CA2572434A1 - Dissociation of molecular water into molecular hydrogen - Google Patents

Abstract

Water molecules, preferably in the form of steam or water vapor, are introduced into a radiant energy transfer reactor. The radiant energy is absorbed by the molecules which dissociate into their constituent molecular elements of hydrogen and oxygen. To prevent recombining of the constituent molecular elements, the hydrogen and oxygen are separated from each other.
Various devices may be employed to effect this separation. Once separated, the molecular components are prevented from recombining with each other or with other elements by using standard separation techniques normally employed for separating dissimilar gaseous species.

Description

Dissociation of Molecular Water Into Molecular Hydrogen Background of the Invention S It is well documented in the field of exploration and production of fossil fuels that worldwide oil reserves are finite and being rapidly depleted. ~i1 production in the United States reached a peak circa 1970 and is rapidly declining. Outside the United States, it is presently believed that peak oil production will reach a climax in approximately ten to fiileen years.
However, despite knowledge of the finiteness of the known reserves, demand for oil production and consumption continues to escalate due to increasing demands fox energy within and outside the United States. Accordingly, despite any short-term price fluctuations in the commodity markets, it is expected that the price of oil will continue to escalate as known oil reserves become increasingly scarce. Eventually the price of oil will become too great to provide reasonably priced energy to fuel the global economy, thereby resulting in severe economic contraction of worldwide output of goods and services.
In addition to the increase in oil prices relating to the increasing scarcity of this commodity in view of increasing demand, the majority of known oiI reserves are located in countries that are politically unstable. A government or cartel hostile to world economic growth could hold industrialised countries ransom to its oil by refusing to export its oil or chargixig ludicrously high prices. Sudden instability of coil production or price due to such hostilities is forecast and modeled to cause great economic rifts in our society. It is therefore important that we increase our reliance and resources on sources of energy that are readily available and renewable.
~ther concerns regarding the use of fossil fuels are related to environmental factors. For example, the burning of fossil fuels produces carbon dioxide (C02) and smog producing compounds, such as unburned hydrocarbons and oxides of nitrogen, which are generally released into the atmosphere. It is known that increasing concentrations of C~2 in the atmosphere have resulted in climatic changes, notably global warming. It is further been predicted that global warming may also eventually cause severe rifts in the global society through the loss of arable land nceded to feed an ever-increasing global population. Furthermore, global warming is further causing melting of polar ice caps, thereby raising sea levels rcsulting in further loss of land for increasing populations.
-I-One such source of energy that is readily abundant and renewable is hydrogen.
On a weight basis, hydrogen possesses three times more energy than an equivalent weight of gasoline.
There are several known methods of producing hydrogen, for example, coal gasification, partial oxidation of oil, steam methane reforming, and biomass gasification, among others. Although these methods have been shown to be efficacious in the generation of hydrogen, a significant disadvantage and limitation in each of these methods is the co-production of carbon dioxide, which as discussed above is a leading cause of global warming.
An alternative process technology that does not have carbon dioxide as a byproduct is the electrolysis of water. Nigh purity hydrogen and oz~ygen can be produced using a relatively simple electrolysis method. However, a significant disadvantage and limitation of electrolysis is the high electrical power requirements needed to split water into constituent elements of hydrogen and oxygen. Ivlany factors in the electrolysis method contribute to these power requirements.
For example, since water possesses a high dielectric constant, the resistance in the current path between the submersed electrodes is high. In addition, there is a mass transfer resistance at the electrodes due to the abrupt disruption of the electrolyte at the electrode surface from the evolution of gas. This disruption also increases the resistaa~ce to the flow of elect~rieal energy.
Furthermore, the active surface area of the electrodes limits the electrolysis process.
Accordingly, a need exists to overcome these inherent disadvantages and limitations of electTOlysis to split water into its constituent elements of hydrogen and oxygen.
Water vapor discharges have been investigated by scientists for the purpose of understanding the reaction mechanisms of chemical reactions. The intermediates or free radicals that are formed during the reaction were the main subject of interest in the historic literature.
Another interest in the pursuit of water decomposition was to fmd a process of generating hydrogen peroxide.
An early attempt (H.C. Urey and G.I. Levin, Journal of the American Chemical Society, 3290-3293, Vol. 51, November, 1929), at understanding the reactions in dissociated water by the Wood's tube was the discovery that water vapor under the influence of an electric discharge dissociated water into hydrogen atoms and hydroxyl free radicals. They noted that the product gas consisted of 2!3 the amount in hydrogen for the conditions that were run in the experiments.
The paper does not illustrate any process conditions or the method of analysis of the gas mix.
