Ztek Corp. (Woburn, MA) announced that it has successfully extracted hydrogen from regular unleaded gasoline using Ztek's patented reformer. The breakthrough could revolutionize the fuel cell industry by freeing vehicles from the need for an expensive and heavy on-board reformer. Fuel cell vehicles (FCVs) could be refueled similar to current gasoline-powered cars.
Ztek's reformer extracts hydrogen from gasoline or natural gas. The reformer will extract 85 percent of potential energy from the fuel. The result is a significant reduction in the fuel needed to produce the hydrogen. In addition, the Ztek reformer does not require any precious metals for its components, greatly reducing costs.
Ztek is currently in the process of integrating the components needed to produce pure hydrogen for fueling. Ztek's pre-packaged, high-efficiency, hydrogen reformer will be available later this year.
