The return of the water motor

By Denis Delbecq • June 17th, 2008 in 10:40 · Category: Actuality

Undoubtedly, the dazzling increase in the barrel of oil dopes the inventors. In Japan, the Genepax business company, a young born shoot two years ago with less than three hundred thousand euro of capital, informed this week that she would soon introduce the details of its technology of water motor. On June 12th, the Japanese press could discover the first archetype of car equipped with its system.

Nothing to see of course with the alleged water motor which had been the talk of the town in the seventies and made say to some that it would be possible to go around the world with a litre of water. The supposed technology of Genepax is based on the pile with fuel with hydrogen, fed by air and water. The business company Japanese asserts having improved a «known means» to break molecules of water, to recover the hydrogen and to feed the pile which gives electricity.


Video with the permission of Reuters

In this system, the energy recovered in the pile with fuel naturally does not come from the water. The fuel is indeed a metallic hydrure, or a complex hydrure, from whom the reaction with the water liberates some hydrogen which is then combined with the oxygen of air to produce electricity in the pile, and to liberate some water which can possibly be reused. Hydrures is besides used in some batteries of small capacity, famous NIMH (Nickel metal-hydrure).

Patents increase for several years on these devices which introduce advantage to concentrate some hydrogen without risks linked to the stocking and for the use of this light and very flammable gas. Many laboratories work for example on the hydrures of aluminium. In that case, it is therefore the changed aluminium, and not the water, which acts as fuel! Other jobs lean on the magnesium. Either in form of hydrure, or under metallic form. In that case, it is the combustion of the element in the water which liberates some hydrogen, and produces the oxide of magnesium which can be recycled.

Naturally, upstream, the production of the hydrure or the recycling of an oxidised metal uses energy. There is not miracle and Genepax did not invent the perpetual motion! But if the business company found a more efficient means to produce metallic hydrures to stock some hydrogen for piles with fuel, it will always be this of earning.

• to follow the actuality of piles with fuel, the English speakers will refer to FuelCell Today and FuelCells.org.

Picture: © Denis Delbecq - on 2008

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