Method for dissociation of water into hydrogen and oxygen, and apparatus for realising said method

Abstract

FIELD: chemistry. ^ SUBSTANCE: in a method which involves exposing an aqueous electrolyte to an electric field through electrodes lying at a certain distance from each other and tapping the dissociation products, exposure of the aqueous electrolyte to the electric field is carried out with calculated resonance frequency on harmonics relative which the fundamental frequency of oscillation of water molecules is a multiple, with separate tapping of dissociation products from each even and odd electrode. The apparatus consists of electrodes which are immersed in the aqueous electrolyte and placed in parallel at a distance from each other and hydraulically linked to form electrolytic sections which are connected into an electrical circuit, and are connected to an alternating current generator, which enables to obtain electromagnetic oscillations at frequency between 10 kHz and 3.2 MHz. ^ EFFECT: design of a simple method for dissociation of water into hydrogen and oxygen and apparatus for realising said method, which are suitable for industrial use, enable to reduce power consumption of the water dissociation process and enable separate tapping of gases. ^ 10 cl, 2 dwg, 1 tbl

Description

The invention relates to physicochemical technologies for the production of hydrogen and oxygen and can be used in the field of fuel energy and chemical production.

A known method of producing hydrogen and oxygen, which consists in the fact that the electrolyte is placed in an alternating magnetic field with a frequency of 1-1000 Hz, while the magnetic induction value is 0.01-1.4 T [Description of the invention to the patent of the Russian Federation No. 2032769 from 04/10/1990 IPC С25В 1/02, publ. 04/10/1995].

The disadvantage of this method is that the method does not provide separate production of pure oxygen and hydrogen, and also that the frequency of the magnetic field is chosen arbitrarily and is not resonant.

A known method of producing hydrogen and oxygen from water, including obtaining in open space superheated water vapor with a temperature of 500-550 ° C, which is passed through a constant electric field formed between spaced apart electrodes of high voltage (6000 V) to produce hydrogen and oxygen (dissociation products) and their removal [Description of the invention to the patent of the Russian Federation No. 2142905 from 04/27/1998, IPC С01В 3/00, СВВ 13/02, publ. 12/20/1999]. It was declared that the method is simple in hardware design, economical, fire and explosion safe and highly efficient.

A careful study of this technical solution revealed some contradictions. The actual cost of producing oxygen and hydrogen does not take into account the costs of obtaining superheated water vapor, which does not allow us to consider the method as economical. In addition, the copyright holder declares the hydrogen output in relation to oxygen 1: 5. If this is a weight ratio, then it is, based on the chemical formula and atomic weights of the components 1: 8. If this is the ratio of volumes, then when one mole of water is decomposed, we get in a gaseous form 1 mole of hydrogen and 0.5 mole of oxygen, which corresponds to 2: 1.

The problem solved by the first invention of the group, and the technical result achieved, are to create another method for dissociating water into hydrogen and oxygen, suitable for its industrial implementation, reducing the energy intensity of the process of water dissociation and providing the possibility of separate production of gases.

To solve the problem and achieve the claimed technical result in the known method of dissociation of water into hydrogen and oxygen, including exposure to water or an aqueous electrolyte by an electric field through spaced electrodes and removal of dissociation products, exposure to water or an aqueous electrolyte by an electric field with the calculated resonant frequency at harmonics, with respect to which the frequency of natural vibrations of the water molecule is a multiple, and the removal of dissociation products The cations are produced separately from each even and odd electrodes.

Besides:

- in addition to the electric field, water or an aqueous electrolyte are simultaneously exposed to an alternating or constant magnetic field directed perpendicular to it;

- every odd and even electrodes are combined into a closed electric circuit with one-sided flow of electric current;

- every even and odd electrodes are connected to the corresponding poles of the DC source.

HySTAT-A installations of the Canadian company "HYDROGENICS EUROPE 14.V." are known [Representative in Russia: Hydrogenics Russia, Potapovsky per. 5, building 4, 101000, Moscow, Russia. E-mail: eherhard@orc.ru] for the production of hydrogen, which are hydrogen generators based on inorganic membrane technology (IMET) electrolysis of aqueous solutions of alkalis. The source of raw materials for hydrogen generators is water. As a result of an electrochemical reaction under the influence of direct current, water decomposes, and hydrogen and oxygen are released from the solution. Hydrogen is used for technological needs, and oxygen is released into the atmosphere. The energy consumption for obtaining one normal m 3 of hydrogen is 4.2 kW · h. The disadvantages of these plants are the high energy consumption and the need to use expensive membranes for the separation of oxygen and hydrogen.

