TECHNOLOGY FOR CHANGE

Hydrogen Pellets Could Obsolete Batteries

Hydrogen fuel pellets being perfected for military applications are preparing to go commercial, replacing conventional batteries with electricity generating fuel cells.

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Hydrogen Pellets Could Obsolete Batteries
Hydrogen fuel pellets that are cheaper and weigh less than half what batteries weigh could soon be replacing them thanks in part to a new recharging technology.

Using a Purdue University innovation, General Atomics (San Diego) claims its hydrogen fuel pellets will save the Army $27 million a year and cut a solder's backpack by 10 pounds. In addition, General Atomics' hydrogen fuel pellets could someday be replenished after use by virtue of technology from the guys who invented the atomic bomb�Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL).

"Many of the technologies we take for granted in our everyday lives were originally created for military or space exploration purposes," according to the Purdue professor Veeraraghavan Ramachandran. "We've developed a way to use a very stable and safe compound that can release pure hydrogen gas on demand without any toxic or corrosive byproducts."

Ball-and-stick model of the ammonia-borane molecule, NH3BH3, yields up its hydrogen when heated so it can be converted into electricity by a fuel cell.

Fuel cells are already available for recharging gadgets, but their cartridges must be discarded when spent. These new hydrogen fuel pellets, on the other hand, hold the promise of reuse by virtue of a new process developed separately at LANL.

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