Water instead of gasoline: electrolysis is the technology of the future

Electrolyzer

Electrolysis is a chemical-physical phenomenon of the decomposition of substances into elements using an electric current, which is used everywhere for industrial purposes. On the basis of this reaction, aggregates are made to obtain, for example, chlorine or non-ferrous metals.

Electrolysis plant, which consists of plates

The constant growth of prices for energy resources has made ionic installations for home use in demand. What are such structures, and how to make them at home?

General information about the electrolyser

An electrolysis plant is a device for electrolysis that requires an external energy source, which structurally consists of several electrodes, which are placed in a container filled with electrolyte. Also, this installation can be called a water splitting device.

In similar units, productivity is considered the key technical parameter, which means the volume of hydrogen produced per hour and is measured in m3 / h. Stationary units carry such a parameter in the name of the model, for example, the SEU-40 membrane unit forms 40 cubic meters per hour. m of hydrogen.

external view of the stationary industrial unit SEU-40

Other characteristics of such devices completely depend on the intended purpose and the type of installation. For example, when performing electrolysis of water, the efficiency of the unit depends on the following indicators:

1. The level of the lowest electrode potential (voltage). For a good functioning of the unit, this characteristic should be in the range of 1.8-2 V per plate. If the power supply has a voltage of 14 V, then the capacity of the electrolytic cell with the electrolyte solution makes sense to divide the sheets into 7 cells. A similar installation is called a dry cell. A smaller value will not start electrolysis, and a larger value will greatly increase the energy consumption;

Arrangement of plates in the bath of an electrolysis plant

1. The smaller the distance between the plate elements, the less the resistance will be, which, when a large current passes, leads to an increase in the production of gaseous matter;
2. The surface area of ​​the plates directly affects productivity;
3. Heat balance and degree of electrolyte concentration;
4. Material of electrode components. Gold is considered an expensive but wonderful material for use in electrolytic cells. Due to its high cost, stainless steel is sometimes used.

The main thing! In constructions of a different type, the values ​​will have different parameters.

Water electrolysis plants can also be used for purposes such as decontamination, purification and water quality assessment.

Hydrogen production by electrolysis of water.

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Electrolysis of water is one of the most well-known and well-studied methods for producing hydrogen. It provides a pure product (99.6-99.9%H2) in one technological stage. In the production costs of hydrogen production, the cost of electrical energy is approximately 85%.

Water electrolysis is one of the most well-known and well-studied methods for producing hydrogen [433]. It provides a pure product (99.6-99.9% H2) in one process step. The economics of the process mainly depend on the cost of electricity. In the production costs of hydrogen production, the cost of electrical energy is approximately 85%.

This method has been applied in a number of countries with significant resources of cheap hydropower.The largest electrochemical complexes are located in Canada, India, Egypt, Norway, but thousands of smaller installations have been created and are operating in many countries of the world. This method is also important because it is the most versatile in relation to the use of primary energy sources. In connection with the development of nuclear power, a new flourishing of water electrolysis is possible on the basis of cheap electricity from nuclear power plants. The resources of the modern electric power industry are insufficient to obtain hydrogen as a product for further energy use. If electricity is obtained from the cheapest atomic energy, then with the efficiency of the process of generating electricity equal to 40% (in the case of fast breeder reactors) and the efficiency of the process of obtaining hydrogen by electrolysis even 80%, the total efficiency of the electrolysis process will be 0.8-0.4 = 0.32, or 32%. Further, if we assume that electricity accounts for 25% of total energy production, and 40% of electricity is consumed for electrolysis, then the contribution of this source to the total energy supply will be at best 0.25X X 0.4-0.32 = 0.032, or 3, 2%. Consequently, water electrolysis as a method of producing hydrogen for power supply can be considered within strictly limited frameworks. However, as a method for producing hydrogen for the chemical and metallurgical industries, it should be technologically armed, since under certain economic conditions it can be used on a large-scale industrial scale.

Electrolysis can be successfully used in hydroelectric power plants or in cases where thermal and nuclear power plants have excess capacity, and hydrogen production is a means for using, storing and storing energy. For this purpose, powerful electrolyzers with a capacity of up to 1 million m3 of hydrogen per day can be used. At a large water electrolysis plant with a capacity of 450 t / day and higher, the power consumption per 1 m3 of hydrogen can be increased to 4–4.5 kWh. With such an energy consumption in a number of energy situations, water electrolysis, even under modern conditions, can become a competitive method for producing hydrogen [435].

The electrochemical method for producing hydrogen from water has the following positive qualities: 1) high purity of the produced hydrogen - up to 99.99% and higher; 2) simplicity of the technological process, its continuity, the possibility of the most complete automation, the absence of moving parts in the electrolytic cell; 3) the possibility of obtaining the most valuable by-products - heavy water and oxygen; 4) generally available and inexhaustible raw material - water; 5) flexibility of the process and the possibility of producing hydrogen directly under pressure; 6) physical separation of hydrogen and oxygen in the very process of electrolysis.