A device for producing electricity, thermal energy, oxygen and hydrogen is known, which allows separate oxygen, a steam-hydrogen mixture to be produced by electrolysis with alternating electric current using a cylindrical solenoid worn on a cell [Description of the invention to the patent of the Russian Federation No. 2177512 from 07.24.2000, IPC 7 С25В 1/02, С25В 9/00, publ. 2001.12.27]. The known device does not allow to obtain separately pure oxygen and hydrogen without water vapor.

Known electrolytic cell of a low ampere electrolyzer to produce hydrogen and oxygen from water, which allows to obtain an oxygen-hydrogen mixture. The electrodes (cathode and anode) are made in the form of truncated cones with open vertices and are located one in the other with a gap filled with a solution. Gases exit through a branch pipe. The cathode and anode are connected to a direct current source. It is noted that even before the cell is included in the electric network, positive potential appears on the anode, and negative potentials appear on the cathode, and gases are released. When voltage is applied to the electrodes, gas evolution increases. The process of gas evolution continues even after the cell is disconnected from the network. Due to this, energy costs for the process of decomposition of water into hydrogen and oxygen are reduced [Description of the invention to the patent of the Russian Federation No. 2227817 from 06.16.2003, IPC 7 С25В 1/04, С25В 9/06, publ. 2004.04.27]. The above device implements a method that does not allow to obtain separately oxygen and hydrogen and is inefficient.

Known devices for high-frequency electrolysis of water by American inventor Stanley Meyer. Structurally, the water cell is a vessel with ordinary tap water. Two electrodes are installed in the vessel, made of stainless steel in the form of parallel plates or coaxial tubes. These electrodes were supplied with an alternating unipolar voltage of an electric current from a pulse voltage generator. The electric voltage was formed by trains of four to five pulses in each and intervals of zero voltage between them, while very careful efforts were made to eliminate the leakage of electrons from the electrodes. The device decomposed ordinary water into hydrogen and oxygen with an average consumption of electric current, measured in milliamps. The recorded gas outlet was sufficient to show the combustion of hydrogen in oxygen. However, these cells do not provide for the separation of hydrogen with oxygen [Rassadkin Yu.P. The water is ordinary and extraordinary. M .: "Gallery STO", 2008, S. 584-587].

The problem solved by the second invention of the group and the technical result achieved are to create another device for the dissociation of water into hydrogen and oxygen, suitable for use in industry, which allows to reduce the energy intensity of the process of dissociation of water and to separate the resulting gases into hydrogen and oxygen, as well as to simplify it designs.

To solve the problem and achieve the claimed technical result in a device for the dissociation of water into hydrogen and oxygen, which includes a set of immersed in water or aqueous electrolyte in parallel mounted electrodes located at a distance from each other and hydraulically connected with the formation of electrolytic sections, which are combined into electrical circuit, a set of electrodes placed between two flat plates, electrically isolated from electrodes and an aqueous electrolyte, connected to the gene an alternator of current and arranged parallel to the electrodes with the formation of unit cells.

Besides:

- the device is equipped with a source of alternating or constant magnetic field perpendicular to the electric field of flat plates;

- every even and odd electrodes are combined in a closed electrical circuit, including a diode and a resistor;

- every even and odd electrodes are combined in an electric circuit with a direct current source;

- in their upper part, the electrodes are separated from each other by gas-tight partitions, the lower boundaries of which are located below the level of water or an aqueous electrolyte with the formation of cavities, with each cavity provided with an individual outlet of the gases formed during the electrolysis;

- the device includes a plurality of parallel and / or series-connected unit cells electrically and hydraulically combined into a battery.

The invention is illustrated by drawings, where figure 1 shows a General view of a device that implements a method of dissociation of water into hydrogen and oxygen, and figure 2 shows its cross section in a top view.

