BlackLight Power has this week had its controversial technique for generating hydrogen fuel from water independently validated by US-based Rowan University, as the company seeks to challenge critics who have accused its technology of being unfeasible.
The firm has also posted two research papers on its web site, designed to help non-believers confirm the viability of its approach for themselves.
Although Rowan University co-authored an earlier paper with BlackLight, its
latest round of experiments were undertaken without any intervention from the
firm.
The aim was to establish whether or not BlackLight had discovered a new
low-energy form of hydrogen dubbed a "hydrino" and whether it could be used to
generate energy
on a continuous basis.
According to BlackLight, hydrinos are formed when hydrogen is released from an in-house-developed solid fuel at 50°C using a chemical catalyst. The process generates 200 times more energy than if electrolysis is used to extract hydrogen from water, BlackLight claims. The resulting energy takes the form of ultraviolet light, which can be converted into thermal power.
But the firm also attests that it requires very little heat to reverse the process to create the solid fuel again. The only element that needs to be replaced to restart the cycle is hydrogen, which can be released by electrolysing water.
To prove the point, the Rowan University researchers made 10 solid fuels from commercially available chemicals and tested the process for three months. They confirmed the existence of hydrinos and found they were able to generate between "1.2 and 6.5 times the maximum theoretical heat available through known chemical reactions".
Randall Mills, the firm's chairman, chief executive and president, said the results proved "the feasibility of using the solid fuel in a recycled manner as a replacement for fossil and nuclear fuels in power plants. These developments are anticipated to result in a significant decrease in the time to commercialisation".
Despite ongoing fears that the technology appears to be reliant on re-writing chemical laws, the company has attracted some high-profile backers recently, confirming that it has already signed six technology licensing deals with utilities and real estate firms that could deploy its generation systems.
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