In all hydrogen production processes, the decomposition of water will produce significant amounts of oxygen as a by-product. This will provide new incentives for its application. It will find its place not only as an accelerator of technological processes, but also as an irreplaceable purifier and healthier of reservoirs and industrial effluents. This scope of oxygen use can be extended to the atmosphere, soil, water. The burning of growing amounts of municipal waste in oxygen could solve the problem of solid waste in big cities.

An even more valuable byproduct of water electrolysis is heavy water, a good neutron moderator in nuclear reactors. In addition, heavy water is used as a raw material for the production of deuterium, which in turn is a raw material for thermonuclear power engineering.

Electrolytic decomposition of water.

2 H2O = 2 H2 + O2

Pure water practically does not conduct current, therefore electrolytes (usually KOH) are added to it. During electrolysis, hydrogen is released at the cathode.An equivalent amount of oxygen is released at the anode, which is therefore a by-product in this method.

The hydrogen produced by electrolysis is very pure, apart from the admixture of small amounts of oxygen, which can be easily removed by passing the gas over suitable catalysts such as slightly heated palladium-on-asbestos. Therefore, it is used both for the hydrogenation of fats and for other catalytic hydrogenation processes. The hydrogen produced by this method is quite expensive.

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Date added: 2016-10-26; views: 13219; ORDER WRITING WORK

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Working principle and types of electrolyzer

A very simple device has electrolyzers that split water into oxygen and hydrogen. They consist of a container with an electrolyte, in which electrodes are placed, connected to an energy source.

The design of the simplest electrolysis plant

The working principle of an electrolysis plant is that the electric current passing through the electrolyte has a voltage sufficient to decompose water into molecules. The result of the process is that the anode releases one part of oxygen, and the cathode creates two parts of hydrogen.

Disinfection of water by direct electrolysis

What is Direct Water Electrolysis?

The passage of an electric current through the treated water is accompanied by a series of electrochemical reactions, as a result of which new substances are formed in the water, and the structure of intermolecular interactions changes. During direct electrolysis of water, oxidants are synthesized - oxygen, ozone, hydrogen peroxide, etc. In addition, residual chlorine is formed in water even with a very low chloride content during direct electrolysis, which is very important for the prolonged effect of water disinfection.

Water electrolysis process theory

In a simplified form, direct electrolysis of water consists of several processes.

1) Electrochemical process.

In water (H2O), two plates (electrodes) are located in parallel: the anode and the cathode. A DC voltage applied to the electrodes leads to electrolysis of the water.

The anode produces oxygen: 2H2O → O2 + 4H + + 4e− (water is acidified).

Hydrogen is formed at the cathode: 2H2O + 2e− → H2 + 2OH− (the water is made alkaline).

The amount of hydrogen generated is negligible and not a big problem.

The use of special electrodes allows ozone and hydrogen peroxide to be produced from water.

The anode produces ozone: 3H2O → O3 + 6e− + 6H + (water is acidified).

At the cathode - hydrogen peroxide: O2 + 2H2O + 2e− → H2O2 + 2OH– (the water is alkalized).

Natural fresh (not distilled) water always contains mineral salts - sulfates, carbonates, chlorides. In order to obtain chlorine for a prolonged effect of water disinfection, only chlorides are of interest. In water, they are mainly represented by sodium chloride (NaCl), calcium chloride (CaCl) and potassium chloride (KCl).

Using the example of sodium chloride, the reaction of chlorine formation by electrolysis will be as follows.

Salt dissolved in water: 2NaCl + H2O → 2Na + + 2Cl– + 2H2O

During electrolysis, chlorine is formed at the anode: 2Cl– → Cl2+ 2e– (water is acidified).

And at the cathode, sodium hydroxide is formed: Na + + OH– → NaOH (the water is made alkaline).

This reaction is short-lived, as any chlorine produced at the anode is quickly consumed to form sodium hypochlorite: Cl2 + 2NaOH → H2 + 2NaOCl.

Similar electrolysis reactions occur with calcium and potassium chlorides.

Thus, as a result of the electrolysis of fresh water, a mixture of strong oxidants is generated: oxygen + ozone + hydrogen peroxide + sodium hypochlorite.

2) Electromagnetic process.

A water molecule is a small dipole containing positive (from the hydrogen side) and negative (from the oxygen side) charges at the poles.In an electromagnetic field, the hydrogen part of the water molecule is attracted to the cathode, and the oxygen part to the anode. This leads to a weakening and even rupture of hydrogen bonds in the water molecule. The weakening of hydrogen bonds promotes the formation of atomic oxygen. The presence of atomic oxygen in the water helps to reduce the hardness of the water. Calcium is always present in ordinary water. Ca + ions are oxidized by atomic oxygen: Ca + + O → CaO. Calcium oxide, combining with water, forms calcium oxide hydrate: CaO + H2O → Ca (OH) 2. Calcium oxide hydrate is a strong base, readily soluble in water. Similar processes occur with other elements of water hardness.

3) Cavitation processes.

As a result of the electrochemical and electromagnetic process, microscopic gas bubbles of oxygen and hydrogen are formed. A whitish cloud appears near the surface of the electrodes, consisting of the bubbles that have arisen. Being carried away by the water flow, the bubbles move to the region where the flow velocity is lower and the pressure is higher, and they collapse at a high speed.

