Been a late night for me, and it is already morning, so I will make this brief.
I am told the Hydrogen generator uses steam reforming of methanol at about 300 C to make mostly H2, and some CO2 and O2 using cheap 70% methanol and 30% water to make about 72% H2 (hydrogen), with some byproduct O2, CO, and CO2, I gather. It is patented, I am told.
The key is they are using a cheap, low grade, low BTU value methanol fuel to make a high grade high BTU value, higher combustion temperature, cleaner burning fuel, namely hydrogen.
TTEG is convinced there is a huge current market for this alone, and a huge coupled process potential for integrating it into the TTEG engine package to make essentially engines that run on hydrogen made from cheap, low quality (lots of water in it still), liquid methanol of only 70% methanol, 30% water. The 70/30 formula is perfect it seems for the steam reforming process, it is cheap, and safer than storing high pressure bulk hydrogen. The hydrogen generator lets you store small bulk quantities of less dangerous liquid fuel (70/30 methanol/water), and make just enough hydrogen to feed a point of use need, as needed. So there is no need to chill, refrigerate or compress the hydrogen!!
So the first question for us (DD), is how big is the market potential for small safe reactors that can make safe on site hydrogen from cheap low cost methanol, and how easy will it be to tap that market (what are the barriers if any to the market). What is the market price of hydrogen and methanol in various parts of the world.
Lastly, I did not hear any unpleasant surprises during our long discussion, just what I already knew, thought I knew, and suspected. All the China deals seem to still be on track (non have been totally derailed, so that was good to hear), they just take a lot of time, and are evolving like the hydrogen generator deal evolved.
Oh, and for what it is worth, Iceland has a huge new plant that was just started up that is using geothermal energy (electric) and electrolysis to make methanol out of CO2 and H2, for their vehicle fleets to use as fuel. A similar but reverse process based on the feeds and end products! But Iceland is a special case, as they have no underground natural gas or hydrocarbons. They import them all, but they do have geothermal power, electric.
Iceland is using the electricity from geothermal power plants to make hydrogen and them reforming methanol from CO2 and H2, hydrogen, to enable an immediate hydrogen economy using methanol as the hydrogen carrier in their vehicles.
Ambition with out knowledge is like ship in dry dock. Going nowhere fast!
