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Tomorrow’s scientists partner on sustainable hydrogen project

While designing a sustainable hydrogen production unit for the Environmental Protection Agency’s first annual P3 competition, University of Utah undergraduate researchers may have created something else—high school students with a passion for renewable energy.

Research looks at public perception
The P3 program provides grants to teams of college students to research, develop and design sustainable solutions to environmental challenges. Air pollution in Salt Lake City is a serious challenge, said Keith Roper, an associate professor in the university’s Chemical Engineering department. “Temperature inversions along the Wasatch Front Range trap auto emissions,” he explained. “City buses running on hydrogen produced with solar power would eliminate all greenhouse gases from the equation.”

A project where students built a photovoltaic hydrogen production prototype seemed like a good candidate for the competition. But Roper realized that communities aren’t going to invest in hydrogen sustainability until they understand more about it. “Right now, the public perception of the technology is far behind its development,” he said.

A colleague told Roper that the charter high school Academy for Math, Engineering and Science was looking for a partnership opportunity for its science students. So in his application, Roper proposed a research team of 12 undergraduate researchers and 12 AMES students. The EPA funded the university’s proposal—possibly, Roper thinks, because of the high school’s involvement—and the project was up and running.

Students create system, outreach plan
Student teams designed and built the PHPP from commercially available components. The system included a solar still, an 4W solar panel, an electrolytic cell, coalescers, flashback arrestors, recombination catalyst and storage system. The unit cost $5,651 and produces three to 30 liters of fuel per day. “The efficiency was lower than we expected, but we have ideas for ways to improve it,” said Roper.

In phase II, the research team plans to scale up the photovoltaic hydrogen generator 10- to 100-fold and couple it to a fuel cell to create a portable energy source for sustainable vehicles. A public outreach effort will promote the technology for use in mass transit in the Salt Lake City area.

Public outreach in phase I included creating a Hydrogen Sustainability Website that evaluated aspects of hydrogen sustainability. “That was an area where the high school students were mentoring the college students, instead of the other way around,” Roper noted.

Students also prepared a public relations kit, participated in lectures and presented results to the state legislature, university officials, other students and the media. Honing their presentation skills paid off when the team traveled to Washington, D.C., for the first annual P3 awards.

Education component a success
The competition was held May 16 on the National Mall. To win, a team had to successfully describe how their project related to P3 – people, prosperity and the planet. A panel convened by the National Academy of Science judged the competition.

The University of Utah received an honorable mention. “Most of the winning projects focused on technologies that could be mass-produced cheaply for use in Third World countries,” said Roper. “At more than $5,000 per unit, the PHPP is in a different category.”

While the university did not get EPA funding for the second phase, it has gained attention for hydrogen sustainability. Student presentations to Utah Clean Cities, a non-profit group that converts city buses to natural gas, and Envision Utah, a sustainable growth partnership, have raised awareness about the environmental benefits of hydrogen.

The project has been an unqualified success from an educational point of view. At the competition, the high school students impressed the university Chemical Engineering department’s academic advisor with their grasp of the science and ability to explain the technology. The National Science Foundation is now looking at the project as a model for mentoring high school science students.

And AMES parents are very happy with the results. “Maybe even more so than the kids,” Roper admitted. “Their children got to go to Washington, D.C., and meet business, science and government leaders. That’s an incredible opportunity.”

The biggest beneficiary of the P3 competition may be renewable energy development. The technological innovations student researchers produced are valuable, but the bigger breakthrough is a new generation of scientists who understand alternative energy and can explain it to others. Or, as Keith Roper put it, “We now have 24 young people with a vision.”