Hydrogen power startup AlGalCo among 10 international finalists in 16th annual GAMIC finals

Patented system generates hydrogen from water and aluminum alloy 

INDIANAPOLIS — Hydrogen on Demand by AlGalco (AlGalCo), a hydrogen energy startup that licenses Purdue University innovations, is one of 10 international finalists in the 16th annual Global Automotive & Mobility Innovation Challenge, or GAMIC, held April 15 during the Society of Automobile Engineers World Congress in Detroit.

AlGalCo CEO Kurt Koehler said the company’s patented technology is scalable, uses a renewable and sustainable feedstock, and generates fewer harmful emissions than gasoline and diesel combustion.

“The technology is simple: Users generate hydrogen by adding any type of water to a solid alloy comprised of over 90% common aluminum,” Koehler said. “Because the spent alloy can be recovered and recycled an indefinite number of times using any form of excess electricity — windmill or solar for example — its capabilities for energy storage are limitless.”

Features and benefits of AlGalCo’s technology include:

• It powers internal combustion engines in full or supplementally, reducing the demand for gasoline and diesel.
• It uses a completely renewable and sustainable hydrogen feedstock.
• It is scalable from portable generator and fuel cell applications to 5.4-liter V-8 gas-powered fleet vehicles and 15-liter over-the-road diesel trucks.
• It approaches cost-competitive status with liquid fuels.
• It eliminates the need for high-pressure storage and transportation of hydrogen.

Koehler said AlGalCo’s technology serves a global marketplace of more than $3 trillion dollars: from land vehicles including over-the-road trucks to oceangoing ships to energy-storing windmill farms.

“The market currently is dominated by multinational oil and gas companies,” Koehler said.

AlGalCo licenses the technology from the Purdue Innovates Office of Technology Commercialization. It was discovered by Jerry Woodall and developed by AlGalCo. Woodall is a former researcher in Purdue University’s College of Engineering, and now a Distinguished Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of California, Davis. OTC protected the intellectual property by applying for and receiving two patents from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

More than 1,500 applicants were invited to compete in GAMIC for a share of over $300,000 in in-kind business acceleration services and cash awards. Other finalists are from Arlington, Virginia; Champaign, Illinois; Delft, Netherlands; Greenville, South Carolina; Houston, Texas; London, United Kingdom; Munich, Germany; Ramat Gan, Israel; and Seoul, South Korea.

About Hydrogen on Demand by AlGalCo

AlGalCo is commercializing a patented technology that generates hydrogen on demand by adding any type of water to a solid alloy comprised of over 90% common aluminum. In the current application, the technology is being used to augment gasoline-powered engines — testing is also underway to validate the same technology for diesel engines. AlGalCo’s goals are to continue to explore the possibilities where the ability to create hydrogen on demand using an infinitely available resource can make this technology a viable alternative to liquid fuels.

About Purdue Innovates Office of Technology Commercialization

The Purdue Innovates Office of Technology Commercialization operates one of the most comprehensive technology transfer programs among leading research universities in the U.S. Services provided by this office support the economic development initiatives of Purdue University and benefit the university’s academic activities through commercializing, licensing and protecting Purdue intellectual property. In fiscal year 2023, the office reported 150 deals finalized with 203 technologies signed, 400 disclosures received and 218 issued U.S. patents. The office is managed by the Purdue Research Foundation, which received the 2019 Innovation & Economic Prosperity Universities Award for Place from the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities. In 2020, IPWatchdog Institute ranked Purdue third nationally in startup creation and in the top 20 for patents. The Purdue Research Foundation is a private, nonprofit foundation created to advance the mission of Purdue University. Contact otcip@prf.org for more information. 

Writer/Media contact: Steve Martin, sgmartin@prf.org

Source: Kurt Koehler, kckoehler@algalcoonline.com