The method of dissociating water into hydrogen and oxygen consists in exposing the water or aqueous electrolyte to an electric field through electrodes 1 located at a distance from each other; 2 and the removal of dissociation products, while the impact on the aqueous electrolyte with an electric field is carried out with the calculated resonant frequency at harmonics, with respect to which the frequency of natural vibrations of the water molecule is a multiple. To further improve the characteristics of the method, in addition to the electric field, water is simultaneously exposed to an alternating or constant magnetic field directed perpendicular to it, each even 2 and odd 1 electrodes are combined into a closed electric circuit 3 with one-sided flow of electric current, including diode 4 and resistor 5, which protects from a short circuit and allowing you to remove from it the electric current and voltage arising in the process of electrolysis of water, or in a closed electrical circuit 6, connected laying them to the corresponding poles of a direct current source 7, which can be, for example, a power supply battery, a rectifier, etc., and the dissociation products are removed separately from each even 2 and odd 1 electrodes.

A device for dissociating water into hydrogen and oxygen includes a set of parallel-mounted electrodes 1 and 2 immersed in water or an aqueous electrolyte located at a distance from each other and hydraulically connected to form electrolytic sections 8, which are combined into an electric circuit 3 or 6, while a set of electrodes 1 and 2 is placed between two flat plates 9, electrically isolated from the electrodes 1; 2 and an aqueous electrolyte connected to an alternator 10 and arranged parallel to the electrodes 1 and 2 to form unit cells 11.

In addition, the device is equipped with a source of alternating (not shown conventionally) or constant 12 magnetic field perpendicular to the electric field of flat plates 9, and each even 2 and odd 1 electrodes are combined, as mentioned above, in a closed electric circuit 3 or 6.

In the upper part, the electrodes 1 and 2 are separated from each other by gas-tight partitions 13, the lower boundaries of which 14 are located below the level 15 of water or an aqueous electrolyte with the formation of cavities 16, each of which is equipped with an individual outlet of hydrogen 17 or oxygen 18 generated during gas electrolysis.

For industrial use, said device may include a plurality of parallel and / or series-connected unit cells 1 electrically and hydraulically integrated into a battery (not shown conventionally).

Let us explain in more detail the essence of the invention.

In chemically pure water at a temperature of 25 ° С, approximately one in 5 × 10 9 molecules dissociates according to the scheme Н 2 О↔Н + + ОН - [Physical Encyclopedia. T.1, M .: "Soviet Encyclopedia", 1988, p.296]. When exposed to alternating electric, electromagnetic and magnetic fields on water (aqueous electrolyte), the frequency and direction of exposure selectively affect the degree of dissociation of water. The mechanism of this effect is explained as follows.

Oscillation of molecules is one of the main types of intramolecular motion, in which there is a periodic change in the relative arrangement of the nuclei of the atoms that make up the molecule. A water molecule has two stretching vibrations and one deformational one [Physical Encyclopedia. T.2, M .: "Soviet Encyclopedia", 1990, p. 405]. In addition, atoms interacting with each other in a condensed medium, to which the liquid and solid states belong, always acquire an electric charge, turning into positively or negatively charged ions [Physical Encyclopedia. T.1, M .: "Soviet Encyclopedia", 1988, p. 694, 695]. Thus, atoms in a condensed medium can be considered as mechanical microoscillators having a certain mass and electric charge.

When exposed to a condensed medium by an alternating electric, electromagnetic or magnetic field, the oscillating ions interact with these fields, forming a mechanical oscillatory system. If the frequency of natural vibrations of an atom of a chemical element is a multiple of the frequency of the acting alternating field, resonance occurs at harmonics [Physical Encyclopedia. T.4, M .: Scientific publishing house "Big Russian Encyclopedia", 1994, p. 308, 309]. The kinetic energy of the resonating atoms increases, as a result of which the probability of breaking covalent bonds between hydrogen and oxygen increases, and the degree of dissociation of water increases.

