The commercialization of a heating device that utilizes the heat emitted during atomic transmutation is just around the corner. A new energy-related venture company, Clean Planet (Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo), has built a prototype for mass production and is currently conducting demonstration tests.
Clean Planet was established in 2012 and is working on the practical application of "Quantum Hydrogen Energy (QHe)" at the "Condensed Matter Nuclear Reaction Research Division" in the Research Center for Electron Photon Science at Tohoku University, which was established in Sendai City in 2015 in collaboration with Tohoku University, and at its product development base in Kawasaki City. Quantum Hydrogen Energy (QHe).
Quantum Hydrogen Energy (QHe) is a term used by Clean Planet to describe a technology that can generate more heat than is put into a nickel-based composite metal material with a nano-sized structure when a small amount of hydrogen is absorbed and heated. The company is pursuing commercialization of this technology as the QHe IKAROS engineering project.
Such phenomena are called "condensed matter nuclear reactions," "novel thermal reactions between metallic hydrogens," and "low-energy nuclear reactions" by researchers, and research on these phenomena has been intensifying in many countries (Figure 1).
Figure 1: Principle image of condensed matter nuclear reactions involving quantum hydrogen energy
Figure 1: Principle of condensed matter nuclear reactions involving quantum hydrogen energy
(Source: NEDO)
[Click on image to enlarge].
The principle of energy generation is basically the same as that of ITER, an experimental thermonuclear fusion reactor that is being promoted under an international framework including Japan, the United States, and Europe. The enormous amount of energy released by the mass loss associated with the fusion of hydrogen atoms is extracted as heat in a heat exchanger.
However, the reaction system of thermonuclear fusion and quantum hydrogen energy is different. In thermonuclear fusion, hydrogen and hydrogen atoms are fused to form helium, whereas quantum hydrogen energy is considered to be mainly a many-body reaction involving three or more hydrogen atoms simultaneously, and the products of the reaction undergo nuclide conversion, Multiple elements have been identified.
The current energy density is two orders of magnitude below the theoretical value of fusion, and compared to the chemical reaction by hydrogen combustion, it produces an enormous amount of energy, 10,000 times more (Figure 2).
Figure 2: Comparison of quantum hydrogen energy (QHe) and energy densities of methane and hydrogen combustion, fission, and thermonuclear fusion
Figure 2: Comparison of energy density of quantum hydrogen energy (QHe), methane and hydrogen combustion, nuclear fission, and thermonuclear fusion
Quantum hydrogen energy reaches 10,000 times higher than chemical reactions (Source: Clean Planet)
[Click on image to enlarge].
Above all, the advantage over thermonuclear fusion is ease of engineering. Whereas thermonuclear fusion requires large-scale facilities, such as magnetic confinement of plasma at 100 million degrees Celsius and high-power laser radiation, quantum hydrogen energy induces the fusion of hydrogen atoms by absorbing hydrogen in a metal sheet and heating it to a few hundred degrees Celsius under certain conditions.
Because it only requires heating to a few hundred degrees Celsius, which is common in the industrial field, it can be made of ordinary materials such as stainless steel, and unlike thermonuclear fusion, no neutrons or gamma rays are emitted during the reaction, making it compact and potentially applicable to factories, buildings, and homes.
Continuous heat generation for 589 days
The method discovered by Clean Planet is to place a chip (heating element) consisting of multiple layers of 14nm (nanometer) nickel and 2nm copper in a vacuum, fill it with hydrogen, and heat it to several hundred degrees Celsius, which releases heat in excess of the input energy for a long period of time. Experiments using stacked chips of several centimeters square have observed heat output exceeding the input energy, and qualitative reproducibility has achieved 100%. For example, in one case, heating at 900°C maintained 920-930°C for 589 days and continued to emit excess heat (Figure 3). In the verification so far, the COP (coefficient of performance: the number of times the heat energy is obtained compared to the input/consumed energy) is said to be 1.2 or higher.
Figure 3: In one case, heat continued to be generated for more than 500 days after a single hydrogen injection.
Figure 3: In some cases, heat was generated for more than 500 days after a single hydrogen injection.
(Source: Clean Planet)
[Click on image to enlarge].