The instantaneous collapse of the bubble releases tremendous energy, which destroys the water wall of the bubble, i.e. water molecules. The consequence of the destruction of a water molecule is the formation of hydrogen and oxygen ions, atomic particles of hydrogen and oxygen, hydrogen and oxygen molecules, hydroxyls and other substances.

The listed processes contribute to the formation of the main oxidant - atomic oxygen.

What is the uniqueness of direct water electrolysis?

Disinfection of water by direct electrolysis is a type of oxidative treatment of water, but it is fundamentally different from common disinfection methods in that oxidants are produced from the water itself, and not brought in from the outside and, having fulfilled their function, pass into the previous state. The efficiency of water disinfection by direct electrolysis is several times higher in comparison with chemical methods. Direct electrolysis of water promotes removal of color, hydrogen sulfide, ammonium source water. Direct electrolysis does not require metering pumps or reagents.

Chlorine, necessary to prevent secondary bacterial contamination of water in distribution networks, is activated from natural mineral salts in the water passing through the electrolyzer and instantly dissolves in it. Direct electrolysis breaks down chloramines, converting them to nitrogen and salt.

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Types of electrolyzers

Devices for splitting water are of the following types:

These electrolyzers have the most primitive design (picture above). They are characterized by the characteristic that manipulation with the number of cells will give you the opportunity to power the device from a source with any voltage.

Flowing view

These installations have in their own design a bathtub completely filled with electrolyte with electrode elements and a reservoir.

The device of a conventional flow-through electrolyzer, where A is a bath with electrodes, D is a tank, B, E are tubes, C is an outlet valve

The working principle of the flow-through electrolysis plant is as follows (from the picture above):

• when electrolysis leaks, the electrolyte is squeezed out simultaneously with the gas through the pipe "B" into the tank "D";
• in tank "D" the process of gas separation from electrolyte flows;
• gas exits through valve "C";
• the electrolyte solution flows back through tube “E” to bath “A”.

Interesting to know. This working principle is set up in certain inverter machines - the combustion of the released gas allows the parts to be welded.

Membrane view

The membrane electrolysis plant has the same design as other electrolysers, but the electrolyte is a polymer-based solid called membrane tissue.

Membrane electrolyzer design

The membrane tissue in such aggregates has a dual purpose - the transfer of ions and protons, the zoning of electrodes and electrolysis products.

Diaphragm view

When one substance cannot penetrate and affect the other, a porous diaphragm is used, which can be made of glass, polymer fibers, ceramics or asbestos material.

The device of a diaphragm electrolyzer, where 1 is an outlet for oxygen, 2 is a flask, 3 is an outlet for hydrogen, 4 is an anode, 5 is a cathode, 6 is a diaphragm

Alkaline

Electrolysis cannot take place in distilled water. In such cases, it is necessary to use catalysts, which are alkaline solutions of high concentration. Based on this, a significant part of ionic devices can be called alkaline.

The main thing! It should be noted that the use of salt as a catalyst is harmful, since chlorine gas is released during the course of the reaction. As a rule, sodium hydroxide acts as a wonderful catalyst, which does not corrode metal electrodes and does not contribute to the release of harmful substances.

Self-made electrolyzer

Anyone can make an electrolyzer with their own hands. For the assembly process of the most common design, the following materials will be needed:

• stainless steel sheet (the best options are foreign AISI 316L or ours 03X16H15M3);
• bolts М6х150;
• washers and nuts;
• transparent tube - you can use a spirit level, which is used for construction purposes;
• several herringbone fittings with an outer diameter of 8 mm;
• plastic container with a volume of 1.5 liters;
• a small filter filtering tap water, for example, a filter for washing machines;
• non-return water valve.

Assembly process

Collect the electrolyzer with your own hands according to the following instructions:

1. First of all, you need to mark and the subsequent sawing of the stainless steel sheet into identical squares. Sawing can be done with an angle grinder (angle grinder). One of the corners in such squares must be cut at an angle to secure the plates correctly;
2. Next, you need to make a hole for the bolt on the side of the plate opposite from the corner saw cut;
3. The connection of the plates should be done in turn: one plate on "+", the next on "-" and so on;
4. Between the differently charged plates there should be an insulator, which acts as a tube from the spirit level. It should be cut into rings, which should be cut lengthwise to obtain strips of 1 mm thickness. This distance between the plates is sufficient for good gas evolution during electrolysis;
5. The plates are fastened together using washers as follows: a washer sits on the bolt, then a plate, then three washers, after a plate, and so on. Plates, favorably charged, are placed in a mirror image of negatively charged sheets. This makes it possible to prevent the sawed edges from touching the electrodes;

Plates of the electrolysis plant assembled together

1. When assembling the plates, you should simultaneously isolate them and tighten the nuts;
2. Also, each plate must be ringed in order to be sure that there is no short circuit;
3. Further, the entire assembly must be placed in a plastic box;
4. After that, it is worth highlighting the places where the bolts touch the walls of the container, where you drill two holes. If the bolts do not fit into the container, then they need to be cut with a hacksaw;
5. Then the bolts are tightened with nuts and washers for the tightness of the structure;

Plates placed in a plastic container

1. After the steps taken, you will need to make holes in the container lid and insert the fittings into them. Impermeability in this case can be ensured by sealing the joints with silicone-based sealants;
2. A safety valve and filter in the structure is located at the outlet of the gas and serves as a means of controlling excessive accumulation of gas, which can lead to poor results;
3. The electrolysis unit is assembled.