They also detected hydrogen peroxide in the water condensed in the trap. They attributed the excess hydrogen from the intermediate decomposition of the hydrogen peroxide product and not directly from the water vapor. They give support to this assertion by noting that past observations state that hydrogen peroxide is formed first and then further decomposed to simpler species. Experiments were conducted to deternaine the presence of hydrogen atoms and hydroxyl radicals, which was confirmed by the activity of the gas. They noted the products from the water vapor discharge were more active than if only hydrogen atoms were present. There was no conclusive proof of the existence of these species as cautioned by the Authors.
Another group of investigators (R.A. Jones, W. Chin and M. ~enugoplan, The Journal of physical Chemistry, volume 73, number 11 page 3693-3697, November 1969) were motivated to I S investigate the formation of hydrogen peroxide using a vacuum microwave discharge. They investigated a range of process conditions using water vapor as the reactant and trapping the products of dissociation in a cold trap at very low temperatures. They determined the yield of hydrogen peroxide under varying conditions.
P,J. Frie1 and I~.A. I~reiger, Journal of the American Chemical Society, vol.
~0, p. 4210 -421 ~, 195 ~ investigated the recombination of the high voltage discharge products of water vapor.
They used various surfaces in order to elect the recombination reactions and determine the final product composition. They principally focused on using the surface of silica gel to study recombination reactions. They discovered that silica gel did not catalyze the recombination of hydrogen atoms. They speculated that a surface was an active intermediate in the subsequent reactions. The recombination reaction was accompanied by a temperature increase and a green Luminescence on the surface of the gel. It was noted that under these conditions the principal products of the reaction was H2 and 02. The reactions were conducted in a moderately high vacuum (<300 millitorr) and extremely low flow rates (<20 nullimoles/ hour).
In addition, reactions of the water vapor discharge products in a liquid air trap were analyzed and studied.
Hydrogen peroxide, water and hydrogen and oxygen were formed. The predominant product were water and hydrogen peroxide as well as hydrogen. Most further studies centered about optimizing the formation of hydrogen peroxide or studying the OH free radical.

On January 2S, 2003, George W. Bush, President of the United States of America, delivered to Congress the constitutionally mandated State of the Union address, available at http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/OI/20030128-l9.html. In this address, the President set forth a goal to promote energy independence for the country while dramatically improving the environment. Mr. Bush asserted in the address that "[I]n this century, the greatest environmental progress will come about ... through technology and innovation"
and implored Congress to "protect our environment in ways that generations before us could not have imagined."
In the same address, the President offered a proposal to Congress to authorize X1.2 billion in research funding top place the Ltnited States at the forefront of developing hydrogen powered automobiles in which hydrogen is reacted to oxygen to generate the energy to power the automobile, producing only water as a by product and not exhaust fumes. Mr.
Bush recognized this innovation would "make our air significantly cleaner, and our comitry much less dependent on foreign sources of energy."
Subsequent to this address, it was reported in "Bush Hydrogen Initiative Fuels Debate,"
http://wvaw.cnn.com/2003/ALLP~IdfTICS02/07/hydrogen.vision.ap/, Friday, Febru~.ry 7, 2003, that most of the major automobile companies doing business in the ITnited States already have operational hydrogen powered fuel cell vehicle prototypes being road tested.
In the cited report, the spokespersons for these companies express optimism that hydrogen powered fuel cell vehicles could be available to consumers within a decade, a timetable even more aggressive than the one proposed by the President. However, as reported in this article, this optimism is tempered by a cautionary note that "a hydrogen distribution system has. not fret even begun to be developed."
Despite the expressed enthusiasm presented by the automobile manufacturers, the President's goal of developing hydrogen powered automobiles was nonetheless met by others with stinging criticism. To quote one such criticism, "[W]hat Bush didn't reveal in his nationwide address, however, is that his administration has been working quietly to ensure that the system used to produce hydrogen will be as fossil fuel-dependent -- and potentially as dirty --as the one that fuels today's STJ~s. According to the administration's National Hydrogen Energy Roadmap, drafted last year in concert with the energy industry, up to 90 percent of all hydxogen will be refined from oil, natural gas, and other fossil fuels -- in a process using energy generated _q._ by burning oil, coal, and natural gas. The remaining 10 percent will be cracked from water using nuclear energy." See, 1 'Bush's Hydrogen Fuel Comes From 4i1...," Barry C.
Lynn, Mother Jones, March 6, 2003, published by Rogue Independent Media Center, http:l/rogueimc.org12003/06/808.shmtl. , The article, from which the quote set forth immediately above has been obtained, states that the administration's propos~.l to obtain hydrogen from fossil fuels would effectively eliminate the benefits offered by using hydrogen as a fuel for automobiles since the process of producing hydrogen from fossil fuels still vv~uld result in the release of carbon dioa~ide, the primary cause of global warming, into the atmosphere and continue this country's dependence on fossil fuels, most of which comes from imported ail. In this article criticism is also directed to the major oil companies seeking to protect their dominance in energy resources through lobbying efforts to affect administration policy and congressional legislation and through acquisitions o~'small research oriented companies seeking to produce hydrogen from renewable energy sources. Should the oil companies be success~ix~ in protecting their dominance, the article infers that even with a hydrogen economy, the country will remain dependent of foreign sources of oii for generations to come.
