NewHydrogen CEO Steve Hill discusses the use of hydrogen in the space and aviation industries with Georgia Tech Expert

Dr. Ben Emerson describes his research focus on decarbonization at the Ben T. Zinn Combustion Laboratory

SANTA CLARITA, Calif, Jan. 16, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- NewHydrogen, Inc. (OTCMKTS:NEWH), the developer of ThermoLoop, a breakthrough technology that uses water and heat rather than electricity to produce the world’s cheapest green hydrogen, today announced that in a recent podcast the Company’s CEO Steve Hill spoke with Dr. Ben Emerson, a principal research engineer at the Ben T. Zinn Combustion Laboratory at the Georgia Institute of Technology.

During the conversation, Dr. Emerson explained the concept of combustion and shared his research focus on decarbonization. They discussed the role of hydrogen in the space industry and its potential in the aviation industry, despite its challenges such as energy density and volume. They also addressed the difficulties of storing and burning hydrogen in gas turbines, acknowledging the need for careful control to avoid pollutants like oxides of nitrogen.

Dr. Emerson spoke on the role of hydrogen in the space industry, highlighting its use in rocket engines due to its high specific impulse and lightweight. He also elaborated on its adoption in the aviation industry, noting that despite its potential, there were challenges, particularly in terms of energy density and volume. Dr. Emerson said, “Hydrogen has almost four times the energy content of kerosene by weight but takes up almost four times the volume.” Despite this, he acknowledged the need to decarbonize aviation and the potential for hydrogen to play a part in this process.

Dr. Emerson and Mr. Hill discussed the challenges of using hydrogen in aviation — the difficulty of storing liquid hydrogen due to its cryogenic requirements and the need for costly cryogenic systems and cryopumps. Despite this, the promise of decarbonizing an industry that has been difficult to decarbonize was seen as a motivating factor.

On the challenges of burning hydrogen in gas turbines, Dr. Emerson said, “The difficulties include hydrogen’s high flame speed and the need for careful control to avoid the formation of pollutants like oxides of nitrogen.” The discussion ended with the acknowledgment that current methods of low nitrogen oxide combustion, which involve pre-mixing fuel and oxidizer, might not be practical in aviation or in certain geographic locations.