The last stage is a test, which is performed in a similar way:

• filling the container with water up to the mark of the bolts for fasteners;
• connecting power to the device;
• connection to the fitting of the tube, the opposite end of which is lowered into the water.

If a weak current is applied to the installation, then the release of gas through the tube will be almost imperceptible, but it will be possible to watch it from inside the electrolyzer. By increasing the alternating current, adding an alkaline catalyst to the water, it is possible to significantly increase the yield of the gaseous substance.

The made electrolyzer, as a rule, is an important part of many devices, for example, a hydrogen burner.

the appearance of a hydrogen burner, the basis of which is considered to be a self-made electrolyzer

Knowing the types, key characteristics, device and working principle of ionic installations, you can perform the correct assembly of a self-made structure, which is an excellent assistant in a variety of everyday situations: from welding and saving fuel consumption of motor vehicles to the functioning of heating systems.

Do the electrolyser with your own hands

Surely, you are familiar with the electrolysis process from the elementary school curriculum. This is when 2 polar electrodes are placed in water under current in order to obtain metals or non-metals in their pure form. An electrolyzer is needed to decompose water molecules into oxygen and hydrogen. The electrolyser, as part of scientific mechanisms, divides molecules into ions.

There are two types of this device:

• Dry electrolyzer (this is a completely closed cell);
• Wet electrolyzer (these are two metal plates placed in a container of water).

This device is simple in terms of the device, which makes it possible use even at home... Electrolyzers divide the electrolysis charges of the atoms of the molecules into charged atoms.

In our case, it divides water into positive hydrogen and negative oxygen. To do this, a large amount of energy is required, and to make less of the required amount of energy, a catalyst is used.

Water instead of gasoline: electrolysis is the technology of the future

Demonstrations have been conducted by Prof. Michael Laughton, Dean of Engineering at Queen Mary College, London, Admiral Sir Anthony Griffin, former Commander of the British Navy, and Dr. Keith Hindley, an English research chemist. The Mayer cell, made at home by the inventor in Grove City, Ohio, produced much more hydrogen-oxygen mixture than would be expected from simple electrolysis.

Whereas conventional water electrolysis requires a current, measured in amperes, a Mayer cell produces the same effect at milliamperes. Moreover, ordinary tap water requires the addition of an electrolyte, such as sulfuric acid, to increase conductivity, the Mayer cell operates at tremendous capacity with pure water.

According to eyewitnesses, the most striking aspect of Mayer's cage was that it remained cold even after hours of gas production.

Mayer's experiments, which he deemed feasible to submit for patenting, earned a series of US patents, presented under Section 101. Submission of a patent under this section is contingent on the successful demonstration of the invention to the Patent Review Committee.

Mayer's cell has a lot in common with an electrolytic cell, except that it works better at high potential and low current than other methods. The construction is simple.The electrodes — referring interested to Mayer’s — are made of parallel stainless steel plates, forming either a flat or concentric design. The gas output is inversely proportional to the distance between them, the 1.5 mm distance proposed by the patent gives a good result.

Significant differences are in the nutrition of the cell. Mayer uses an external inductance that oscillates with the cell's capacitance - pure water appears to have a dielectric constant of about 5 - to create a parallel resonant circuit.

It is excited by a powerful pulse generator, which, together with the cell capacitance and the rectifier diode, constitutes the pumping circuit. The high pulse frequency produces a stepwise rising potential at the cell electrodes until the point is reached where the water molecule disintegrates and a short current pulse occurs. The supply current measurement circuitry detects this surge and shuts down the pulse source for several cycles, allowing the water to recover.

Research chemist Keith Hindley offers the following description of Mayer's cell demonstration: “After a day of presentations, the Griffin committee witnessed a number of important properties of the WFC (water fuel cell, as the inventor called it).

An eyewitness group from independent scientific observers in the UK testified that the American inventor, Stanley Mayer, successfully decomposes ordinary tap water into its constituent elements through a combination of high-voltage pulses, with an average current consumption of only milliamperes. The fixed gas output was sufficient to show a hydrogen-oxygen flame that instantly melted the steel.

Compared with conventional high-current electrolysis, eyewitnesses stated that there was no heating of the cell. Mayer declined to comment on details that would allow scientists to reproduce and evaluate his "water cell." However, he submitted a sufficiently detailed description to the US Patent Office to convince them that he could substantiate his invention application.

One demonstration cell was equipped with two parallel excitation electrodes. After being filled with tap water, the electrodes generated gas at very low current levels - no more than tenths of an ampere, and even milliamperes, as Mayer claims - gas output increased as the electrodes were moved closer and decreased as they moved away. The potential in the pulse reached tens of thousands of volts.