Experiments on the effects of variable electric fields were carried out on distilled water. Of the many eigenfrequencies of vibrations of a water molecule for resonance exposure, we used the frequency with respect to which the eigenfrequencies of vibrations of hydrogen atoms relative to oxygen atoms and oxygen atoms relative to hydrogen atoms are multiple. By calculation, using the methodology described in the article by I.M. Kavitsky et al. “Mechanism of modifiers during structure formation of high-strength cast iron with spherical and vermicular graphite” [I. Kavitsky, B. A. Rushanik and Demidov A.A. The mechanism of action of modifiers during the structure formation of high-strength cast iron with spherical and vermicular graphite // Foundry of Russia, 2008. - No. 10 p.25-29], determined the frequencies with respect to which the natural frequency of vibrations of hydrogen atoms relative to oxygen atoms and oxygen atoms relative to hydrogen atoms is a multiple. They are respectively hydrogen for 9,735 × 10 11 Hz and an oxygen 6,133 × 10 10 Hz. The capabilities of the generator used made it possible to work with a frequency from 0.1 MHz to 3.2 MHz. Two groups of frequencies were chosen from this condition for experiments on water exposure: the first group with a deviation from the multiplicity of the calculated oscillation frequency to the acting frequency according to the first significant digit in hydrogen and oxygen up to 5%, the second group with a deviation from the ratio over 5% (see table). The frequencies of the first group: 0.106 MHz, 0.315 MHz, 1.64 MHz, 2.5 MHz. The cost of electricity to obtain 1 m 3 hydrogen when exposed to these frequencies is minimal.

The frequencies of the second group: 0.5 MHz, 0.7 MHz, 1.3 MHz. Exposure to these frequencies is less effective.

The relative error in determining the multiplicity is, depending on the magnitude of the first significant digit, from 0.5% to 0.06% [Pulkin S.P. Computational Mathematics. M .: "Education", 1974, p.30]. The design of the used electromagnetic oscillation generator allows you to configure the required frequency with an accuracy of 1.5%, i.e. the accuracy of calculating the multiplicity to the third significant digit is within the error of measuring the frequency of the generator 10.

Figure 1 and 2 shows a diagram of the experiment. Water (or aqueous electrolyte) is poured into a cuvette 19 made of a dielectric material. The cuvette 19 has the shape of, for example, a parallelepiped. In it, along large faces, electrodes 1 and 2 are located, through one connected by wires. Electrodes 1 and 2 are made of X18H9T stainless steel. On the outside of the cell 19, metal plates 9 are installed parallel to the electrodes 1 and 2, creating an alternating electric field. The plates 9 are connected to the generator 10. The alternating current source of the resonant frequency is a generator 10, which allows to obtain electromagnetic oscillations of a sinusoidal shape with a frequency from 10 KHz to 3.2 MHz. The maximum output power of the generator is 10 watts. The cuvette 19 is closed by a dielectric hermetic cover 20, designed to separate and remove gases, as well as to supply connecting wires to the electrodes 1 and 2. On the inside, the cover 20 has sealed partitions 13, lowered below the level 15 of water (or aqueous electrolyte) in the cuvette 19. Partitions 13 separate the electrodes 1 and 2 and form in the upper part of each electrode 1 and 2 insulated cavities 16 for collecting gases released on each electrode 1 and 2. The cavities 16 are equipped with individual outlets of hydrogen 16 or oxygen 17 (fittings to remove them).

It was experimentally established that when filling the cell 19 with water (or aqueous electrolyte) and a deliberately broken circuit 3 or 6 between the opposite electrodes 1 and 2 (cathodes and anodes), a potential difference arises, which depends on the distance between the electrodes 1 and 2. This happens because that water always contains part of the H + and OH - ions. Contacting the metal plates, four H + ion selected four electrons in the metal, turning into a molecule, 2H 2, and the ions OH - give four electrons by reacting 4 (OH -) ↔2N 2 O + O 2 ↑. The electrode 1, on which hydrogen is released, is charged positively, and the electrode 2, on which oxygen is released, is negatively charged. After some time, the charge on the electrodes reaches such a value that the hydrogen ion can no longer take the electron from the positively charged electrode 1, and the oxygen ion cannot give the electron to the negatively charged electrode 2. Then the process changes, and hydrogen begins to be released on the electrode on which it used to be oxygen was released. The process goes to saturation of electrodes 1 and 2, but with reverse polarity. This is confirmed experimentally by the fact that when measuring between the electrodes 1 and 2 of the EMF after a certain time, the polarity of the electrodes 1 and 2 periodically changes to the opposite.

A similar situation arises when the cell 19 is exposed to an alternating electric field created by the plates 9. The difference is that the voltage on the plates 9 reaches 1.3 V and the current reaches 0.5 A.

During the electrolysis experiments, which amounted to 1 hour, the energy consumption for producing 1 m 3 of hydrogen was 3.2 kW.

The results of experiments on the dissociation of water are shown in the table.

