TWI789157B - Gas generator - Google Patents

Abstract

A gas generator includes a container for accommodating aqueous reactant, and a reacting unit provided in the container and configured to be movable in the aqueous reactant. The reacting unit includes a chamber having an inner space, a liquid channel and a gas channel spatially communicated with one another, and a reactant provided in the inner space of the chamber. The aqueous reactant can pass through the liquid channel to flow into the inner space, and thus reacts with the reactant to generate gas. The generated gas can pass through the gas channel to flow into the container.

Description

gas generator

The present invention relates to a gas generating device.

With increasing emphasis on global warming, energy issues have become issues that people must face together. With the increase in energy consumption brought about by the vigorous development of science and technology in various countries, the environmental pollution caused by traditional fossil fuels is unacceptable. Therefore, the development of green energy has become a topic that has attracted much attention in recent years. Hydrogen is an important chemical that has been widely utilized and is also an energy carrier with high energy density, which has high potential as a clean fuel to realize pollution-free power generation.

Since the current industrial production of hydrogen still relies on fossil fuels, relevant research is actively looking for other alternative production schemes. Studies have found that high-purity silicon or aluminum contained in semiconductor wafers or solar cells is suitable for hydrogen production. Therefore, recycling waste semiconductor wafers or solar cells and using silicon-containing components or aluminum-containing components to produce hydrogen can be considered. s solution.

In order to increase the yield of hydrogen (Yield), silicon or aluminum-containing components can be processed into powder or granular fuel before being put into water. At a certain temperature, the powdered or granular fuel reacts with water to produce hydrogen. However, the hydrogen gas generated during the reaction forms bubbles in the water, and the powder or granular fuel that has not fully reacted may be carried out of the water surface due to the disturbance of the hydrogen bubbles or the pushing of the oxidized powder or granular fuel. The powdered or granular fuel that is carried out of the water cannot contact the water and cause the fuel to react incompletely, resulting in a decrease in the hydrogen production rate.

In view of the above problems, the present invention provides a gas generating device, which helps to solve the problem that the gas production rate decreases due to incomplete reaction of powder or granular fuel.

A gas generating device disclosed in an embodiment of the present invention includes a containing tank and a reaction unit. The accommodating tank is suitable for accommodating a reaction liquid. The reaction unit is located in the holding tank and is adapted to be movably located in the reaction liquid. The reaction unit includes a packaging body and a reactant, wherein the reactant is powder or granular. The packaging body has an inner space, a liquid passage and a gas passage which communicate with each other. The reactant is provided in the inner space of the package. The reaction liquid can enter the internal space through the liquid channel to react with the reactants to generate gas, and the gas produced by the reaction can enter the accommodating tank through the gas channel.

According to the gas generating device disclosed in the present invention, the reaction unit can be movably located in the reaction liquid and includes a packaging body and a reactant. The reaction liquid can flow into the package through the channel on the package body and contact with the reactants to generate gas, and the gas enters the reaction liquid through the channel on the package body, and can be finally collected by external equipment. The reaction unit suspended in the reaction liquid allows the reactants to be completely soaked under the liquid surface of the reaction liquid, which can prevent the reactants from incomplete reaction due to leaving the reaction liquid. Furthermore, the gas generating device disclosed in the present invention helps to solve the problem of the decrease of gas production rate.

The above description of the content of the present invention and the following description of the implementation are used to demonstrate and explain the principle of the present invention, and to provide further explanation of the patent application scope of the present invention.

The detailed features and advantages of the present invention are described in detail in the following embodiments, the content of which is sufficient to enable anyone familiar with the relevant art to understand the technical content of the present invention and implement it accordingly, and according to the content disclosed in this specification, the scope of the patent application and the drawings , anyone skilled in the relevant art can easily understand the present invention. The following examples are to further describe the concept of the present invention in detail, but not to limit the scope of the present invention in any way.

Please refer to FIG. 1 , which is a schematic diagram of a reaction unit according to an embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the reaction unit 10 a includes a packaging body 110 and a reactant 120 , wherein the reactant 120 may be powder or granular. The packaging body 110 includes a first shell 111 and a second shell 112 . The first shell 111 is detachably assembled with the second shell 112 to form the inner space 100 . The first shell 111 has at least one liquid inlet 111a as the liquid channel of the package 110 and communicates with the internal space 100 , and the second shell 112 has at least one air outlet 112a as the gas channel of the package 110 and communicates with the internal space 100 connected. FIG. 1 exemplarily depicts that the liquid channel includes a single liquid inlet hole 111a and the gas channel includes a plurality of gas outlet holes 112a, but the numbers of the liquid inlet holes and the gas outlet holes are not intended to limit the present invention. The liquid inlet hole 111a can optionally be filled with a water-absorbable substance or a wettability coating can be formed on the wall of the hole.

