Alu Engine to run on water (Hydrogen + Oxygen)

[paulC]

The reaction has no toxic by-products and can produce two kilowatt hours of energy from a pound of aluminum, said Woodall. For a 350-mile trip in an automobile, it would take about 350 pounds of aluminum at a cost of about $60, since the aluminum oxide left over after the reaction could be converted back into aluminum-gallium pellets for reuse.

The numbers here seem a bit funny. The cost of 350 lbs of aluminum is something like $350 on the scrap market so it is not clear where they get the figure of $60 from.

I suspect the $60 they are talking about the cost of processing the aluminium back into a product that can be reused, not the cost of replacing it. How much space would 350 pound of aluminium powder take up?
Interesting concept using metal and acid to produce energy. Maybe it could be used to generate electricity then use energy to reverse the chemical change at a recharging station. If they worked in banks to raise the electrical potential we could call them batteries.

[NC Cams]

Some math to consider:

350 lbs of aluminum equates to about 46.66 gals of gas at 7.5 lbs/gal.

Convert that to diesel and it is something like 42.6 gal at 8.2 lb/gal

46.66 gals of gas, even at $3 per gallon, is only $140. Diesel is even less $$$'s

Even today, it is possible to get 20 plus mpg from even a 5+ liter V-8 which equates to nearly 933.3 miles out of 46.66 gals of gasoline. Diesels can get nearly 25 to 30+mpg which makes aluminum even less viable as a fuel

Why would you spend the time and money to drag around 350 lbs of aluminum that has way less potential and/or thermal energy than 46.66 gal of ready to burn gasoline????

Or am I missing something really obvious??????????????????????????

[Geof]

.....Or am I missing something really obvious??????????????????????????

Yes, the thing about a sucker being born every day. There was a company based in Vancouver that floated a public offering on the TSX Exchange (I think it was the TSX) that was based on just this mechanism, using aluminum to reduce water to Hydrogen and aluminum hydroxide. The chemistry does work, the energetics are ludicrous.

But they got investors.