Although the cited article, along with its criticisms, makes inference that water is a preferred source for hydrogen, it further states that the known technologies for breaking water molecules into its constituents of hydrogen and oxygen in commercially usable quantities are extremely energy intensive, as in electrolysis in which an electric current between an cathode and an anode immersed in water ionises the water molecules such that the hydrogen and oxygen ions respectively migrate to the anode and cathode. The article cites the preferred source for such energy as nuclear power plants, which the article states are also unacceptable due to the ecological impacts such plants are known to cause. Accordingly, the article postulates that only 10% of the total hydrogen will be produced form water.
Accordingly, it is seen that the prior art, even with all the criticisms targeted at such art, envisions fossil fuels, being a fuel source rich in carbon and hydrogen, as the primary source of hydrogen production in the foreseeable future without regard to the necessity of removing such carbon in the form of carbon dioxide. Without containment, the carbon dioxide will further contribute to global warming. The use of fossil fuels for a source of hydrogen will cause even greater demand on the known reserves, which are being rapidly depleted.

Therefore, with the known prior art, the President's stated goal of energy independence and an improved environment are not met. In fact, adopting the apparatus and processes of the known prior art would continue the country's dependence imported oil and further accelerate the rapid depletion of known reserves of oil and cause further environmental degradation.
More recently, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, in the State of the State address delivered 3anuary 7, 2004, called for the development of a "hydrogen highway." The hydrogen highway ~chwar~enegger referred to in his speech is a highway of fueling stations located along major interstate highways, according to a state environmental protection agency official.
In yet another article that has been reported at http://story.news.yahoo.com/news'~tmpl=story8~cid=2~9~zncid=2898~e=7~u=/ibsys/2 0040109/l0 kcra11949~44, environmental Secretary Terry Tamminen is the man behind Schwar~enegger's plan to make the hydrogen highway a reality. He says there is a good reason it doesn't exist already. "The energy companies don't want to make hydrogen fueling stations because there are no vehicles and the vehicle-makers don't want to produce vehicles because there are no fueling stations. So we are trying to break that chicken or egg cycle,.' he said.
It was the stated goal of the California governor to have, by the year 2010, nearly 200 hydrogen fueling stations up and running. Tarnminen says it will take about $100 million in public and private dollars to help companies build them.
At the University of California at Davis, those who have been leading the world's research on hydrogen cars axe glad to see the governor fmaliy jump starting the mass-production process.
CJC D~.vis's Dan Sperling told the station, "It will be good for the company eventually, but it will be good for society. So, we need the government to provide some rewards."
Prototype mechanics say once mass-produced, a hydrogen car's peppy performance will reward drivers, too.
Summary of the Invention Applicant's invention, as set forth in the above-identified application, meets the President's goal by furthering environmental progress through technology and innovation and also protects our environment in a novel way that generations before us could not have imagined. Applicant's invention further addresses the above stated concern of the automobile industry relating to the lack of a hydrogen fuel infrastructure in that Applicant's claimed processes are scalable allowing for the efficient production of hydrogen on a small local scale, such as in the home ox vehicle, while large installations could produce quantities suitable for commercial distribution. Whereas current fossil fuel technologies rely upon an extensive global infrastructure from extraeting the raw fuel, whether coal, oil or natural gas, from the ground, through refining, transporting and storing of the raw fuel, intermediaries and byproducts up to the ultimate delivery of the final fuel product to consumers, the methods of the present invention do not rely on the construction of such far flung infrastructure but may be practiced at the point of use of the produced hydrogen. Accordingly, Applicant's invention also enables the goal of the California governor by allowing ~. hydrogen infrastructure to be developed that obviates the global infrastructure of fossil fiiel delivery.
Applicant's invention also negates the above cited criticisms of extracting hydrogen from fossil fuels since Applicant's invention does not rely on fossil fuels as the source of hydrogen.
moreover, Applicant's invention may rely on renewable energy sources and wasted energy of conventional energy production as the source of energy to extract the hydrogen from molecular water.
It is taught, through Applicant's disclosure in the present application, that hydrogen can, be extracted from water, the preferred source of hydrogen, using a novel process that is highly efficient and not as energy intensive as electrolysis. In fact Applicant's disclosure envisions renewable and recyclable resources as the source of energy to produce hydrogen for molecular water thereby ultimately removing dependency from fossil fuels altogether.