The reactant 120 is provided in the inner space 100 of the packaging body 110 . The reaction liquid can enter the inner space 100 through the liquid channel (liquid inlet hole 111 a ) to react with the reactant 120 to generate gas. In this embodiment, the reactant 120 may be powder or granular containing at least one of silicon or aluminum, which can be obtained from waste or recycling of silicon-containing or aluminum-containing materials, such as large solar cells and semiconductor wafers . The reaction liquid is, for example but not limited to, pure water, which can enter the reaction unit 10a through the liquid channel and react with the reactant 120 to generate hydrogen gas. The hydrogen gas produced by the reaction can leave the reaction unit 10a through the gas channel (gas outlet 112a). The hydrogen production process will be described in more detail later.

In this embodiment, the opening ratio of the liquid channel may be smaller than that of the gas channel. Specifically, the area of the liquid inlet hole 111a is smaller than the total area of these air outlet holes 112a. In addition, the size of the liquid inlet hole 111 a and the size of each gas outlet hole 112 a may be smaller than the average particle size of the reactant 120 or may be smaller than the average size of the reactant 120 agglomerated. Fig. 1 exemplarily depicts a circular hole-shaped liquid inlet hole 111a and an air outlet hole 112a, so the size of the liquid inlet hole 111a refers to the diameter of the liquid inlet hole 111a, and the size of the air outlet hole 112a refers to each air outlet hole 112a The diameter, but the shape of the liquid inlet hole and the air outlet hole is not intended to limit the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a reaction unit according to another embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the reaction unit 10b includes a packaging body 110b and a reactant 120 . The packaging body can be a single element, which has an inner space 100 and a channel including a plurality of openings 113, and the openings 113 include a plurality of liquid inlet holes and a plurality of air outlet holes throughout the packaging body 110b. Furthermore, the packaging body 110b of this embodiment is, for example but not limited to, a non-woven bag body, on which a plurality of mesh holes are distributed as the aforementioned openings 113, and each opening 113 can be provided as a passage for liquid to pass through. An inlet hole or an outlet hole to allow gas to pass through. For any opening 113, when the liquid enters the inner space 100 through the opening 113, the opening 113 is used as a liquid inlet; when the gas leaves the inner space 100 through the opening 113, the opening 113 It is used as an air outlet, that is to say, the opening 113 can also be used as a liquid inlet hole and an air outlet hole. In addition, the size of each opening 113 may be smaller than the average particle size of the reactant 120 or may be smaller than the average size of the reactant 120 agglomerated.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a reaction unit according to another embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the reaction unit 10 c includes a packaging body 110 , a reactant 120 and a partition 130 , and the reactant 120 is provided in the inner space 100 of the packaging body 110 . For the specific structure of the packaging body 110 , reference may be made to the foregoing description about FIG. 1 , and details are not repeated here. The separator 130 is, for example but not limited to, filter paper, filter cotton, foam, and a film made of polypropylene (PP) particles or polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) particles, which is provided in the inner space 100 of the package body 110 and reacts The object 120 is carried on the partition 130. In this embodiment, one of the partitions 130 is located between the liquid inlet hole 111 a and the reactant 120 , and the other partition 130 is located between the gas outlet 112 a and the reactant 120 . It is worth mentioning that the separator 130 located between the air outlet 112a and the reactant 120 is an optional element, and in some embodiments, the separator 130 located between the air outlet 112a and the reactant 120 is omitted. , which is not intended to limit the present invention. The reaction liquid (such as pure water) can have wettability to the separator 130, that is to say, the reaction liquid entering the inner space 100 can adhere to the surface of the separator 130 or penetrate into the interior of the separator 130, and then can Member 130 wets reactant 120 .

