Linnard?s hydrogen on demand system without electricity !

[ResinRat2]

I always thought as Sodium Hydroxide has been used in common water electrolysis to improve the reaction, I didn't think it would be used if it produced CO2 instead of O2?

If CO2 is in fact coming off the Alkali solution would literally EAT it?

It produces the CO₂ because it is getting the carbon off of the carbon rod, not just because of the sodium hydroxide. Otherwise it would just produce the O₂ by itself. Hmmmm. This angle may have a difficult time getting it to work.

[ResinRat2]

I have reached the end of my rope. I just did a leak test on my latest reactor. IT LEAKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1111

This is my sixth attempt at making a reactor out of glass that does not have some type of leak either around an electrode or around a joint once it is pressurized with gas. I have had it. I am throwing in the towel.

This is absolutely rediculous.

I will pay anyone who is willing to put together a reactor that is made out of glass with two 3/8" zinc electrodes exposed at the top, one 1/4" tungsten carbide electrode at the top, two 1/8" thoriated tungsten electrodes at the top, and two gas ports. One for hydrogen and one for oxygen.

What must be kept in mind is that the electodes will shrink once the reactor begins operation and the temperature of the electrolyte solution drops. That means that there must be some type of rubber gasket or compression fitting around each electrode that will shrink with the electrode. Also the reactor must be gas tight so no hydrogen or oxygen escapes outside of the ports.

PM me and I will send you plans, specs, etc.

I have reached my level of competency and I need to take a step back. I am frustrated beyond belief. After thousands of dollars and countless failures I am at a breaking point..

[ResinRat2]

Well I was contacted by someone who has the ability to build my reactor.

Thanks everyone for your interest.

[Tacmatricx]

Hey RR,

I got a 30mL cell built just to test a few things and have been trying it for the last few days... I am seeing a buildup of non reactive dark particles that stick to the sides of my glass enclosure... I have the regen voltage supplied by an external power source at 0.600V and am switching the zinc electrodes every three hours. The most I have gone without seeing this buildup is a day?

Also the solution I mixed up as per your recipe has precipitated a dark powder at the bottom after sitting for a day or so in storage?

My zinc electrodes have an almost fuzzy coating on them... could I try lowering the voltage until I get a more even coat or is this normal?

Any Ideas?

Thanks,

Chris

[ResinRat2]

Hi Chris,

If you are able please post a picture of your apparatus. The dark particles might have something to do with your solution, did you you deionized or distilled water? If so, it could simply be a solubility issue. I have seen precipitate form in my solutions too. Usually grey in color, sometimes darker. It might be silver kicking out.

Your regeneration voltage is not high enough. You need at least 0.85-0.90 volts and about 5 milliamps to regenerate the zinc and drive off the oxygen. If you are not seeing oxygen coming off the zinc then this is probably due to your voltage being too low. The regeneration can be tricky when you are using external power (DC) type voltage. If you force the voltage too high then the tungsten starts to plate on the zinc. The best voltage I saw in my units was 0.83-0.85 volts. That seemed to drive off the oxygen and give a nice even grey coating of the zinc. Also, try and keep the zinc electrodes close to each other (but not touching) so the zinc can regenerate as quickly as possible from one to the other. This will help minimize the forming of zinc hydroxide.

Without seeing the zinc electrodes I would guess the "fuzzy" coating is zinc hydroxide. The zinc hydroxide gives an irregular "soft" looking coating. This will eventually kill your electrodes once they coat the entire surface. When I used fuel cells they gave me the advantage of having a load-following capability. That is why I used them. The zinc hydroxide is forming because your regeneration voltage is not high enough.

If you can, bump up your voltage to 0.83-0.85 and see if that gets the oxygen coming off the zinc. My past experience indicates that is the case. Don't go over 0.9 volts.

The dark particles on the sides may be ions attracted to the glass. Is it evenly distributed on all sides or are they concentrated around the tungsten (or are you using carbon?) electrode you are using to regenerate the zinc?

This is exciting that someone else is finally trying their hand at this tech. Are you still using the carbon electrode? I am interested in how that is going. It may be the way to go. Carbon dioxide may not be coming off the carbon electrode and I am glad to see that type of thinking (out of the box).

Thanks for your efforts Chris.