If system efficiency can be improved by increasing the size of the heating element and reducing heat loss, and if the operating period for a single hydrogen injection and heating can be extended to several months or longer, the COP is likely to exceed 10.
Based on these results, in September 2021, Clean Planet and Miura Industry, a major boiler equipment manufacturer, signed a joint development agreement for an industrial boiler that uses quantum hydrogen energy.
Since then, Clean Planet has been working to reduce the thickness and area of the laminated chips into a sheet form on the premise of improving COP and mass production. Last fall, the company developed a "heat module" in which a large-area laminated sheet is housed in a metal cylinder. The prototype is 6 cm in diameter, 63 cm long, and weighs 4 kg, and is designed to generate heat equivalent to 2 kW. The company is considering increasing the amount of heat generated by further enlarging the area of the sheet and extending the length of the module (Figure 4).
Figure 4: Heat module fabricated. Heating elements, which are the reaction field, are placed in this tube.
Fig. 4 Heat module fabricated. A heating element, which is the reaction field, is placed in this tube.
The right side is a general smartphone (photo by Nikkei BP).
[Click on image to enlarge].
However, if the temperature exceeds 1,400°C, the nickel melts and the laminated structure breaks down, stopping the heat generation, so in principle, thermal runaway will not occur.
For commercialization, the "heat module" will be housed in a cylinder-type heat exchanger, and heat will be extracted by circulating water or air. The heat module is designed to be versatile enough to meet the heat needs of various industries, such as the chemical industry, food and beverage manufacturing, and agriculture, according to the company. It is envisioned that the amount of heat generated will be changed by increasing the number of heat modules attached to the heating system, depending on the required heat generation capacity.
The company is currently working on the verification of the heat modules. Although the reproducibility of quantum hydrogen energy is said to be 100%, there are still issues to be solved in terms of quantitative reproducibility, such as maintaining the assumed heat generation for a targeted period of time. The company plans to improve the performance of the heat module and solidify the design specifications, assuming operation in actual heating processes, and to begin preparations for mass production in a few years, with plans to put mass production on track before 2030. A pilot plant will be newly established in Kawasaki City, and overseas production is also being considered for the future.
COP10 is also in sight.
Thermonuclear fusion is once again in the limelight as a next-generation energy source as the movement toward carbon neutrality by 2050 gains momentum around the world. The tokamak method, which magnetically isolates the plasma state, is being promoted under an international framework, and new technologies such as laser fusion are being proposed by venture companies in Japan and abroad. However, most of them are expected to start construction of DEMO reactors in the 2030s at the earliest, with commercialization expected in the 2040s or later (Fig. 5).
Figure 5: Development schedule for next-generation innovative reactors as indicated in the basic policy for realization of GX
Figure 5: Development schedule for next-generation innovative reactors as indicated in the Basic Policy for the Realization of GX
(Source: Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry)
[Click on image to enlarge].
On the other hand, quantum hydrogen energy has the potential to become widely used as a distributed heat source for industrial use that does not emit CO2, first before 2030.
What makes the Clean Planet technology more attractive than thermonuclear fusion is that, whereas tokamak and laser fusion assume a DT reaction with deuterium (D) and tritium (T), quantum hydrogen energy uses common hydrogen (light hydrogen) as fuel to produce heat and also generates no radiation, including neutron beams The other is that it does not produce radiation, including neutron beams. Therefore, hydrogen produced by electrolyzing water with excess electricity from solar panels on the roofs of factories, buildings, and commercial facilities can be used. This would open up the possibility of decarbonizing both the electricity and heat needed in the facility.
In the future, Clean Planet envisions operating a steam turbine generator using steam from quantum hydrogen energy. If this becomes a reality, hydrogen produced by solar power could be converted to heat with COP10 efficiency, and electricity could be generated. Even if the thermal efficiency of the steam turbine itself is low, the hydrogen-based system as a whole could convert hydrogen to electricity with efficiency significantly higher than that of a fuel cell system.
The problem with converting hydrogen from renewable energy sources back into electricity using fuel cells is that the total energy loss is large, but when combined with quantum hydrogen energy, renewable energy hydrogen can be leveraged. Combined with quantum hydrogen energy, the efficiency of renewable energy-derived energy systems could be dramatically improved.
