From: Robert Leguillon
* * This is a lot of aluminum consumption. These are back-of-the-napkin-style calculations, so I apologize if I've missed something, but (unless I've made a large mistake) it appears that: 2[Al ]+ 6[H2O] + CC => CC + 2[Al(OH)3] + 3H2 . Absent that, am I missing something? Robert, you may be missing a bit of the lore or do not remember the Pacheco process of H2 generation, which is essentially this same scenario except the hydroxide is itself split, leaving alumina, and there is the claim of an anomaly in H2 output. http://www.rexresearch.com/pacheco/pacheco.htm This process never went commercial but good testing showed that it gave much more hydrogen than it should it was mentioned that the actual rate was over 3:1 over the rate of normal aluminum consumption using these calculations, indicating that there is some anomaly. Still aluminum is so dear that 3:1 this makes little sense. Even at triple the output of H2, there is a problem but at a certain level of production - the economics would work out, and Alcoa probably knows this and is waiting for oil to hit $200. I do not know what that level is but it is highly dependent on the price of oil, vis-à-vis aluminum. I know of one inventor in Mississippi - who has a Pacheco-like process that he claims is very economical NOW, when using recycled aluminum beer cans as the energy source. He can drive you around in a vehicle powered this way - for a fraction of the cost of gasoline. The problem there, as anyone can see - is supply and demand. If he were successful, then the price of recycled aluminum goes up and there is a net negative in disposing of all the spent alumina or AlOH. Jones