According to the present invention, molecular water, preferably in the form ~f high temperature steam or water vapor, is introduced into a radiant energy transfer chamber. The radiant energy is of sufficient energy to excite the water molecules thereby causing the dissociation thereof into the constituent molecular elements of hydrogen and oxygen. To prevent recombining of the constituent molecular elements, the hydrogen and oxygen are separated from each other. Various methods may be employed to effect this separation. Once separated, the molecular components are prevented from recombining with each other or with other elements by using standard separation techniques normally employed for separating dissimilar gaseous species.
These and other objects, advantages and features of Applicant's invention will become readily apparent from a study of the following Description of the exemplary Preferred Embodiments when read in conjunction with the attached drawing and appended Claims.
brief Dcscripti~n ~f the Drawing IO Fig. 1 is a perspective view, partially broken, of a radiant energy transfer apparatus useful to practice the present invention;
Fig. 2 is a block diagram of a radiant energy transfer system constructed according to the principles of the present invention; and IS
Fig. 3 is a block diagram of a magneto hydrodynamic system useful to replace the turbine and generator of Fig. 2.
description ~f the ~nventi~n kith reference to Fig. l, there is shown a radiant energy transfer reactor 10.
The reactor 10 includes a first portion 12 adapted to receive water molecules, a second portion 14~ at which the constituent components of the dissociated water molecules may be further separated and removed, a coil 16 to which electrical energy is applied to develop an electromagnetic field within the reactor 10 generally defining a reaction zone intermediate the first portion 12 and the second portion 14 of the reactor 10.
It is to be understood that the structure required to develop the electromagnetic field need not be limited to the coil 16 as seen in Fig. 1, Any structure that is capable of developing an electromagnetic field in the reaction zone of the reactor 10 is contemplated to be an equivalent structure. For example, in priority application United States Serial No.
10/632,708, incorporated herein, various structures are disclosed that are useful to induce the electromagnetic field in the reaction zone of the reactor 10. For example, instead of the coil 16 as shown herein, the electr~magnetic field within the reaction zone of the reactor 10 can be developed by applying _g_ electrical energy across radially opposed field plates, axially spaced field rings, or by a waveguide, among others, all as shown in the above referenced application.
Several examples are set forth below. More generally, several variations of radiant energy transfer reactors that may be used to practice the present invention are described below.
It is to be initially understood that the construction of any such reactor is not to be limited to the specific examples shown therein, butt that any reactor that transfers energy to molecular water, as described in greater detail hereinbelow, is contemplated by the scope of the present invention. Accordingly, the following description is not to be deemed limited to the exemplary reactor herein described.
It is known that molecules absorb energy throughout the entire electromagnetic spectrum.
Furthermore, the energy can be differentiated according to the mode of absorption. For example, the absorbed energy may increase or decrease any of three kinetic modes of motion of the molecule, these modes being rotational, vibrational and translational motion.
Each kinetic mode may further be associated with specific wavelengths or frequencies of the absorbed radiation, such that the rotational, vibrational and translational energies of the molecule will have its own characteristic wavelength or frequency. Furthermore, at the point of dissociation of the molecular bond, the corresponding energy will have a characteristic frequency or wavelength for each of these kinetic modes.
In addition to absorption to excite any or all of the three kinetic modes set forth immediately above, electromagnetic energy at selected wavelengths may also be absorbed t~
excite the electronic mode of the molecule. Excitation of the electronic mode causes electrons in one orbital of the molecular bond to be excited into a higher energy orbital.
With sufficient energy absorption, the molecular bond will be overcome thereby allowing dissociation of the molecule into its constituent parts.
Water molecules, in particular, absorb greater amounts of electromagnetic energy having wavelengths in the ultraviolet, infrared, microwave or radio frequency spectrum. The ~'H bond of the water molecule has a characteristic frequency or wavelength based on the kinetic or electronic modes described above. Accordingly, at specific wavelengths or frequencies within this spectrum the ~H bond will dissociate, in any one or combination of the kinetic and electronic modes, providing that the energy of the electromagnetic energy at the frequency of dissociation is sufficient to overcome the energy of such bond. For example, one such frequency will excite the translational mode of the water molecule, and with sufficient energy, cause the molecule to dissociate. tether frequencies will of course excite the other modes.
The dissociation of the ~H bond will result in the formation of hydrogen (H) and oxygen (~) species. It is necessary that these species be separated so that they do not recombine with each other to return to molecular water, but combine with their own species such that hydrogen gas (H2) and oxygen gas (~~) result.
The above referenced application also discloses several types of apparatus and techniques t~ effect this separation. Accordingly, the following description is not to be deemed limited to the exemplary separation herein described. Accordingly, any of various forms of membranes, converging-diverging nozzles, electromagnetic field or rotational plasma centrifugation may be used.
For example, the apparatus of Fig. 1 includes a membrane 1 ~ withixt the reaction ,one intermediate the i'xrst portion 12 and the second portion l~~ of the reactor 10. As described in greater detail below, the membrane 1 ~ has porosity such that it is permeable to the hydrogen species but eontains the oxygen species of the dissociated water molecules.
