Nigerian scientist develops process for producing flammable gases from urine

A NIGERIAN Scientist, Ejikeme P. Nwosu, 29-year-old, may have developed a process for producing flammable gases from urine.
Nwosu, a graduate of Pure and Industrial Chemistry from Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka (NAU), Anambra State with Masters of Science degree in Organic Chemistry from the University of Ibadan (UI), Oyo State, claims this process could replace fossil fuel in the near future.
 “after years of study, I have successfully developed a process that converts urine into flammable gases. These gases can be used as an alternative to fossil fuel. This process is cheap, easy and very feasible. It requires treating urine with some substances I identified after years of study.
“No external heat is required for this process. The flammable gas is rich in hydrogen and ammonia. Both can be used directly to generate energy or could be further purified upon chemical treatments to get hydrogen of very high purity. Hydrogen is the best fuel for engines because it poses no threat to the environment, it produces water vapour as by product.”
Scientists from Ohio University, United States, were one of the first, in July 2009, to describe the possibility of developing urine-powered cars, homes and personal electronic devices in the Royal Society of Chemistry’s Chemistry Communications.
Also, the BBC reported on August 19, 2010, of a research team at Heriot-Watt University, United Kingdom, investigating whether urine could be used as a source of renewable energy.
Nwosu, who says he is the chief executive officer (CEO) and director of Research at Lumos Laboratories and Company Nigeria, Kaduna, further explained, “it is obvious that our crude oil reserves will be exhausted in few decades to come. When this happens we will be forced to use other sources of fuel, but it would be more prudent to start acting prior to such state. Besides these, fossil fuel has a lot of dangers that come with it; chief among them is climatic disorders.
“In order to leave our world better than I met it, I ventured into research on urine and have made some notable successes that can change the world forever.”
Nwosu said the United States government alone has invested billions of dollars into projects that can produce hydrogen from various sources and it is high time the Nigerian government acted on this.
“Trillions of litres of urine are generated yearly globally with an average adult producing about 2.5 litres daily,” he said.
The industrial chemist said contrary to people’s view of urine as a waste, he sees urine as the solution to our highly sought clean, renewable and affordable energy.
“Very soon, urine will be for sale. You are welcome to our laboratory anytime for demo, while coming do so with a bottle or bottles of urine and watch me change it to fire,” Nwosu said.
In a report published 2009 in Discovery News, the Ohio University scientists said they could create large amounts of cheap hydrogen from urine that could be burned or used in fuel cells, using a nickel-based electrode. “One cow can provide enough energy to supply hot water for 19 houses,” said Gerardine Botte, a professor at Ohio University developing the technology. “Soldiers in the field could carry their own fuel.”
Botte’s research, with Bryan Boggs and Rebecca King, was also described in the Royal Society of Chemistry’s Chemistry Communications.
Botte explained, “the basic idea here is time-honoured electrolysis. It works like this, a molecule of urea (a big part of urine) has four atoms of hydrogen and two of nitrogen. Messy and smelly as it might be, you can attach a nickel electrode to your basic urine pool and produce hydrogen gas to power the world’s fuel cells. Farms could double as energy generators. Unlike us, cows and pigs don’t move around so much (especially when they’re factory farmed) so the urine is easy to collect.
“It is not that difficult to understand. The direct conversion of urine and urea to pure hydrogen via electrochemical oxidation with an inexpensive nickel catalyst.”
Meanwhile, Heriot-Watt University, United Kingdom, scientists have developed a system to test whether it can be used in fuel cells as an alternative to flammable hydrogen or toxic methanol.
It could offer a non-toxic, low-cost, easily transportable alternative. Dr. Shanwen Tao and his research partner, Dr. Rong Lan have been awarded a £130,000 grant to develop it.
The work has concentrated on urea, or carbamide, a mass-manufactured fertiliser and major component in human and animal urine. Urea solution is already used in heavy goods vehicles to reduce harmful emissions.
The academics see a future for the fuel cells in submarines, the military and power generation in remote areas such as deserts and islands. It could also be used to reprocess wastewater, with electricity as a by-product.
The Carbamide Power System involves far cheaper membrane and catalysts than traditional fuel cells, and can be run on urea (also known as carbamide), a mass manufactured industrial fertiliser and a major component of human and animal urine.
Carbamide Power Systems would thus offer a non-toxic, low cost, easily transportable viable alternative to high pressure, highly flammable hydrogen gas or the toxic methanol currently used in fuel cells. As urea solution is increasingly being used in heavy goods vehicles to reduce nitrous oxide emissions, a global fuelling infrastructure already exists.
Botte told Chemistry World, “during the electrochemical process the urea gets adsorbed on to the nickel electrode surface, which passes the electrons needed to break up the molecule. Pure hydrogen is evolved at the cathode, while nitrogen plus a trace of oxygen and hydrogen were collected at the anode. While carbon dioxide is generated during the reaction, none is found in the collected gasses as it reacts with the potassium hydroxide in the solution to form potassium carbonate.”
culled from guardian