big_trike

big_trike t1_iya1zn5 wrote

Combusting hydrogen that starts in the liquid state is tricky. At 1 atmosphere, hydrogen evaporates into a gas at 33K, but oxygen freezes at 54K. On top of that, combustion occurs at much higher pressures in a jet engine. So, while it's definitely possible to make it work, you need an engine design that significantly pre-heats the incoming fuel. The space shuttle main engines do this by scavenging heat from the exhaust and are a marvel of engineering.

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big_trike t1_iy9zoxw wrote

>Problem was they couldn't figure out how to store enough cryogenic hydrogen and keep it cryogenic to make it work.

That's still an unsolved problem. Liquid hydrogen only has 1/4 the energy density of gasoline, although it is significantly lighter per joule of energy. Some more research is also needed to figure out a way to efficiently split water, IIRC current methods lose a significant amount of energy to heat. Long term, I think battery technology will be the best bet for cars and airplanes and we might see hydrogen in use for grid balancing.

If I had to guess, I'd think the majority of hydrogen research funding comes from fossil fuel companies as they'll be entirely obsolete if the planet shifts away from liquid fuel.

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