Preferably, the water molecules introduced into the reactor 10 are in the form of high temperature steam, such that energy input into the reactor 10 can be primarily utili~d for the absorption at the specked frequency for dissociation. In this regard, various sources of high temperature steam can be used such that energy used fro dissociation is not consumed tb develop the steam.
For example, geothermal steam may be used both as a source of the water molecules for the reactor 1 p, and for developing, using a conventional steam turbine and generator, some or all of the electrical energy to develop the primary electrical energy to be converted to the high frequency energy for application to the coil 16. Additionally, steam for such purposes can be developed using naturally occurring hot dry rocks and abandoned oil and gas wells, such that water introduced into these systems exists as high temperature steam.
Furthermore, solar and wind sources can also be used to provide the energy fox the reactor 10 and for developing the high temperature steam.

Also as described in the above referenced application, coal, oil, natural gas and nucleax fueled power plants can also provide the primary electrical energy for the reactor 10 with the waste steam from the steam turbines and cooling towers being used as the source of water molecules for the reactor 10. Accordingly, it is seen that the present invention may supplement the use of fossil fuels and obviate their use in accordance with specific applications. Also, the hydrogen production can be fixed to existing locations of power plants and distributed sites where a source of hydrogen is needed.
As described above, the electromagnetic field developed within the reaction zone of the reactor 10 remains the primaxy source to effect dissociation of the molecular water. It is contemplated~by the present invention that other sources of energy for dissociation may be used in addition thereto to enhance overall efficiency of the dissociation process.
For example, as the hydrogen species exits the reaction zone from within the membrane 1 ~, it recombines into hydrogen gas, or H2. V~hen this recombination occurs, electromagnetic energy in the ultraviolet spectrum is emitted. Since water molecules are absorptive of this energy, such emitted energy may be "piped" back to the incoming stream of super heated steam to assist in the dissociation. For example, the membrane 1 ~ may be constructed of a material transparent to ultraviolet electromagnetic energy to illuminate the incoming molecular water molecules.
In addition, the emitted ultraviolet energy can also be used to illuminate high mass elements, such as metals and inert gasses, seeded into the incoming stream of molecular water to cause photon emission from such high mass elements. The photons are then absorbed by the molecular water to excite one of the modes described above to assist with dissociation.
With reference to Fig. 2, there is shown a system 20 useful to describe the use of the reactor 10 in conjunction with waste reprocessing to develop energy and steam for the reactor 10.
The system 20 includes a combustor 22 in which waste products are ignited and combusted with air being provided into the combustor 22. The waste products can be any type of combustible waste. The heat of combustion is transferred to a boiler 24 to develop the high temperature steam.

A steam turbine 26 is powered by the steam from boiler 24 and a generator 28 is in turn powered by the steam turbine 26. The generator develops the electrical energy applied to the reactor 10. The electrical energy is used to develop the high frequency electromagnetic field within the reactor 10 as hereinabove described. Additionally, the excess steam from the steam turbine 26 is furnished to the reactor 10 to provide a source of water molecules to be dissociated.
As described above, the reactor 10 provides a stream of oxygen and hydrogen gas. The hydrogen gas may be pumped into storage tanks for use elsewhere or used for powering fuel cells or combusted for other equipment pr~ximate to the system 20. The stream of oxygen gas may in turn be introduced into the combustor 22 to provide an oxygen rich atmosphere to enhance the combustion of the waste products, especially of plastics. The Joule-Thomson effect may also be used to cool the hydrogen gas with the heat given off re-introduced to preheat the steam provided to the reactor 10 from the turbine 26.
Also as the hydrogen species is pumped from the reaction gone to recombine into hydrogen gas, additional exothermic energy may be recaptured to be re-introduced as process least to preheat the steam entering the reactor 10. As the hydrogen species recombines into gaseous hydrogen, or Ha, the protons of each atom in the H2 molecule have an associated spin. V~hen the spin is in the same direction, ortho~hydxogen is formed and is slightly magnetic. When the spin of each atom in the H2 molecule is in opposite directions, pare-hydrogen is formed.
At 20°G (6~°F) and atmospheric pressure, hydrogen gas is approximately 25~/~ para-hydrogen and 75~/~ ortho-hydrogen. then liquefied, ~9~/~ of the ortho-hydrogen is converted to, pare-hydrogen. Tbis conversion results in exothermic he~.t enussion of approxim~.tely 707 kJ/kg.
This heat may be re-used as process heat as described above.
It is also contemplated that flue gases from the combustor 22 can be used to preheat the steam provided to the reactor 10 front the steam turbine 26. For example the flue gases could be passed through a heat exchanger, diagrammatically represented at 30 thermally coupled to conventional apparatus used to transfer the steam from the turbine 26 to the reactor 10. Similarly, the flue gas cad be used to preheat the incoming air or oxygen stream, or both, into the combustor 22, by passing the flue gas through either or both of heat exchangers, diagrammatically represented at 32a, 32b.

