Pictured l-r: Jared Fern, Ruichang Xiong, ORNL Director Jeff Wadsworth, Nano Nexus Managing Director Joy Fisher, Mohamad Kassaee.
Team: Orange Fuel Cell
Team Members: Jared Fern, P.D., College of Engineering, Department of Chemical Engineering Mohamad Kassaee, M.S., College of Engineering, Department of Chemical Engineering Ruichang Xiong, Ph.D., College of Engineering, Department of Chemical Engineering
School: University of Tennessee, Knoxville
Faculty Advisor: Dr. David J. Keffer, Associate Professor, Department of Chemical Engineering
Product or Service: A device used for the storage of high density hydrogen at ambient temperature and pressure that has the potential to surpass the 2010 U.S. Department of Energy requirements of 6 weight percent hydrogen and the system capacity of 0.051 kg hydrogen per liter, according to its designers. In addition to being able to store high density hydrogen, the designers say the storage device will be controlled by an electronic nanogate that would manipulate the rate of adsorption by an electric field.
Team Orange Fuel Cell’s hydrogen storage device is innovative due to its nanomaterial and electric nanogate used to control the flow of hydrogen. Hydrogen is customarily stored in one of two ways: in liquid form, which has to be operated at cryogenic temperatures and extremely high temperatures; or, the hydrogen is stored in a metal hydride complex. These methods present challenges to those needing to transport hydrogen-containing materials. It is very difficult to maintain the necessary temperature and pressure to keep hydrogen in liquid form and if handled incorrectly this method can be dangerous. The metal hydride complex is a more stable option, and has shown adequate adsorption rates, but the temperature and pressure affects the rate of adsorption and desorption, allowing the environment to affect the performance of the material.
The team believes their new hydrogen storage technology will help eliminate one of the major technical hurdles preventing hydrogen-powered vehicles from becoming a reality. While the motivation behind a hydrogen-powered vehicle is to eliminate the carbon dioxide emitted by conventional internal combustion engines, the current methods of hydrogen storage are neither safe nor reliable enough for general public use. Operating the team’s hydrogen storage device at ambient temperatures and pressure results in rapid desorption of the hydrogen, which greatly improves the safety and reliability of this type of technology. The rapid adsorption and desorption of the hydrogen is due to the team’s nanomaterial, controlled ultimately by diffusion. The nanomaterial is a very open structure allowing the hydrogen to move around easily. The electric field amplifies the adsorption and diffusion.
The new hydrogen storage technology would initially be targeted to the automotive industry, a highly competitive marketplace in which everyone is always on the lookout for the next big thing. The world’s largest automotive manufacturer sold 4.1 million vehicles in 2006 alone. In an environment struggling to keep up with the trends, and with a customer base faced with global warming, all future vehicles sold by this manufacture could potentially utilize Team Orange Fuel Cell’s hydrogen storage device. The automotive industry just might welcome the team’s idea with open arms, and doors.
Team Orange Fuel Cell recently competed in the Nano I2P® Competition at Nano Nexus 2007, a nanotechnology conference hosted by Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, on April 3, 2007. The conference brought together universities, entrepreneurs, and leaders of the nanotechnology industry in an effort to move nanotechnology out of research organizations and into the marketplace.
“This has been a great opportunity to let other people know what we’re doing,” said Ruichang Xiong, a Ph.D. candidate in the University of Tennessee’s College of Engineering. Xiong’s teammate Mohamad Kassaee, also a Ph.D. candidate at the College of Engineering, agreed. “Research at universities should have the purpose of being introduced to the market in the back of everyone’s mind. This competition and conference encourage researchers in academia to join with venture capitalists and explore all of their options.”