Linnard?s hydrogen on demand system without electricity !

[starcruiser]

YW Good luck with your project, I'll keep watching from the side lines

[trackdude410]

the only problem with the second vessel idea is that in the long term that will slowly but surely dilute the NaOH solution unless you are able to reintroduce it into the original solution periodically. The best solution i think would be to take advantage of the fact that h20 is lighter than NaOH so if im not mistaken increasing the distance between the fuel cell and the solution would decrease the amount of NaOH to a negligable amount unless there is some IMF interaction between the O2- in water and the Na+ in the base. Hmm i will think on this further but im not sure a filter at the mouth of the tube that forces the NaOH back into solution is another possibility.

[Super God]

That bubbler system you proposed was what I had in mind.

[Dingus Mungus]

An aluminum mesh filter in the output hose would allow for any escaping NaOH to be converted quickly to hydrogen, but that would cause the aluminum mesh and NaOH to be consumed slowly over time. Altho it may be the only sure fire way to prevent any NaOH from reaching the fuel cell. This is going to be a real bugger of a problem isn't it? The PEM's cathode and catalysts will probably react very badly with long term exposure to lye precipitates. I can't believe I didn't think of that when we were discussing the initial H2 fuelcell-reactor hybrid concepts.

[ResinRat2]

Hi Chris,

I think the rate of hydrogen production was never very high previously, so this problem never came up. These tungsten/carbide rods really put out the gas bubbles. I just wish I understood why mine are so tiny, and Dr. Griffin's videos show his bubbles as larger. I wonder if it has to do with the grain size of the electrode. If you look at grades of tungsten/carbide they quote grain size, as well as %cobalt:

http://www.innovativecarbide.com/html/grade_chart.html

I am using IC-325 rods / 3.5 grain size. I ordered the IC-6 rods with a 0.8 grain size. I will see if this makes a difference with bubble size. These rods (IC-6) also have a lower cobalt content. I'll see if this changes the reaction rate/bubble size in any way. I think the larger bubbles would not produce as much of a vapor. Just think how much splashing of liquid you get when alka-seltzer is dropped into water. It just seems to splatter out of the glass all over the counter, your hands, etc.

Well I ordered the lower cobalt/smaller grain size rods yesterday. I was using the 25% cobalt and larger grain size. They should be here in two weeks. In the meantime I am doing experiments with the aluminum rod regeneration. This cell was going fine until I added water, but I think the cup I used to refill the reactor with must have had a residual layer of dishwashing soap on it. I smelled it when I took a drink from the cup after I filled the reactor. A few minutes later (30-40 minutes) the entire inside of the reactor was white with a white residue coating the zinc rod. This morning the reactor was dead; everything covered with white. This shows me the importance of using deionized water only. It also shows me the importance of the rinse cycle in the dishwasher. I'll be checking the cups from now on.

The deeper I get into this project the more fascinated I become. I live for research, and research is really just an ability to identify and overcome problems to achieve a goal. This has been quite a journey, and I am trying to post everything I can so others don't need to commit the same mistakes and failures that I do.

Thanks Chris, have a good day everyone; and thank you for your interest.