The burning of carbon rich waste products in the combustor 22 will produce waste carbon dioxide (C02) as a by-product within the flue gases. To avoid releasing the carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. or providing additional storage therefor, the COa can be used instead to combust with a portion of the output hydrogen gas stream from the reactor 10 such that useful organic compounds are also produced. Such organic compounds may include alcohols, alkylides, ketones and hydrocarbons.
For example, with reference returning to Fig. l, the COa combustion product may be injected interiorly into the membrane 1~, which forms an inner concentric tube within the reactor 10 to intersect with the hydrogen rich stream therein. Furthermore, a catalyst may also be injected into the inner concentric tube formed by the membrane 1 ~ to promote the reaction between the hydrogen species and the C02, as generally seen in Fig. 1. For example, nickel based catalysts may be injected to promote the production o;f methane, whereas a catalyst, such as Cu or Zn, is useful to promote the production of methanol.
l~
It is to be understood that the present invention is not to be limited to any catalyst specifically disclosed herein as other well know catalyst are known to assist in the combustion of COZ and the hydrogen species to form useful organic compounds. For example, one such catalyst, Co-~rO~-i~g0, is known to be active in the reduction of CO~ by H~ to methane.
The point of injection, diagrammatically shown in Fig. l, of the CO~ into the inner concentric tube formed by the membrane 1 ~ may occur into the reaction zone or at a point immediately upstream or downstream from the reaction zone. The selected catalyst mad also be injected into the reaction zone or immediately downstream therefrom. The distribution of the 2S organic compound products obtained from the reduction of the COZ by the hydrogen species will differ depending upon the point of catalyst injection.
In addition thereto, a separate catalytic reactor (not shown) downstream from the reactor 10 may also be used. Since the reaction of COa and the hydrogen species is exothermic, the excess heat generated in such catalytic reactor may be used to preheat the enriched air supplied to the combustor 22, the steam supplied from the turbine 26 to the reactor 10, or applied to the boiler 24 itself by any conventional heat exchange apparatus.

It should be appaxerit to those skilled in the art that the system 20 as described above may also be used with the geothermal and other sources of steam described above and in the reference application. In such case, the combustor 2~ and boiler 24 are not needed as the steam is otherwise provided for the steam turbine 26. Furthermore, when using existing power plants, the apparatus, whether gas, oil or nuclear fueled, to produce steam to drive the power generators, may be used in lieu of the combustor 22 and boiler 24.
With reference to Fig. 3, a magneto hydrodynamic system 40 may also be used to replace the turbine 26 and generator 2~ (Fig. 2) in certain applications. A varying magnetic field about the high temperature steam into the reactor 10 or the reaction zone within the reactor 10 may be developed by any conventional means. The flow of ions within the magnetic field will, as is well known, develop an electric current within a coil 42. This current may then be used to provide all or part of the electrical power to the reactor 10. Additionally, an alkaline metal, $uch as Cesium (Cs) or Potassium (I~) may be introduced into the high temperature steam to enhance ionization.
The above described reactor 10 may also be used to develop a plasma within its reaction zone by the application of electromagnetic energy to the coil 16. ~ther specific examples of plasma reactors include a multipoiar ECI~ plasma reactor, waveguide-tube microwave coupling reactor, as well as the reactor 1Q and its above described variants.
The electromagnetic energy may farther be provided by the apparatus disclosed in Fig. 2 or Fig. 3, or by the suggested modifications thereto, such as geothermal or solar sources, or conventional power plants. It is also to be noted that the following description of the reactor 10 may also be applicable to the radiation transfer embodiments described above.
Plasma -is often called the "fourth state of matter," the other three being solid, liquid and gas. A plasma is a distinct state of matter containing a significant number of electrically charged particles, this number being sufficient to affect its electrical properties and behavior. In an ordinary gas each atom: contains an equal number of positive and negative charges wherein the positive charges in the nucleus are surrounded by an equal number of negatively charged electrons. Each atom in the ordinary gas is therefore electrically "neutral."
The gas becomes a plasma when the addition of heat or other energy causes a significant number of atoms to release some or all of their electrons. The remaining parts of those atoms are left with a positive charge, and the detached negative electrons are free to move about. The positively charged atoms and the resulting electrically charged gas are said to be "ionized."
When enough atoms are ionized to significantly affect the electrical characteristics of the gas, it is a plasma.
S
In many cases interactions between the charged particles and the neutral particles are important in determining the behavior and usefulness of the plasma. The type of atoms in a plasma, the ratio of ionized to neutral particles and the particle energies all result in a broad spectrum of plasma types, characteristics and behaviors.
