuum, and that creates an area 451 00:25:05,440 --> 00:25:08,440 Speaker 1: of low pressure. That low pressure pulls on the piston, 452 00:25:08,760 --> 00:25:11,960 Speaker 1: which then moves to the other end of the combustion chamber. 453 00:25:12,240 --> 00:25:17,400 Speaker 1: So you're using this vacuum engine. Now. It worked, but uh, 454 00:25:17,440 --> 00:25:22,880 Speaker 1: it's not really practical, So this particular design wasn't widely implemented, 455 00:25:23,480 --> 00:25:26,840 Speaker 1: but it does in fact work. The principles are all sound. 456 00:25:27,400 --> 00:25:31,680 Speaker 1: So then you had a lot more experimentation following with hydrogen, 457 00:25:32,040 --> 00:25:36,280 Speaker 1: which included everything from inventors to chemists to physicists and 458 00:25:36,680 --> 00:25:40,720 Speaker 1: regular old crazy people and all of this is leading 459 00:25:40,800 --> 00:25:45,000 Speaker 1: up to some pretty cool stuff, including the first fuel cell, 460 00:25:45,760 --> 00:25:49,439 Speaker 1: and that wraps up part one of how hydrogen fuel works. 461 00:25:49,480 --> 00:25:52,480 Speaker 1: Next week we will have um let me chip my 462 00:25:52,480 --> 00:25:55,840 Speaker 1: nose oh part two? Hey how about that? So, if 463 00:25:55,880 --> 00:25:58,560 Speaker 1: you have any suggestions for topics I should cover on 464 00:25:58,640 --> 00:26:02,000 Speaker 1: future episodes of tech Stuff, or maybe there's a topic 465 00:26:02,040 --> 00:26:04,439 Speaker 1: that we have covered that is in sore need of 466 00:26:04,440 --> 00:26:06,800 Speaker 1: an update, let me know. The best way to do 467 00:26:06,840 --> 00:26:09,280 Speaker 1: that is to pop on over to Twitter. Our handle 468 00:26:09,400 --> 00:26:12,159 Speaker 1: is text stuff H s W and I'll talk to 469 00:26:12,160 --> 00:26:20,600 Speaker 1: you again really soon. Text Stuff is an I Heart 470 00:26:20,720 --> 00:26:24,440 Speaker 1: Radio production. For more podcasts from my heart Radio, visit 471 00:26:24,480 --> 00:26:27,560 Speaker 1: the i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you 472 00:26:27,640 --> 00:26:28,960 Speaker 1: listen to your favorite shows.