The second cell contained 9 cells with double stainless steel tubes and produced much more gas. A series of photographs were taken showing gas production at milliamperes. When the voltage was pushed to its limit, the gas came out in a very impressive amount.

“We noticed that the water at the top of the cell slowly began to turn from a pale cream to dark brown color, we are almost certain about the effect of chlorine in highly chlorinated tap water on the stainless steel tubing used for excitation.”

He demonstrated the production of gas at milliamperes and kilovolts.

“The most remarkable observation is that the WFC and all of its metal tubes remained completely cold to the touch, even after more than 20 minutes of operation. The molecule-splitting mechanism develops exceptionally little heat compared to electrolysis, where the electrolyte heats up quickly. "

The result allows one to consider efficient and controllable gas production that is quick to emerge and is safe to operate. We have clearly seen how capacity increases and decreases are used to drive gas production. We saw how the gas flow stopped and started again, respectively, when the input voltage was turned off and on again. "

“After hours of discussion among ourselves, we concluded that Steve Mayer had come to invent a completely new method for decomposing water, which showed some of the features of classical electrolysis. This is confirmed by the fact that his devices, actually working, taken from his collection, are certified by US patents for various parts of the WFC system. Since they were submitted under Section 101 of the US Patent Office, the apparatus included in the patents was verified experimentally by experts from the US Patent Office, their second examiners and all applications were established. "

“The main WFC underwent a three-year trial. This raised the granted patents to the level of independent, critical, scientific and engineering evidence that the devices actually work as described. "

The practical demonstration of Mayer's cell is substantially more convincing than the pseudoscientific jargon that is used to explain it. The inventor personally spoke about the distortion and polarization of the water molecule, leading to an independent break of the bond under the influence of the electric field gradient, resonance within the molecule, which enhances the effect.

Apart from the abundant evolution of oxygen and hydrogen and minimal heating of the cell, eyewitnesses also report that the water inside the cell disappears quickly, passing into its constituent parts in the form of an aerosol from a huge number of tiny bubbles covering the surface of the cell.

Mayer stated that he has been operating a hydrogen-oxygen converter for the past 4 years using a chain of 6 cylindrical cells.

We create a device with our own hands

The device for this process can be done by hand.

For this you will need:

• Stainless steel sheet;
• Bolts M6 x 150;
• Washers;
• Nuts;
• Transparent tube;
• Connecting elements with thread on both sides;
• One and a half liters plastic container;
• Water filter;
• Check valve for water.

An excellent option for stainless steel is AISI 316L from a foreign manufacturer or 03X16H15M3 from a manufacturer from our country. There is absolutely no need to purchase stainless steel, you can take the old one. 50 to 50 centimeters is enough for you.

"Why take stainless steel itself?" - you ask. Since the most common metal will corrode. Stainless steel tolerates alkalis better. Should outline the sheet in such a way as to divide it into 16 similar squares... You can cut it with an angle grinder. In each square, cut one of the corners.

On the other side and opposite corner, from the sawn-off corner, drill a hole for a bolt that will help hold the plates together. The electrolyzer does not stop working like this:t plate electricity flows to the plate - and water decomposes into oxygen and hydrogen. Thanks to this, we need a good and negative plate.

Plates must be connected alternately: plus-minus-plus-minus, with a similar method, there will be a strong current. To insulate the plates one from one, a tube is used. A ring is cut from the level. By cutting it, we get a strip millimeter thick. This distance is more correct for making gas.

The plates are interconnected with washers: we put a washer on the bolt, then a plate and three washers, then a plate again, and so on. On the plus and minus, eight plates must be planted. If everything is done correctly, then the cuts of the plates will not touch the electrodes.

Then you need to tighten the nuts and isolate the plates. Then we place the structure in a plastic container.

Household hydrogen production

High-temperature methods of hydrogen production at home are not applicable. Electrolysis of water is most often used here.

Electrolyzer selection

To obtain an element of the house, you need a special apparatus - an electrolyser.There are many options for such equipment on the market, devices are offered by both well-known technology corporations and small manufacturers. Branded units are more expensive, but the build quality is higher.

The home appliance is small and easy to use. Its main details are:

Electrolyzer - what is it

• reformer;
• cleaning system;
• fuel cells;
• compressor equipment;
• a container for storing hydrogen.

Simple tap water is taken as raw material, and electricity comes from a regular outlet. Solar-powered units save on electricity.

Home hydrogen is used in heating or cooking systems. And also they enrich the fuel-air mixture in order to increase the power of the car's engines.

Making an apparatus with your own hands

It is even cheaper to make the device yourself at home. A dry cell looks like a sealed container, which consists of two electrode plates in a container with an electrolytic solution. The World Wide Web offers a variety of assembly schemes for devices of different models:

• with two filters;
• with top or bottom arrangement of the container;
• with two or three valves;
• with galvanized board;
• on the electrodes.

Electrolysis device diagram

It is not difficult to create a simple device for producing hydrogen. It will require:

• sheet stainless steel;
• transparent tube;
• fittings;
• plastic container (1.5 l);
• water filter and non-return valve.

