Long before David Hasselhoff burble his pecs on the beaches of " Baywatch , " he starred in a video show called " Knight Rider , " an military action hit featuring a supercar named KITT . The flashy machine was so cool and so knock-down ( What self - respecting teen male person did n’t want to sit behind the wheel ? ) that our curly - haired hero easily chased bad guys all over town at an astounding 300 geographical mile ( 483 kilometers ) per 60 minutes . Dang , the machine even talked like a caring grandfather .
What give KITT its awing power ? The elevator car came equipped with a hydrogen - powered locomotive engine that allowed Michael Knight ( Hasselhoff ) to bedevil the most dastardly television villain of the early ' 80s .
More than a 10 after the original serial publication crash and cauterise in the ratings , politicians , journalists and others start brag H as the energy of the future , an alternative tofossil fuelssuch as ember . They said hydrogen was the magic elixir that would fuel all our transportation and electric needs . After all , H was abundant and burn up clean , which would theoretically help cut down on greenhouse gas discharge . In fact , in 2003 , none other than U.S. President George W. Bush , who made his fortune in the oil business , herald he was earmarking $ 1.2 billion in an endeavor to make hydrogen the fuel of choice for Americans [ generator : CNN ] .
Who could blame him ? Hydrogen is a marvelous source of fuel . Heck , it powers the sun . Not only that , we can never turn tail out of hydrogen . It ’s in our aviation and in our water . Hydrogen is the most plentiful element in the population ( although not on Earth ) .
But before you invest in ahydrogen - powered vehicle , think about this : Rust never sleeps , and neither does hydrogen . The element score metal brittle , reduces its strength , and can counteract a railway car like a termite through woodwind [ source : Science Daily ] . Yep , not good .
Hydrogen 101
Let ’s travel back in sentence to the yr 1520 . In Switzerland , an alchemist named Philippus Aureolus Paracelsus has put a piece of iron in a solution of sulfuric acid . The loony toons begins to belch in " an air which erupt away like the wind . " Although Paracelsus did n’t know it then , that bubble - making winding ferment out to be hydrogen . The No . 1 factor was formally name in the late 18th C by Antoine - Laurent Lavoisier , a French aristocrat who smatter in science and eventually lost his question during the French Revolution [ source : ASME , Chemical Heritage ] .
scientist and inventors soon found that Lavoisier ’s H was the lightest element in the universe . While that might bear witness wonderful for filling up balloons , it was n’t so awing when it came to interactions between H and metal . In fact , hydrogen atoms have the uncanny ability to seep through various metals , turn them brittle , finally crack , rupturing and break them [ source : Science Daily ] .
Although scientists have been studying the phenomena since 1875 , they do n’t realise full the physics of the job . What they do know is that hydrogen atoms easily diffuse , or spread , through metal , especially at high temperatures . The atoms recombine with one another to form atomic number 1 molecule . These molecules find a domicile in the microscopic nook and fissure of the alloy , creating a huge amount of pressure . That atmospheric pressure reduces the metal ’s tensile strength . Crack ! The metallic element prison-breaking [ source : McGill University ] .
Researchers ca n’t bode where hydrogen embrittlement will pass . All they know is that the tiny hydrogen particle sleep with to permeate and gobble up most high - strength admixture , including steel and those that are nickel - base . They can even look on it encounter during reckoner simulations [ source : McGill University ] . The severity of embrittlement varies with the type of alloy and with temperature [ source : Gray ] .
Hydrogen embrittlement has become the bane of such thing as aircraft carrier , battleships , airplanes , spaceship andnuclear reactors . Occasionally , the outcome have been deadly . In 1985 , a soldier cash in one’s chips in Great Britain when the bolts on an American - made 155 mm howitzer ego - propelled gun failed . The bolts were sustain down the manifold paper that evoke and lowered the gun . The bolts click , pinning the soldier under the manifold paper . Investigators blamed H embrittlement . The gasolene made the bolts so fragile that they could n’t hold up the cloggy jolts farm by the firing gun . In 1984 , the bolts ( also for the hit man mounts ) on an M1 Abrams tank snap , too [ source : Anderson ] .
Hydrogen Embrittlement: Breaking Up Isn’t That Hard to Do
scientist are feverishly working trying to predict how , when and where atomic number 1 embrittlement will take place . The auto diligence , among others , is concerned about it . As you probably be intimate , atomic number 1 - powered vehiclesget their energy from a equipment called afuel cellular telephone . Fuel cells permit atomic number 1 to unite with atomic number 8 to produce heat and electricity . The only byproducts are estrus and water [ source : National Renewable Energy Laboratory ] .
H atoms can bore into metal during the manufacturing process , such as when worker atomic number 24 - plate car portion , weld part together , or when metal is mill or pressed . Hydrogen percolation can also go on when the car is being motor on the route . The atoms impregnate metallic element , seeping into fuel tanks and other component . As a termination , automobile parts such asfuel tankful , fuel cells and ball bearings can fail without warn . The outcome ? Costly repair bills – and worsened [ source : Science Daily ] .
Do n’t junk the hydrogen car approximation just yet . Researchers in Germany have been studying how atomic number 1 atoms move through metal . By tracing the road of the atom , they desire to train embrittlement - resistant material that can be used in hydrogen railcar . Scientists are also researching ways to stop the embrittlement physical process by constantly heating the hydrogen mote that are always on the move [ rootage : Science Daily ] .
By better apprehension how hydrogen atoms go about their destructive business concern , scientist and technologist are confident they will be able to make onboard fuel tanks and other parts that do n’t degrade over time [ source : Azom.com ] . Before you know it , we ’ll all be drive H cars .
Lots More Information
Until I pop out researching this article , I had no idea that H , the most abundant constituent in the world , was so destructive . Oh sure , I knew the basic of why my darling 1993 Ford Ranger get down to corrode — atomic number 8 meld with iron to form iron oxide , and before I knew it , I was scraping and priming and painting . I guess I should n’t have been surprised to cognize that hydrogen eats forth at metal just as easily . atomic number 1 embrittlement is a serious matter , especially when H is a fundamental ingredient in solving our fuel needs and helping the satellite . Hopefully , scientist will be capable to forecast out a cost - effective solution to the problem .