The plasma. itself can be produced via several techniques and may further be continuous wave or pulsed. A water plasma may be created utilizing energy in the microwave, radio frequency or low frequency region. Frequencies from 50 Hz to 100 gHz may be used. Pressures from 1 mtorr to 1000 atmospheres can be used. In addition, arc plasmas may also be used to crack water to hydrogen in oxygen. Arc plasmas generally employ two electrodes as a means of completing the electrical path.
Accordingly, the present invention, as described herein, is not limited to any particular methodology to develop the plasma. examples of plasma generation devices that xnay be used, but not limited to, are low pressure (non-equilibrium) plasmas, perming plasma discharge, radio frequency capacitive discharges, radio frequency inductively coupled plasmas, microwave generated plasma, h.C. electrical discharges, and inductively coupled discharges.
In accordance with the present invention, water molecules, HzO, are injected into the plasma. The water may enter into the liquid state or more preferably in the gaseous state in the form of a vapor such as steam. Furthermore, the water vapor or steam may be injected concurrently with a selected other gas such as nitrogen, argon, helium, xenon, krypton, air, etc., in order to assist in the dissociation of the water into its constituent components. Preferably, in another embodiment, the selected gas possesses the property of easily dissociating into a plasma such that the resident time of the water vapor in the argon plasma is sufficient to affect dissociation. These components may be free radicals such as OH, H, H02, or their ionic counterparts such as OH-, OH+, H+, Ii-, etc.

As with the above described energy transfer embodiments, in order for the constituent components that are formed in the dissociation process from reverting to their earlier state (water vapor) or recombining to form other materials, it is important that the reaction is frozen so that the dissociation is irreversible. Thus, in order to crack water to its molecular constituents, H2 and Qa, without reverting back to water vapor, the reaction must be frozen or the constituent components of the plasma separated so that they do not recombine.
There are various techniques for isolating the components so that they will not recombine.
In one such technique the membrane 1 ~ is a high temperature membrane within the reaction I0 zone, the reaction zone being that part of the reactor where the plasma resides. Since temperatures within this zone may reach very high values, it is important that the membrane consist of material that can withstand that rigorous environment. Ceramic membranes that have a porosity that will allow the passage of one constituent and not another will permit the separation of hydrogen and oxygen. ~ther membranes such as ion transport membranes (IT1VI), IS Cermets, zeolites, sol gels, and dense ceramic materials (e.g., l3aCeo.sY'o.aUs-alpha (~CI~), among others, may be used. These materials may be biased with an electrical charge or not depending on the nature of the plasma formed.
In the plasma embodiment of the present invention, water vapor is admitted from the farst 20 portion 12, as described above, into the reaction zone. The water vapor may be optionally admitted along with an inert gas such as argon. The space between the outer surface of the membrane 1 ~ and the inner surface of the reactor 10 is the plasma. reaction zone between its first portion 12 and the second portion I~~. The plasma may be formed by using the ~F coil 16 as shown, or through numerous other methodologies as discussed above. In this embodiment the 25 membrane I8 forms an inner concentric tube and the reactor 10 forms an outer concentric tube.
The water vapor may be introdueed in a number of configurations so that mixing with the plasma is sufficient to cause the water molecules to decompose to hydrogen and oxygen. The residence time of the water molecules in the plasma is long enough to cause the reactant water 30 vapor to decompose. The configuration of the water vapor stream relative to the argon stream may be at any angle so long as the above criteria is established. Thus, a countercurrent stream of water relative to argon may be used. ~ther configurations such as co-axial or at any angle such as 90 degrees as an example can be employed.

In order to make the reaction more economic, air or nitrogen may be substituted for an inert gas such as Argon. However, a potential by-product using nitrogen or air may be NO from the reaction, N2 + 02 = 2N0. First, due to the difFculty of breaking the triple bond of nitrogen, the use of a seeding material as illustrated in this patent application may be employed. The seeding material will increase the conductivity of the plasma and thus, lower the temperature requirement of the plasma. The by-product NO may be used to increase the amount of hydrogen produced in the following way.
NO, nitric oxide possesses has a low boiling point, low ionisation potential and high thermal stability. A variety of acids may be used. I illustrate the use of phosphoric acid as an example. The product NO issuing from the plasma reactor is contacted with a phosphoric solution as shown below:
NO + 2HP03 = 2N0 + PO3' + H2(g).
1 S Thus, hydrogen is generated from the phosphoric acid solution using NO.
The phosphoric acid decomposes, releasing hydrogen, and forming nitrosonium phosphate (a salt). When water is added to the salt, the acid and one half of the nitric oxide is reconstituted. Heat is evolved. The NO2 is heated and broken down to NO for further recycling.
Thus, 2NO + pO3" +H2O = 2HPO3 + NO + NO2 NO2 = NO + 1 /202 The by-product 02 from the cracking of water and NO/phosphoric acid reaction may optionally be used in a recycle mode to make a more desirable 1:1 N:O charge with the incoming water vapor in order to optirni~e NO production by the reaction above.
