Local Initiative Hydrogen Production by Aluminum Waste-Hot Spring Water Reaction

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In terms of research activities, we have undertaken a fundamental study of aluminum waste and acidic geothermal hot spring water reactions for producing hydrogen in both lab-scale and onsite designs. The study revealed that strong acidity, elevated temperature, and higher chloride-containing hot springs effectively disrupted the aluminum surface's oxide layer. Therefore, aluminum's surface morphology became rougher and pitted, which allowed water to penetrate deeply and drastically enhanced aluminum reactivity with water to release hydrogen.We have also conducted a life cycle assessment to evaluate the environmental impact of the system studied. As a result, hydrogen fuel use from aluminum waste materials-acidic hot spring reactions reduced environmental impacts (i.e., carbon emission and energy consumption) compared to gasoline and primary aluminum use. The negative CO2 emission results reflected emission reduction due to hot spring neutralization (replacing limestone input).As for research output, we have published the journal article, performed collaborative work relevant to the future research direction, and made presentations at academic meetings.We are currently exploring treatments on aluminum (and some potential metals) to generate more hydrogen effectively, clarifying the possible impurities, working on a techno-economic assessment of the system, and preparing for presentations and relevant publications.