HYDROGEN

Hydrogen is known to be the lightest of the elements. If the temperature is 20°С, it is a colourless, odourless, tasteless gas, its density being 0,08987, i.e. 1/15 that of air.

Hydrogen was liquefied. The device used for it proved to be similar to that used in liquefying air. The gas is only slight­ly soluble in water, its solubility under standard pressure in 100 ml of water being 1,93 ml at 0°C.

Hydrogen could be found in the free state only in minute quantities because of its marked chemical activity. It is known to be prepared in the laboratory by its liberation from acids, bases, or water.

Specialists consider hydrogen to be an extremely promising energy source. The reserves of hydrogen are known to be practically unlimited, it containing almost three times more thermal energy than benzene. Another plus is that hydrogen can be used as fuel in transport, industry and at home.

Extensive use of hydrogen as an energy source will help to keep the environment clean - hydrogen combustion produces simply the vapour of distilled water.

Hydrogen is easy to transport and store. It could be shipped over large distances using conventional pipelines.

Even today it costs several times less to transport by pipe-lines than to transmit electricity across huge power lines, bike any other gaseous fuel it could be accumulated and kept for a long time either in conventional or natural reservoirs.

Scientists have found many ways of producing hydrogen on a commercial scale - basically from ordinary water. Large volumes of this fuel could be obtained from coal, its reserves being tremendous.

Words to be remembered):

tasteless liberation

density source

to liquefy environment

device combustion

similar pipe-line

soluble tremendous

quantity ordinary

Date: 2015-01-12; view: 1350