SANJU TOM Digital Assignment - 1

19BME1232

1. Elucidate current status of Fossil Fuels with relevant chart and data.

As most of automobiles, machines are running on fossil fuels, the consumption of fossil fuels
is high. As the increase in population increased the use of cars, planes the fossil fuel
consumption is also increased.
 As from the above figure the fossil fuel consumption have increased almost exponentially from a
period of 1950-2019 due to start of industrial revolution and there is small downfall over 2020 is
due to the increase in use of electric vehicles and covid lockdowns around the world.

From this image, consumption of fossil fuel Is high in China, followed by USA then by India,
Russia. Fossil fuel is the main source of energy to the world and 84% of world energy is supplied
by fossil fuels. At this current rate of consumption, according to data, Earth would be out of oils
and gases by year 2060 and coal by 2090.

2. Why do we need to look for alternative fuels? And explain the current status of alternative
fuels with bar chart?
As the use of fossil fuels have increased and earth would be out of fossil fuels with 100 years
and the due to problems that created by using fossil fuels done to the environment, it is high
time to find a alternative fuels which won’t be out of supply or renewable and which doesn’t
 harm the environment by producing less greenhouse gases and also to be accessible for whole
world.
As current alternative fuels are electricity, hydrogen, biofuels. use and consumption of both
have increased.

As from the graph the use of alternative fuels is increasing, and the use of fossil fuels are
decreasing. Current alternative fuels are:
Biodiesel is a renewable, domestic fuel produced from a wide range of vegetable oils, animal
fats, or recycled restaurant greases.
Electricity is considered an alternative fuel when used to power electric vehicles (EVs) and plugin
hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) directly from the power grid.
Ethanol is an alcohol-based fuel made from various plant materials derived from corn.
Hydrogen gas, the simplest and most abundant element in the universe, has the potential to
revolutionize transportation. Hydrogen is mainly being researched as an energy source for fuel
cell vehicles.

3. Explain different methods of hydrogen production with necessary schematic diagram.

Hydrogen is a clean fuel that, when consumed in a fuel cell, produces only water. Hydrogen can
be produced from a variety of domestic resources, such as natural gas, nuclear power, biomass,
and renewable power like solar and wind. These qualities make it an attractive fuel option for
transportation and electricity generation applications. Hydrogen fuel can be produced through
several methods. The most common methods today are natural gas reforming (a thermal
process), and electrolysis.
Thermal processes for hydrogen production typically involve steam reforming, a high-
temperature process in which steam reacts with a hydrocarbon fuel to produce hydrogen. Many
hydrocarbon fuels can be reformed to produce hydrogen, including natural gas, diesel,
renewable liquid fuels, gasified coal, or gasified biomass. Today, about 95% of all hydrogen is
produced from steam reforming of natural gas.
Electrolytic processes: Water can be separated into oxygen and hydrogen through a process
called electrolysis. Electrolytic processes take place in an electrolyzer, which functions much like
a fuel cell in reverse—instead of using the energy of a hydrogen molecule, like a fuel cell does,
an electrolyzer creates hydrogen from water molecules.

Biological processes use microbes such as bacteria and microalgae and can produce hydrogen
through biological reactions. In microbial biomass conversion, the microbes break down organic
matter like biomass or wastewater to produce hydrogen, while in photobiological processes the
microbes use sunlight as the energy source.
4. Discuss safety aspects of Hydrogen transport and storage?

The storage and the transportation of gaseous hydrogen is using high pressure chamber.
Since the gaseous hydrogen is odorless, colorless and tasteless and it flames with invisible
flames, so the leakage of hydrogen is not easily noticeable. The combustion product of
hydrogen is water vapor which is not toxic, but it reduces the percentage of oxygen in
surroundings leading to suffocation. Main danger is it’s high flammability with air or oxygen
and results weak or severe explosion. Storage of hydrogen as a liquid requires cryogenic
temperatures because the boiling point of hydrogen at one atmosphere pressure is -
252.8°C. Even small amounts of liquid hydrogen can be explosive when combined with air,
and only a small amount of energy is required to ignite it. Both its explosiveness and the
extremely low temperatures involved make handling it safely a challenge. Liquid hydrogen
leaks are characterized by frost or ice crystals near the leak and usually a vapor cloud
indicating moisture condensation from the surrounding air. Cold burns may occur from
short contact with frosted lines, liquid air that may be dripping from cold lines or vent
stacks, vaporizer fins, and vapor leaks. Air will condense at liquid hydrogen temperatures
and can become an oxygen-enriched liquid due to the vaporization of nitrogen.

5. Give your opinion on the use of hydrogen as energy storage materials.

Hydrogen is a flexible energy carrier that can be produced from various types of energy
sources and offers many opportunities for long-term energy storage. Hydrogen can be
compressed, liquefied, or stored in a solid or liquid form for use in fuel cells, turbines, or
internal combustion engines. The main challenge associated with hydrogen is its production
and storage. Electrolyzers use electricity to break water into hydrogen and oxygen. The
electrolysis of water occurs through an electrochemical reaction that does not require
external components or moving parts. The hydrogen fuel produced from an electrolyzer is
perfect for use with hydrogen fuel cells. The reactions that take place in an electrolyzer are
very similar to the reaction in fuel cells, except the reactions that occur in the anode and
cathode are reversed. In a fuel cell, the anode is where hydrogen gas is consumed, and in an
electrolyzer, the hydrogen gas is produced at the cathode. The disadvantage of electrolyzers
is the requirement of electrical energy to complete the reaction. Advantages of hydrogen
fuel cell are renewable and readily available, hydrogen is a clean and flexible energy source
to support zero-carbon energy strategies, highly efficient when compared to other energy
sources, more powerful and energy efficient than fossil fuels, almost zero emissions,
reduces carbon footprints.