Tag: hoffman

E-85 Pumps Not Ul Safe

  • Gas station pumps and underground storage tanks are not yet UL certified to handle E-85. (Photo by Lester Graham)

With thousands of flex-fuel vehicles hitting the road, gas stations are adding E-85 to
their fuels. E-85 is 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline. But, as Lester
Graham reports, storing and pumping E-85 fuel is a major concern because, so far,
no equipment has been certified as safe to handle it:

Transcript

With thousands of flex-fuel vehicles hitting the road, gas stations are adding E-85 to
their fuels. E-85 is 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline. But, as Lester
Graham reports, storing and pumping E-85 fuel is a major concern because, so far,
no equipment has been certified as safe to handle it:


The Department of Energy’s Handbook for Handling, Storing, and Dispensing E-85
warns, “certain materials commonly used with gasoline are totally incompatible with
alcohols.” Other government guidelines give detailed instructions about storing E-85
in underground storage tanks and the pumps people use to fill their vehicles. But,
with more and more filling stations adding E-85 pumps, not everyone is following the
instructions and warnings.


Brad Hoffman is with the nation’s largest underground storage tank service
company, Tanknology. The company inspects gas station distribution systems:


“I think they pretty much just took for granted that their tank could store whatever
fuel they put into it and they didn’t really check the compatibility of the tank and the
other piping and dispensing equipment. They didn’t really confirm that it was
compatible with the E-85 that was being delivered.”


And some of the fiberglass underground storage tanks are not compatible. Ethanol
can soften the polymers in certain tanks. That can make them weaker and might
cause them to leak. There’s also concern that leak detection equipment might also
be damaged by ethanol. So if a tank is leaking, it might go undetected. And it’s not
just the tanks. There are questions about compatibility with the pumps filling flex-fuel
vehicles.


The ethanol industry says there have been no major problems with tanks or pumps
so far. Matt Hartwig is with the Renewable Fuels Association:


“Most gas station operators will use tanks that are appropriate. They will clean the
tanks. They would do the proper maintenance and the proper preparation required
to install E-85 infrastructure. Because of the nature of ethanol, you do need a
dedicated tank and pump system to dispense the fuel. I don’t think consumers and
the American driver have anything to fear.”


But fuel tank and gas pump inspectors are not as sure. Brad Hoffman with
Tanknology says government guidelines give checklists of recommendations on how
to prepare tanks and pumping systems:


“Being realistic, I think there’s a chance that some marketers may, you know, for
whatever reason, may not thoroughly check each of those items. And there could be
some problems, either with the tanks or the dispensing systems.”


Problems that could cause leaks.


Underwriters Laboratories is the safety testing organization that certifies the safety of equipment storing and pumping fuels. John Drengenberg is with
UL. He says it was only last year that a manufacturer asked for requirements for equipment handling E-85. Drengenberg says old gasoline equipment might not
be safe to pump E-85:


“The alcohol is different in that it’s much more corrosive. We know for a fact that
alcohol will attack soft metals, in particular aluminum and copper, things of that type,
and even plastics. So, therefore, what worked for gasoline dispensers, may not work
for ethanol dispensers.”


Drengenberg says gaskets, seals, and o-rings in the pump, hose or handle could
deteriorate and mean leaking fuel at the pump:


“With this type of fuel, ethanol, we’re mostly worried about fire hazards. If there is a
leak – let’s say for some reason ethanol attacked a gasket or a seal on a dispenser,
you could have a fuel leak – the fuel leak could be very dangerous in that any spark
could set it off. You could have a fire or possibly an explosion. So, that is the
concern that we have, certainly. And that is why we’re developing requirements for
these ethanol dispensers.”


UL expects to issue requirements for equipment by the end of the year. In the
meantime, whether the tanks and pumps offering E-85 at your gas station are safe is
up to the judgment of the local fire chief, fire marshal, or other local official.


For the Environment Report, this is Lester Graham.

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Hydrogen Powers Family’s Car and Home

  • Mike Strizki demonstrates how a balloon filled with hydrogen can run a fuel cell and power an electric fan for about 45 minutes.