The device of a simple device for producing hydrogen

In addition, various hardware will be needed: nuts, washers, bolts. The first step is to cut the sheet into 16 square compartments, cut off a corner from each of them. In the opposite corner from it, you need to drill a hole for bolting the plates. To ensure constant current, the plates must be connected according to the plus – minus – plus – minus scheme. These parts are isolated from each other with a tube, and at the connection with a bolt and washers (three pieces between the plates). 8 plates are placed on plus and minus.

When properly assembled, the ribs of the plates will not touch the electrodes. The assembled parts are lowered into a plastic container. At the point where the walls touch, two mounting holes are made with bolts. Install a safety valve to remove excess gas. Fittings are mounted in the container lid and the seams are sealed with silicone.

Testing the apparatus

To test the device, perform several actions:

Hydrogen production scheme

1. Fill with liquid.
2. Covering with a lid, connect one end of the tube to the fitting.
3. The second is immersed in water.
4. Connect to a power source.

After plugging the device into an outlet, after a few seconds, the electrolysis process and precipitation will be noticeable.

Pure water does not have good electrical conductivity. To improve this indicator, you need to create an electrolytic solution by adding an alkali - sodium hydroxide. It is found in pipe cleaning compounds like the Mole.

Debugging and testing of the device

Then it is necessary to determine where the bolts touch the walls of the box and, in those places, drill two holes. If for no apparent reason it turns out that the bolts do not fit into the container, then they should cut and tighten for tightness with nuts... Now you need to drill out the cover and insert the threaded connectors there from both sides. To ensure impermeability, the joint should be sealed with a silicone-based sealant.

After assembling your own electrolyzer with your own hands, you should test it. To do this, connect the device to a power source, fill it with water to the bolts, put on the lid by connecting a tube to the fitting and lowering the opposite end of the tube into the water. If the current is weak, then the current will be visible from inside the electrolyzer.

Gradually increase the current in your homemade appliance. Distilled water does not conduct electricity well because it contains no salts or impurities.To prepare the electrolyte, it is necessary to add alkali to the water. To do this, you need to take sodium hydroxide (contained in means for cleaning pipes such as "Mole"). A safety valve is needed to prevent a decent amount of gas from accumulating.

• It is better to use distilled water and soda as a catalyst.
• You should mix some of the baking soda with forty parts of water. The walls on the sides are best made of acrylic glass.
• The electrodes are best made of stainless steel. It makes sense to use gold for plates.
• Use translucent PVC for backing. They can be 200 by 160 millimeters in size.
• You can use your own electrolyzer, made by yourself, to cook food, for the complete combustion of gasoline in cars and in most cases.

Dry electrolyzers are mainly used for machines. The generator increases the power of the combustion engine. Hydrogen ignites much faster than liquid fuel, increasing the force of the piston. In addition to Mole, you can take Mister Muscle, caustic soda, baking soda.

The generator does not work on drinking water. It is better to connect electricity like this: the first and the last plate - minus, and on the plate in the middle - plus. The larger the area of ​​the plates and the stronger the current, the more gas is released.

Do-it-yourself home electrolysis

When I was small, I always wanted to do something myself, with my own hands. But the parents (and other close people) in most cases did not allow this. And I didn’t see then (and until now I don’t see) anything bad when little children want to learn ??

Of course, I did not write this article in order to recall childhood experiences in the desire to start self-education. Just by accident, when I was wandering on otvet.mail.ru, I came across a question of this kind. Some little bomber boy asked questions about how to do electrolysis at home. True, I did not answer him, because this boy wanted to electrolyze the painfully suspicious mixture ?? I decided that I would not say further out of sin, let me look in books myself. But not so long ago, again wandering through the forums, I saw a similar question from a teacher at a chemistry school. Judging by the description, his school is so poor that it cannot (does not want to) buy an electrolyzer for 300 rubles. The teacher (what a problem!) Could not find a way out of the resulting situation. So I helped him. For those who are curious about this kind of homemade products, I post this article on the site.

Actually, the production process and the use of our self-pallet is very primitive. But I will tell you about safety first, and about manufacturing - in the second. And the point is that we are talking about a demonstration electrolyzer, and not about an industrial plant. Thanks to this, for safety, it will be good to power it not from the network, but from AA batteries or from a battery. Naturally, the higher the voltage, the faster the electrolysis process will go. However, for visual observation of gas bubbles, it is quite enough 6 V, but 220 is already excessive. with such a voltage, water, for example, will boil the fastest, and this is not very safe ... Well, I think you figured out the tension?

Now let's talk about where and under what conditions we will experiment. The very first thing, it should be either free space or a well-ventilated room. Although I did everything in an apartment with closed windows and nothing like? Second, the experiment is best done on a good table. The word "good" means that the table must be stable, or better, heavy, rigid and attached to the floor surface. In this case, the table covering must be resistant to aggressive substances. By the way, tile from a tile is perfect for this (although not every, unfortunately). A table like this will come in handy not only for this experience.However, I did everything on an ordinary stool ?? Third, during the experiment, you do not need to move the power source (in my case, batteries). Due to this, for reliability, it is best to immediately lay them on the table and fix them so that they do not budge. Believe me, this is more convenient than holding them regularly with your hands. I simply tied my own batteries with electrical tape to the first hard object I saw. Fourthly, the dishes in which we will experiment, let them be small. A simple glass fits or a shot glass. By the way, this is the most optimal way to use glasses at home, as opposed to pouring alcohol into them with further use ...

