Electrolysis for Aeration of water?

[jsd453]

Hi all,

Please take a look at the web site below. They claim to have a method that increases the oxygen content of water by using electrolysis.


http://www.keepfishalive.com/index.php


Please excuse my ignorance in the chemical aspects of electrolysis but it seems to make sense to me that by allowing the hydrogen to dissipate into the atmosphere, more oxygen would be left in the water. Or would the oxygen also bubble up and out of the water like the hydrogen leaving no net change?
Lets say the hydrogen (cathode) was separated from the water and used as a fuel and the oxygen (anode) was contained in the electrolyzer vessel (or at least on the anode side of the container), would the oxygen content of the water (in PPM) increase?
I actually have a large application (many gallons of water) that I would like to be able to increase the oxygen content in using a rather unconventional approach.
I would like to do some experiments but would like some opinions as to whether or not this is a feasible/practical application to raise oxygen levels in water compared to other aeration techniques such as bubblers or mixers.

Thank you for your help

Jerry

[hansvonlieven]

G'day all,

This is not difficult to do. I take it he is using saltwater rather than fresh water since you need some sort of electrolyte. All you need to do is to place the anode on the bottom of the tank and the cathode near the top.

This way the liberated oxygen must bubble through the tank and will aerate the water and the hydrogen vents off. You can see this on the device he shows.

Hans von Lieven

[Farrah Day]

That's not electrolysis.

They are simply using a catalyst of some description to react with the water. It will be reacting specifically with the hydrogen atoms and leaving the oxygen to combine to O2, which is what you see rising up. Of course the longer it takes or the least of it that gets to the surface the better, as you want as much O2 as possible to disolve into the water.

Very neat actually. Wonder how long it will last for?

Farrah Day

[hansvonlieven]

And what kind of a catalyst do you think they are using Farrah?

If they have found one that works like this the energy problems of the world are sorted out right here.

No, they are using electrolysis.

Hans von Lieven

[jsd453]

Hans,

Thank you for your example. It does not seem difficult. Perhaps ?lake water? has enough minerals to allow electrolysis. See the description from their website.

?The Oxygenator is designed for FRESH WATER use only. Use of salt or additives containing salt will result in the production of chlorine which will kill fish. Disconnect at the battery if you are fishing in salt or brackish water.?

Jerry