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a reaction unit according to yet another embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the reaction unit 10d includes a packaging body 110d, a reactant 120 and a heat supply source 140, and the reactant 120 is provided in the inner space 100 of the packaging body 110d. For the specific structure of the packaging body 110d, reference may be made to the foregoing description about FIG. The heat supply source 140 is, for example but not limited to, selected from the group consisting of lithium hydroxide, sodium hydroxide, potassium hydroxide, calcium oxide, calcium hydroxide, magnesium hydroxide and combinations thereof, which can be disposed on any part of the packaging body 110d. FIG. 4 exemplarily depicts that the heat supply source 140 is buried in the reactant 120 , but the present invention is not limited thereto. The heat supply source 140 can react with at least one of the reaction liquid or the reactant 120 to generate heat, so as to provide heat energy to the reactant 120 . In addition, the packaging body 110d may have a thermal insulation structure 114 . The heat preservation structure 114 can be a silicone sleeve covering the packaging body 110d or a metal film coated on the inner wall of the packaging body 110d, which can prevent the heat generated by the heat supply source 140 from escaping to the outside of the reaction unit 10d.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a gas generating device according to an embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the gas generating device 20 a includes a storage tank 210 and the reaction unit of any embodiment, and FIG. 5 exemplarily shows that the reaction unit 10 a of FIG. 1 is located in the storage tank 210 . The containing tank 210 contains the reaction liquid 30 , and the reaction liquid 30 is, for example but not limited to, pure water, saline or alkaline solution. The reaction liquid 30 enters the packaging body 110 of the reaction unit 10a through the liquid inlet hole 111a and undergoes a redox reaction with the reactant 120 to generate hydrogen gas. The hydrogen gas produced by the reaction then exits the packaging body 110 through the gas outlet hole 112a and enters the chamber 200 of the reaction liquid 30 and/or the containing tank 210 , and is finally discharged out of the gas generating device 20a through the exhaust pipe 40 . Since the reaction unit 10a is movably located in the reaction liquid 30, the reactant 120 can be kept under the liquid surface of the reaction liquid 30 to be completely infiltrated, even if the reaction liquid 30 is disturbed by hydrogen gas bubbles or the amount of the reaction liquid 30 decreases over time, The reaction unit 10 a suspended in the reaction liquid 30 can prevent the reactants 120 from incomplete reaction due to leaving the reaction liquid 30 .

When the packaging body 110 of the reaction unit 10a includes a first shell 111 and a second shell 112 that are detachably assembled to each other, the operator can easily replace the reactant or add a new reactant 120 to reach the end of the reaction unit 10a. recycle.

When the opening ratio of the liquid channel (the area of the liquid inlet hole 111a) is smaller than the opening ratio of the gas channel (the total area of the gas outlet hole 112a), it is possible to prevent the reactant 120 from producing hydrogen gas too fast, and at the same time, it can also prevent the reactant 120 from passing through the liquid inlet hole. 111a leaks out of the packaging body 110 .

When the size of the liquid inlet hole 111a and the size of the air outlet hole 112a are smaller than the average particle size of the reactant 120 or smaller than the average size of the reactant 120 agglomerated, the reactant 120 can be further prevented from leaking out through the liquid inlet hole 111a or the air outlet hole 112a outside the packaging body 110 . The reactant 120 according to an embodiment of the present invention comes from the recycling of silicon-containing or aluminum-containing materials in large solar cells and/or semiconductor wafers, so the average particle size of the reactant 120 after screening or the reactant 120 is agglomerated The average size of the blocks ranges from 63.0 microns (μm) to 104.0 microns, so the size of the liquid inlet hole 111a and each air outlet hole 112a is smaller than 63.0 μm.

In addition, the reaction unit 10 a of FIG. 5 may also be replaced with the reaction unit 10 c of FIG. 3 provided in the containing tank 210 . Referring to Fig. 3 and Fig. 5 together, in the embodiment that the reaction unit includes a partition 130, the partition 130 helps to accelerate the reaction liquid 30 to infiltrate the reactant 120, so that two The reactants 120 in different regions can start to react to produce hydrogen near the same time.

In addition, the reaction unit 10 a of FIG. 5 can also be replaced with the reaction unit 10 d of FIG. 4 provided in the containing tank 210 . Referring to Figure 4 and Figure 5 together, in the embodiment where the reaction unit includes a heat supply source 140, the heat supply source 140 can provide a high temperature environment inside or outside the packaging body of the reaction unit, which helps to provide the required hydrogen production reaction. The reaction heat, so the gas generating device does not need to install additional heating equipment.

Fig. 6 is a schematic diagram of a gas generating device according to another embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the gas generating device 20b includes a containing tank 210, a porous cover plate 220, and a reaction unit of any embodiment (the reaction unit 10a in FIG. 1 is shown as an example). For the specific structure of the accommodating groove 210 , reference may be made to the foregoing description about FIG. 5 , and details are not repeated here. The porous cover plate 220 is suspended on the liquid surface of the reaction liquid 30 . The reaction unit 10 a is suspended in the reaction liquid 30 and located under the porous cover 220 , and the hydrogen gas generated by the reaction can pass through the porous cover 220 . The porous cover plate 220 can further ensure that the reaction unit 10a can be fully immersed in the reaction liquid 30 even after part of the reactants 120 have reacted.