Well, now let's move on specifically to the device. It is provided in the figure, but for now I will briefly explain what and what.

We need to take a simple pencil and remove the tree from it with an ordinary knife and get a whole lead out of the pencil. You can, however, take a lead from a mechanical pencil. But there are two difficulties at once. The first is the usual one. The lead from a mechanical pencil is too thin, for us this is simply not suitable for a visual experiment. The second difficulty is some incomprehensible composition of the current slates. It feels like they are not made from graphite, but from something else. In general, my experience with such a "lead" was not successful at all even at a voltage of 24 V. Thanks to this, I needed to pick out a good woody simple pencil. The resulting graphite rod will serve as an electrode for us. As you can imagine, we need two electrodes. Thanks to this, we go to pick the second pencil, or simply break the existing rod in two. I actually did this.

With any wire that comes to hand, we wrap the first lead-electrode (with one end of the wire), and we connect this wire to the minus of the power source (with the other end). Then we take the second lead and do the same with it. For this, based on this, we need a second wire. But in this case, we connect this wire to the plus of the power supply. If you have problems attaching the fragile graphite rod to the wire, you can use the tools at hand, such as tape or duct tape. If it did not work out to wrap the tip of the graphite with the wire itself, and the tape or insulating tape did not provide a tight contact, then try to glue the lead with conductive glue. If you don't have this, then at least tie the lead to the wire with a thread. No need to be afraid, the thread will not burn out from such tension ??

For those who know nothing about batteries and simple rules for their connection, I will explain a little. The finger-type battery produces a voltage of 1.5 V. In the picture I have two similar batteries. Moreover, they are connected gradually - one after the other, not in parallel. With a similar (serial) connection, the final voltage will be summed up from the voltage of each battery, that is, for me it is 1.5 + 1.5 = 3.0 V. This is less than the previously stated 6 volts. But I was too lazy to go buy a few more batteries. Principle you and so must be clear ??

Let's start the experiment. For example, we will restrict ourselves to the electrolysis of water. First, it is very accessible (I hope that the reader of this article does not live in the Sahara), and second, it is harmless. Moreover, I will show how with the same device (electrolyzer) with the same substance (water) to perform two various experience. I think that you have enough imagination to come up with a bunch of similar experiments with other substances ?? In general, tap water is suitable for us. But I recommend that you add a little more of it and salt it. A little bit - this means a small pinch, not a whole dessert spoon. This is important! Stir the salt well to dissolve. So water, being a dielectric in a pure state, will perfectly conduct electricity.at the beginning of the experiment, wipe the table from potential moisture, and then put the power source and a glass of water on it.

We lower both electrodes, present under voltage, into the water. At the same time, make sure that only graphite is immersed in the water, and the wire itself should not touch the water. The beginning of the experiment may be delayed. Time depends on many indicators: on the composition of the water, the quality of the wires, the quality of the graphite and, of course, the voltage of the power source. The beginning of my reaction was delayed for a couple of seconds. Oxygen begins to evolve on the electrode that was connected to the plus of the batteries. Hydrogen will be released on the electrode connected to the minus. It should be noted that there are more hydrogen bubbles. Very small bubbles stick around the part of the graphite that is submerged in the water. Then some of the bubbles start to float.

Electrode at the beginning of the experiment. There are no gas bubbles yet. Hydrogen bubbles formed on the electrode connected to the negative pole of the batteries

What other experiments can there be? If you have already played enough with hydrogen and oxygen, we proceed to another experiment. It is more interesting, especially for home researchers. It is interesting in that it is possible not only to see it, but also to smell it. In the past experience, we received oxygen and hydrogen, which, in my opinion, are not very spectacular. And in another experiment, we get two substances (useful in everyday life, by the way). at the beginning of the experiment, stop the previous experiment and dry the electrodes. Now take table salt (which you usually use in the kitchen room) and dissolve it in the water mass. In this case, not a small amount. Actually, a decent amount of salt is the only thing that makes the second experience different from the first. After dissolving the salt, you can immediately repeat the experiment. Now a different reaction is taking place. On a good electrode, it is not oxygen that is released now, but chlorine. And on the negative, hydrogen is also released. As for the glass in which the salt solution is located, sodium hydroxide remains in it after prolonged electrolysis. This is the familiar caustic soda, alkali.

Chlorine, you will be able to smell it. But for the best effect, I recommend taking a voltage of at least 12 V. Otherwise, you may not feel the aroma. The presence of alkali (after a very long electrolysis) in the glass can be checked in several ways. The simplest and most violent is to put your hand in the glass. An ethnic omen says that if a burning sensation begins, there is alkali in the glass. A smarter and more distinct way is the litmus test. If your school is so poor that it is not even able to acquire a litmus, the indicators at hand will help you. One of these, as they say, can serve as a drop of beet juice ?? But it is quite possible to just drip a little fat into the solution. As far as I know, saponification should take place.