Many homeowners have reduced their fossil fuel consumption by placing solar panels on their rooftops. But one man has gone to a whole new level. He’s created a homemade power plant that runs on solar power and hydrogen fuel cells. Brad Linder reports:

Transcript

Many homeowners have reduced their fossil fuel consumption by placing solar panels on their rooftops. But one man has gone to a whole new level. He’s created a homemade power plant that runs on solar power and hydrogen fuel cells. Brad Linder reports:


Mike Strizki’s been tinkering with cars his whole life. Over time the 49-year old engineer became convinced that hydrogen fuel cell vehicles were the future of the auto industry. But during his 16 years with the New Jersey Department of Transportation, Strizki saw there was a problem with fuel cell cars: nobody was really building them.


“You had the auto makers and you had government pointing fingers. Well, you know, you build the fuel cell cars first and then we’ll provide the infrastructure. And they said, well you provide the infrastructure, and we’ll build the fuel cell cars. And I got tired of hearing that argument. And I said well, one way to solve the problem is to make your infrastructure your home.”


Five years and half a million dollars later, Strizki’s achieved his dream.


Here’s how it works. Strizki’s garage is covered with solar panels. They provide electricity for his house, and when there’s extra power, it’s routed to a device called an electrolizer, which breaks down water into hydrogen and oxygen.


During the summer, the hydrogen is stored in fuel tanks on Strizki’s property. And in the winter, he runs the hydrogen through a 6 kilowatt fuel cell to make energy. Strizki, his wife, and three children, are the first family in the country to live in a house powered entirely by hydrogen fuel cells and solar power.


And there’s another benefit: Strizki can fuel up his hydrogen fuel cell vehicles at a gas pump near his garage.


(Car accelerating sound on pavement)


“The fuel cells have enough to run the vehicle at about 50mph on fuel cells alone. If you’re going faster than that you’re sipping off the battery pack at a very low rate.”


Strizki helped design this car for Rutgers University 7 years ago. It’s been running ever since. Now that he has a fueling station at his home, he plans to convert his other car, a Toyota Prius, to run on hydrogen as well.


Strizki pulls up to the hydrogen fueling station – a series of converted propane tanks out by his garage. Opening his car’s trunk, Strizki connects a hose from those tanks to a smaller tank in the car.


“That’s how it refuels.”


Strizki’s system runs like a well oiled machine, only without the oil. But it wasn’t always so simple. When he first decided to build his home power plant, Strizki sought government approval from his home town of East Amwell New Jersey.


“I said all right, I’m doing this like anybody else who’s getting a building permit. I walked into the town and I said here, I want to build a solar hydrogen fuel cell home… and well, that… you know, the first place I went was the zoning officer, and he told me it’s an uncustomary use in a residential zone, and it’ll be a cold day in hell before I allow this.”


East Amwell Mayor Kurt Hoffman says the zoning officer was known as a stickler. The township had accidentally removed a line in a local zoning law allowing homeowners to use alternative energy.


“So we did an addendum to the zoning ordinance to allow alternative energy usages. These kinds of things, they have to be publicly noticed, you have to have public hearings. That brought out some people’s concern about hydrogen technology and the safety issue.


Hoffman says Strizki brought in a series of experts to testify that his house wasn’t going to blow up. The hydrogen was being stored at a safe pressure in the same type of tank normally used for propane.


Strizki says he’ll probably never make back the half-million dollars it costs to build his system. But he hopes to cut the costs by 90%, by mass producing and selling solar-hydrogen fuel cell systems to other homeowners. He says the future of the planet depends on renewable energy and not fossil fuels that have to be transported halfway across the world.


“At least the fact that I’m using the energy in the same place that I’ve created it, the energy is still zero carbon, and it’s still free, once you’ve paid for the equipment.


The Strizki’s don’t skimp on electricity. They have a big screen TV, a hot tub, and all modern appliances. And Strizki takes great pride in the fact that he can power everything, including his car, using renewable hydrogen power.


“There’s no shelf life, and that’s what powers the sun. When the sun stops shining, we’re all dead. So this is a much better solution than digging big holes in the ground, throwing sulfur up into the air. This is something that’s definitely sustainable. We just have to have the will to do it.”


For the Environment Report, I’m Brad Linder.

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