Fig. 7 is a schematic diagram of a gas generating device according to yet another embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the gas generating device 20c includes an accommodating tank 210, a plurality of cassettes 230, and a plurality of reaction units of any embodiment (the reaction unit 10a in FIG. 1 is shown as an example). For the specific structure of the accommodating groove 210 , reference may be made to the foregoing description about FIG. 5 , and details are not repeated here. The cassette 230 is movably disposed on the side wall of the accommodating slot 210 and can be vertically lifted. The reaction unit 10 a is detachably installed in the cartridge 230 . As shown in Figure 7, the reaction unit 10a filled with brand-new reactants can be sent into the reaction liquid 30 by the lifting movement of the left cassette 230, and the reaction unit 10a in the reaction liquid 30 can move to the right, while the reactants Gradually consumed due to interaction with the reactive liquid 30 . After almost all the reactants in the reaction unit 10 a have reacted with the reaction liquid 30 , the reaction liquid 30 can be exited through the right cassette 230 . Then, the reaction unit 10a can be drawn out from the cartridge 230 to remove reacted reactants and fill new reactants.

To sum up, according to the gas generating device disclosed in the present invention, the reaction unit can be movably located in the reaction liquid and includes a packaging body and a reactant. The reaction liquid can flow into the package through the channel on the package body and contact with the reactants to generate gas, and the gas enters the reaction liquid through the channel on the package body, and can be finally collected by external equipment. The reaction unit suspended in the reaction liquid allows the reactants to be completely soaked under the liquid surface of the reaction liquid, which can prevent the reactants from incomplete reaction due to leaving the reaction liquid. Furthermore, according to the gas generating device disclosed in the present invention, it helps to solve the problem of decreased gas production rate.

Although the disclosure of the embodiments of the present invention is as described above, it is not intended to limit the present invention. Anyone who is familiar with the related art can use the shapes, structures, and features described in the application scope of the present invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Slight changes can be made in the spirit and spirit, so the scope of patent protection of the present invention must be defined in the scope of patent application attached to this specification.

10a, 10b, 10c, 10d: reaction unit 20a, 20b: gas generating device 30: Reaction liquid 40: exhaust pipe 100: interior space 110, 110b, 110d: packaging body 111: The first shell 111a: liquid inlet hole 112a: air outlet 112: the second shell 113: opening 114: Insulation structure 120: Reactant 130:Separator 140: Heat supply source 200: chamber 210: storage tank 220: porous cover 230: Cassette

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a reaction unit according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a reaction unit according to another embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a reaction unit according to another embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a reaction unit according to yet another embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a gas generating device according to an embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 6 is a schematic diagram of a gas generating device according to another embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 7 is a schematic diagram of a gas generating device according to yet another embodiment of the present invention.

10c: Reaction unit

100: interior space

110: Package body

111a: liquid inlet hole

112a: air outlet

120: Reactant

130:Separator

Claims (12)

A gas generating device, comprising: an accommodating tank, suitable for accommodating a reaction liquid; and a reaction unit, located in the accommodating tank and adapted to be movably located in the reaction liquid, the reaction unit comprising a packaging body and A reactant, the package has an internal space, a liquid channel and a gas channel communicated with each other, the reactant is provided in the internal space of the package, wherein the reactant is powder or granules; wherein the reaction The liquid can enter the internal space through the liquid channel to react with the reactant to generate a gas, and the gas produced by the reaction can enter the accommodating tank through the gas channel, and the opening ratio of the liquid channel of the reaction unit is smaller than the The opening ratio of the gas channel. The gas generating device according to claim 1, wherein the liquid channel of the reaction unit includes at least one liquid inlet hole, and the gas channel includes at least one gas outlet hole. The gas generating device according to claim 2, wherein the size of the at least one liquid inlet hole and the size of the at least one gas outlet hole are both smaller than the average particle size of the reactant or smaller than the average size of the reactant agglomeration. The gas generating device as claimed in claim 2, wherein the size of the at least one liquid inlet hole and the size of the at least one gas outlet hole are both smaller than 63.0 microns (μm). The gas generating device according to claim 2, wherein the at least one liquid inlet hole and the at least one gas outlet hole are respectively located on opposite sides of the packaging body of the reaction unit. The gas generating device as described in claim 2, wherein the packaging body of the reaction unit includes a first shell and a second shell, and the first shell is detachably assembled with the second shell to form the In the inner space, the first shell part has the at least one liquid inlet hole, and the second shell part has the at least one air outlet hole. The gas generating device according to claim 2, wherein the packaging body is a single component, and the at least one liquid inlet hole and the at least one gas outlet hole are all over the packaging body. The gas generating device according to claim 1, wherein the reaction unit further includes a partition provided in the inner space of the package, and the partition is located between the at least one liquid inlet hole and the reactant or Located between the at least one air outlet and the reactant. The gas generating device according to claim 8, wherein the reaction liquid has wettability to the separator. The gas generating device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the reaction unit further comprises a heat supply source adapted to provide heat energy to the reactants. The gas generating device as claimed in claim 10, wherein the packaging body of the reaction unit further has a thermal insulation structure. The gas generating device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the reactant is obtained from a silicon-containing or aluminum-containing material, and the gas contains hydrogen.

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