lee@dasys1.UUCP (Lee W. Fischman) (05/25/88)
In the Tuesday New York Times Science section there was an
article on using hydrogen as a fuel in jetliners. It appears
that this fuel will eventually find even more general use.
The hydrogen will presumably be "cracked" from water. The
most likely water supply is the sea.
When the hydrogen is ignited as fuel it will recombine with
oxygen, generating a vapor that will eventually precipitate.
So far so good.
The problem is this: in normal precipitation, the water
vapor has been gotten from the sea, leaving the salt that
it previously contained as sea water in the sea. This is such
a broad process that salinity (right?) does not rise appreciably
even where substantial evaporation is occurring.
In the artificial process, however, what will happen to the sea
salt that is a byproduct of the hydrogen extraction? With truly
massive use of hydrogen, I would guess it has to go back into the sea
to eliminate any possibility of upsetting the world's oceans'
salinity. But do you just dump it back in? How much can you
dump at one time back in to the sea in one particular place
without achieving a toxic salinity level?
--
Lee Fischman | ...!cmcl2!phri!dasys1!lee
Datamerica Systems (Public UNIX, Etc.) | 101 Fifth Avenue
New York City | New York, NY 10003
| Phone: (312) 324-8415jwm@stdc.jhuapl.edu (Jim Meritt) (06/03/88)
In article <4606@dasys1.UUCP> lee@dasys1.UUCP (Lee W. Fischman) writes: } } In the artificial process, however, what will happen to the sea }salt that is a byproduct of the hydrogen extraction? With truly }massive use of hydrogen, I would guess it has to go back into the sea }to eliminate any possibility of upsetting the world's oceans' }salinity. But do you just dump it back in? How much can you }dump at one time back in to the sea in one particular place }without achieving a toxic salinity level? I am inclined to believe that we will not use the hydrogen contained in as much as a cubic mile of ocean water. Putting this back into the ocean at the rate we will take it out will allow dillution of probably over a billion to one. Not to worry... Now, if we have enough energy to split enough hoh to make a measurable impact on the salinity of the oceans, we will have OTHER problems first. I refer you to a misguided discussion on the greenhouse effect that appeared not long ago. Disclaimer: Individuals have opinions, organizations have policy. Therefore, these opinions are mine and not any organizations! Q.E.D. jwm@aplvax.jhuapl.edu 128.244.65.5 (James W. Meritt)