How Do We Use Hydrogen?
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Elevation
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Hydrogen is lighter than oxygen, so it rises. It used to be used to lift blimps off the ground, but after the Hindenburg crashed and burned, it was replaced by helium, which, unlike hydrogen, is non-flammable. However, helium is twice as heavy as hydrogen, so it has its limitations. One common use for hydrogen as an elevating agent today is in weather balloons that need to rise higher than blimps. Since these weather balloons are small, the risk of the hydrogen exploding and causing damage is low.
Fuel
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Hydrogen is highly flammable, especially when mixed with pure oxygen. While this makes it an incredibly dangerous element, it also makes it a very potent fuel. Rockets and spaceships mix pure hydrogen with pure oxygen to create a combustion reaction.
Hydrogen is also used in refining crude oil into various petroleum products like oil and gasoline. In the future, hydrogen may replace gasoline in cars. Hydrogen is currently being researched as an alternative fuel for cars to run on. When hydrogen burns, it releases no harmful byproducts, only water. Therefore, if it could be harnessed into an auto fuel, it would help significantly reduce the emission greenhouse gases each year.
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Energy
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One of hydrogen's isotopes, tritium, is radioactive, making it useful for nuclear reactors. Hydrogen is also used in thermonuclear energy because of the large amount of energy that is given off when hydrogen is heated to very high temperatures, similar to those found on the sun. So far, these temperatures have only been replicated by an atomic bomb. When combined with hydrogen, the bomb creates and even larger explosion. This energy release is how a hydrogen bomb works. Thus far, scientists have not found a way to control the reactions for peaceful applications.
Hydrogenation
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Hydrogenation is a process in which hydrogen is introduced into foods to make them last longer. Hydrogenation can turn unsaturated fats into saturated fats and in some cases transfats, which have been linked to heart problems. Hydrogenation is also used in making margarine.
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References
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Comments
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ilike dis 1.
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arnoaevers
Dec 04, 2010
The question should be more: How do we produce hydrogen? That is the issue, as 95 pc of ALL hydrogen worldwide is today made out of fossil fuels by a process called steam reforming. The remeinin 5pc are made with electrolizing out of electricity. Both ways are not benign and also not sustainable. So be very careful if somebody want to tell you about: clean hydrogen.
