Frozen hydrogen has potential as a fuel source due to its high energy per pound. NASA scientists believe it could reduce fuel weight for launches by 80%, enabling larger payloads and saving money. Obtaining frozen hydrogen is difficult, requiring cooling to very low temperatures. Metallic hydrogen, which can be a gas, liquid or solid, is denser and also has potential as an energy source.
Frozen hydrogen is the solid form of common gaseous hydrogen. Scientists are interested in frozen hydrogen because it could be a potential fuel source that is more potent than existing fuel sources. Liquid hydrogen has already found a niche in the rocket fuel market. Currently, frozen hydrogen is still in the experimental stage and has no practical applications.
If frozen hydrogen is found to be a viable fuel source, scientists and engineers believe the potential power generated by liquid hydrogen could rival, if not vastly exceed, that of the fuels currently in use. The advantage of frozen hydrogen is in its potential energy, per pound. NASA scientists believe that, if it could be implemented, launches could occur with only 20 percent of the fuel weight currently required to reach orbit. This also has the potential to enable larger and heavier payloads and save billions of dollars.
Freezing hydrogen is not a simple task. To obtain frozen hydrogen, the gas must be cooled to very low temperatures. Liquid hydrogen, cooled to 14 kelvins (-435 Fahrenheit, -224 Celsius), is dropped onto liquid helium and cooled to 4 kelvins (-452 Fahrenheit, -233 Celsius). The cooler medium than liquid helium causes the liquid hydrogen to freeze and float on top of the helium. It is when used together that both hydrogen and helium have the potential ability to be used as a fuel source.
The energy for propulsion comes after the helium and hydrogen have been transferred and heated in the rocket’s engine. Physics tells us that as things get colder, atoms start moving slower, and as things heat up, atoms speed up. In this case, once heated, the atoms would start moving very rapidly and get even hotter. This would also produce massive amounts of energy, which would then be funneled out of the engine at extremely high speed, causing propulsion.
Some may be confused with what is the difference between frozen hydrogen and metallic hydrogen. The main difference is the shape. Frozen hydrogen is a solid. Metallic hydrogen can, in theory, be a gas, liquid or solid, although it is usually a gas or a liquid. Metallic hydrogen is so named because when hydrogen is subjected to extreme pressures, it can exhibit metallic properties. Because it’s much denser than ordinary hydrogen, it also has the potential to be a huge energy source.
Protect your devices with Threat Protection by NordVPN