The amount of dissociated water (or aqueous electrolyte) was determined by weighing the cuvette 19 with water before and after the experiment. Weighing was carried out on an ADV-200 analytical balance with an accuracy of 0.01 g. The water evaporated during the experiment was not taken into account, since the evaporation of water from cell 19 in 24 hours was less than the limits of measurement of the weights, and the experiment was carried out for one hour.

The power consumption from the network was measured by a voltmeter and an ammeter at the input to the generator 10 and the direct current source 7.

A control experiment for comparison was performed for pure electrolysis of water.

The first series of experiments was performed when exposed to water by an alternating electric field (column 7 of the table).

The second series of experiments was carried out with the action of an alternating electric field and connecting the electrodes 1 and 2 with each other through a diode 4 and a resistor 5. The diode 4 was installed so that the electron flow was directed towards the electrodes 1, on which hydrogen was released (column 8 of the table).

The third series of experiments was carried out with the influence of an alternating electric field and with the supply of direct current from an independent source of direct current 7 to the electrodes 1 and 2 (column 9 of the table).

During the experiments, gases were released at the electrodes 1 and 2 in the form of small bubbles, gradually increasing in size. Upon reaching a certain value, the bubbles rose up along the electrodes 1 and 2, which made it possible to separate the gases, creating isolated cavities 16 above the electrodes 1 and 2.

Comparing the experimental results, it is seen that the influence of an alternating electric field during the dissociation of water with a frequency at harmonics, with respect to which the natural frequencies of vibrations of hydrogen atoms relative to oxygen atoms and oxygen atoms relative to hydrogen atoms in a water molecule, are multiple (columns 8 and 9 of the table), allows you to reduce energy consumption for obtaining one normal m 3 hydrogen compared with pure electrolysis several times. The use of an aqueous electrolyte instead of distilled water, for example, an alkaline solution with pH = 10, allows one to increase the yield of hydrogen by 1.5 times.

The above information is relevant for the method and elementary device 11 for its implementation, the so-called laboratory samples. For industrial use of the claimed technical solutions, the required number of elementary devices 11 should be electrically and hydraulically combined into a battery.

Based on the foregoing, the claimed method and device for its implementation can be considered as satisfying the conditions of patentability.

As a result of the use of the inventions, a rather simple method for dissociating water into hydrogen and oxygen and a device for implementing this method, which are suitable for industrial use, have been shown to reduce the energy intensity of the process of water dissociation and provide the possibility of separate production of gases.

Claims

1. The method of dissociation of water into hydrogen and oxygen, comprising exposing the water or the aqueous electrolyte to an electric field through electrodes located at a distance from each other and removing dissociation products, characterized in that the exposure to water or the aqueous electrolyte by an electric field is carried out with a calculated resonant frequency of harmonics, in relation to which the frequency of natural vibrations of the water molecule is a multiple, and the removal of dissociation products is carried out separately from each even and odd electrodes.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that in addition to the electric field, water or an aqueous electrolyte are simultaneously exposed to an alternating or constant magnetic field directed perpendicular to it.

3. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that each even and odd electrodes are combined into a closed electric circuit with one-sided flow of electric current.

4. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that each even and odd electrodes are connected to the corresponding poles of the DC source.

5. A device for dissociating water into hydrogen and oxygen, comprising a set of parallel-mounted electrodes immersed in water or an aqueous electrolyte located at a distance from each other and hydraulically connected to form electrolytic sections, which are combined into an electrical circuit, characterized in that the set of electrodes placed between two flat plates, electrically isolated from electrodes and aqueous electrolyte, connected to an alternator and parallel to Tel'nykh electrodes to form unit cells.

6. The device according to claim 5, characterized in that it is provided with a source of alternating or constant magnetic field perpendicular to the electric field of the flat plates.

7. The device according to claim 5, characterized in that each even and odd electrodes are combined in a closed electrical circuit, including a diode and a resistor.

8. The device according to claim 5, characterized in that each even and odd electrodes are combined in an electric circuit with a direct current source.

9. A device according to any one of claims 7 or 8, characterized in that in the upper part the electrodes are separated from each other by gas-tight partitions, the lower boundaries of which are located below the level of the aqueous electrolyte with the formation of cavities, each cavity being equipped with an individual outlet formed during the electrolysis gases.

10. The device according to any one of claims 5 to 8, characterized in that it includes a plurality of parallel and / or series-connected unit cells electrically and hydraulically combined into a battery.