For the very curious, I will describe what actually happened during the experiments. In the first experiment, under the influence of an electric current, a similar reaction took place: 2 H2O >>> 2 H2 + O2 Both gases naturally float from the water to the surface. By the way, floating gases can be trapped. Can you do it yourself?

In another experiment, the reaction was completely different. It was also initiated by an electric current, but now not only water, but also salt acted as reagents: 4H2O + 4NaCl >>> 4NaOH + 2H2 + 2Cl2 Keep in mind that the reaction must take place in an excess of water. To find out what amount of salt is considered the largest, you can count it from the above reaction. You can also think about how to improve the device or what other experiments can be done. Indeed, it is possible that sodium hypochlorite can be obtained by electrolysis. Under laboratory conditions, in most cases, it is obtained by passing gaseous chlorine through a sodium hydroxide solution.

Water purification by direct electrolysis

When water passes through the electrolyzer, as a result of the action of an electric current, special compounds are formed.With their help, water can be disinfected during its flow. This technology of water disinfection without the use of reagents is today the most promising direction.

Scientific background.

Water purification by direct electrolysis by passing an electric current causes electrochemical reactions. Thus, new substances are formed in the water. There is also a change in the structure of intermolecular interactions.

Environmental prerequisites.

During electrolysis, oxidants are formed directly from water, which does not require their additional introduction.

Economic preconditions.

Natural water can be processed by direct electrolysis using a power supply unit and an electrolyzer. Dosing pumps, reagents are not needed in this case. With direct electrolysis of natural water, electricity consumption is about 0.2 kW / m³.

Regulatory prerequisites.

Disinfection of water by direct electrolysis is recommended by SNiP 2.04.02-84 if the water contains at least 20 mg / l of chlorides. Moreover, its hardness is expressed in terms of no more than 7 mg-eq / l. Such processing can be carried out by stations with a capacity of 5,000 m³ per day.

Water purification and disinfection by direct electrolysis

Direct electrolysis is ideal for natural water purification. During this process, several oxidants are formed, such as ozone and oxygen. Any natural water contains chlorides to varying degrees, so free chlorine is formed during direct electrolysis.

Electrolysis plants are based on modularity. The capacity of electrolysis equipment can be increased by increasing the number of modules. Modules with a capacity of 5 or 12 kg of active chlorine per day are now in high demand. Modules with a capacity of 20 to 50 kg of active chlorine per day are used at facilities with a higher capacity.

Water electrolysis is accompanied by a series of electrochemical reactions, as a result of which oxidants are synthesized in water. The main reactions of water electrolysis are the formation of oxygen O2 and hydrogen H2, as well as the hydroxide ion OH¯:

at the anode 2H2O → O2 ↑ + 4H + + 4e− (1)

at the cathode 2H2O + 2e → H2 ↑ + 2OH¯ (2)

During the electrolysis of water, ozone O3 and hydrogen peroxide H2O2 are also formed:

at the anode 3H2O → O3 ↑ + 6e− + 6H + (3)

at the cathode 2H2O + O2 + 2e− → H2O2 + 2OH− (4)

In the presence of chlorides, dissolved chlorine is formed during electrolysis of water:

at the anode 2Cl– → Cl2 + 2e– (5)

Dissolved chlorine Cl2, reacting with water and hydroxide ion, forms hypochlorous acid HClO:

Cl2 + H2O → HClO + H + + Cl¯ (6)

Cl2 + OH¯ → HClO + Cl¯ (7)

The decomposition of hypochlorous acid HClO in water leads to the formation of hypochlorite ion:

HOCl ↔ H + + OCl¯ (8)

From the above reactions, it follows that during the electrolysis of water, a number of oxidants are formed:

oxygen O2,

ozone O3,

hydrogen peroxide H2O2,

hypochlorite ion OCl¯.

The appearance of OH radicals, H2O2 and O3 during electrolysis of water leads to the formation of other strong oxidants, such as O3¯, O2¯, O¯, HO2, HO3, HO4, etc.

Krasnodar produces this equipment according to the following principles:

• functionality. All equipment and each unit perform the main task of obtaining the reagent;
• environmental safety when using electrolysis plants in comparison with gaseous chlorine. Safe work of service personnel;
• ease of use, therefore, even personnel with secondary education can work with this equipment;
• reliability. Most of the plastic materials are used for the manufacture of equipment. Pumps and other mechanical units are not used;
• profitability. The costs of obtaining sodium hypochlorite by electrolysis include the cost of electricity, salt, water in the installation. It also includes the cost of preventive maintenance of equipment. Special water treatment, for example, its decarbonization, is not required.Together with hypochlorite, it is returned to the water undergoing treatment. This allows the cost of water to be disregarded at all. Since the process uses regular and unrefined salt, it also costs almost nothing;
• efficiency means the lowest cost in obtaining the final result. This installation allows you to obtain sodium hypochlorite with a concentration of 5 g of active chlorine in 1 liter in the first 2 hours;
• transparency. Transparent plastic allows observing the synthesis process and the state of the electrode package. For the manufacture of important hydraulic communications, materials of high transparency are also used.