Patents filed in 21 countries
The condensed matter nuclear reaction involving quantum hydrogen energy was once called "Cold Fusion," and was brought into the world spotlight in 1989 when researchers at the University of Utah announced the phenomenon. The University of Utah reported that when palladium electrodes were immersed in heavy water and electricity was applied to them, excess heat, which could not be explained by a chemical reaction, was observed. At the time, the phenomenon was not reproducible, and research in this field went into decline. However, some researchers continued their research steadily, and in addition to the electrode method, phenomena such as heat generation accompanying deuterium absorption into palladium nanoparticles and nuclide conversion accompanying deuterium gas permeation through palladium thin films were reported, and the reproducibility of the phenomena gradually improved.
The quantum hydrogen energy of the clean planet is groundbreaking in that it uses light hydrogen rather than deuterium to generate excess heat, and that it uses relatively inexpensive nickel and copper rather than rare metals such as palladium as the reaction field to achieve a practical level of heat generation (Figure 6).
Figure 6: Characteristics of quantum hydrogen energy
Figure 6: Characteristics of quantum hydrogen energy
(Source: Clean Planet)
[Click on image to enlarge].
In the future, quantum hydrogen energy has great potential as a distributed energy source, such as when combined with photovoltaic power generation, which has already reached a low-cost, self-sustaining mode of diffusion.
Venture companies have emerged in the field of thermonuclear fusion, but in the field of condensed matter nuclear reactions, venture companies have emerged one after another in the United States, Italy, and Israel for the purpose of energy utilization before that. In the U.S., major IT companies have also entered the field, and a national project involving the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Stanford University, and others was launched this year. Clean Planet is leading the way in this field, having applied for 183 patents in 21 countries, 69 of which have been granted rights, an outstanding number in the condensed matter nuclear reaction field worldwide.
In April 2023, Hiroshi Komiyama, former president of the University of Tokyo and current chairman of the Mitsubishi Research Institute (MRI), and Carl Page, a world-class environmental investor, will become advisors to Clean Planet. Page, a global environmental investor, were appointed as advisors. Recognition of the project is gradually increasing both in Japan and abroad.
On the other hand, it is a fact that the principles of condensed matter nuclear reactions are not fully understood even today. Current nuclear physics cannot explain how nuclear transmutation can occur at temperatures of several hundred degrees Celsius without the emission of neutrons or gamma rays. Although several researchers worldwide, including Professor Emeritus Akito Takahashi of Osaka University and Associate Professor Peter Hagelstein of MIT, have proposed theories to explain the phenomenon, no one has a theory that everyone accepts.
Clean Planet is conducting research and development at two locations, one in Sendai City and the other in Kawasaki City. The Tohoku University Research Center for Electron Photon Science in Sendai is responsible for basic research, led by specially-appointed professor Yasuhiro Iwamura, who achieved results in this field during his tenure at Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, while the Kawasaki site is responsible for development toward product realization. In Sendai, they are continuing to analyze the products of nuclear reactions using quantum hydrogen energy, but the mechanism is complex and theory building is not a simple task. Identifying the reaction products alone requires a great deal of time and effort, including analysis of contaminants, and the current system seems to be limited in its ability to quickly elucidate the theory.
In some industrial technologies, the discovery of phenomena such as high-temperature superconductivity and their industrial applications precede the elucidation of the mechanism. On the other hand, theoretical support will greatly contribute to improving the controllability and social acceptance of quantum hydrogen energy. As the promise of quantum hydrogen as an industrial technology comes to light, the number of research institutes and companies working in this field is expected to increase, and as the base of research and development expands, it is hoped that the elucidation of the mechanism will progress in parallel with the commercialization of products.
The number of research institutes and companies working in this field is expected to increase, and as the base of research and development expands, the elucidation of meganism is expected to progress in parallel with the commercialization of products.
Shocking: Violating the Laws of Physics? The world was shaken by "nuclear fusion power generation," which Japan is also developing! The materials for this laser fusion are lithium and deuterium obtained from seawater.
https://youtu.be/2IWZnhscDjk?si=cd_SzKDp1fl2fnxO
Japan-U.S.] "Fusion" experiment of hydrogen and boron has succeeded!
0 コメント:
コメントを投稿