After the water vapor is introduced into the reaction gone from the first portion 12 of the reactor 10, the water molecules are dissociated into their molecular constituents as described above. Due to the difference in difFusivities of hydrogen and oxygen, either component will diffuse preferentially through the outer surface of the membrane 18 into the inner portion of the membrane 18. Since the radius of the hydrogen atom or molecule is smaller than the radius of the oxygen atom or molecule, the hydrogen species will preferentially diffuse through the wall of the membrane 18, thus affecting separation.

The reaction zone will become increasingly rich in the oxygen species down the length of the reactor. Further separation outside of the reaction zone at the other end of the concentric tubes can be accomplished using standard separation techniques normally employed for separating dissimilar gaseous species.
The above description illustrates a single stage reactor/separator system.
Each stage may be arranged in series or in parallel for a multistage system. In addition, thexe may be several stages of separation within the reaction zone by using multiple concentric tubes. There can be different combinations of series and parallel reaction zones with or without multiple tubes within each reaction z~ane in order to affect better separation or throughput of the product gasses.
The membrane 18 may further be biased by a L)C, AC or high frequency voltage.
Furthermore, the membrane 18 need not be tubular as show, but any suitable geometry may be utilised.
In addition to the above, a converging diverging nozzle may be used to freeze the reaction after cracking of the water molecules into its constituent hydrogen and oxygen components so that the dissociated constituents do not recombine. since gasses will diffuse inversely proportional to the square root of the molecular weight and the diffusion coefficient of hydrogen and oxygen are very different, separation of the hydrogen and the oxygen can be accomplished.
Fore particularly, the generation of molecular beams by means of expansion of gasses tkarough a Laval nozzle is described by E.iJV. Eecker and I~. Eier in ~.
I~auturforsch, vol. 9a, p.
975 (I954). As described therein, the enhancement of beam intensity is due to a diffusion process of such a nature as to cause the heavier constituent to concentrate along the core of the emerging beam. In terms of the directional distributions in intensity of the beam components, the heavier component is found to have a sharper maximum in the forward direction.
Alternatively to a converging diverging nozzle, an expansion nozzle may be used. The . expansion nozzle cools the exiting gasses to prevent recombination.
Shock cooling via injection of another gas that will assist in the termination of the free radical process may also be used to freeze the reaction. In addition, cryogenic cooling maybe employed to assist in freezing the product gasses. The gases may also be frozen in composition r 18-by exiting the gases through an expansion node, thus allowing the easier separation of the components.
Another method of terminating reactor species so that the predominant exit gasses are hydrogen and oxygen is through the use of a catalyst. If a substance, such as silica gel, with a sufficient surface area is present in the stream of the reactive components, the radical components will preferentially being redirected in the reaction pathway to hydrogen and oxygen.
Examples of catalyst that assist in the recombination of these components to the permanent gasses H2 and are platinum, salts and metals, zinc chromite, or other metal oxides, among others.
Gas phase catalysts may also be employed effectively. A third body collision will favor the recombination of oxygen atoms or hydrogen atoms to form the molecular counterparts. For example, ~ + ~ + M = ~Z + M, and H + H + M = Ha + M, where M may be any gas species not interfering in the reaction. An example of M is argon, xenon or any of the inert gases.
~ther gasses may be employed. Precaution must be obeyed so that the gas phase catalyst does not participate in the reaction leading to a chemical xeacti~n with it.
An example is carbon monoxide, whereby a selective termination of one of the important intermediates leads to the production of hydrogen atoms. 'Ihe hydrogea~ atoms may then be subsequently recombined with ~0 itself to form HZ gas by any ofthe techniques discussed above. °The reaction is ~H + CC = CQ~
+ H.
In addition, material may be sacrificed in order to produce hydrogen atoms. If carbon is placed in the path of the reacting intermediates, the primary product is carbon monoxide, or ~H
+ C = C~ + H. ~nce again, hydrogen atoms may then be recombined by any other of the methods described above.
In another method of preventing the hydrogen and oxygen species from recombining, a third party component may inhibit the recombination reaction. An example of an inhibitor is iodine. Adding Ia to the stream will inhibit the recombination of oxygen and hydrogen back to water. Care needs to be taken that heterogeneous effects do not predominate with this inhibitor that may imp~.ir the inhibitory nature of this component. W.A. Waters (Chemistry of Free Radicals, ~xford, 1946, page ~9) and Norrish (Proceedings of the Royal Society, 1931, 135 p.334) have taught that "Iodine...is an inhibitor of the hydrogen-oxygen reaction, since it reacts with the free atoms giving products, such as atomic iodine, which have too little intrinsic energy to interact either hydrogen or oxygen molecules." Furthermore, Morris and Pease (J. Chemical Physics, 1935, 3, p796) teach, H + I~ = HI + I. The net reaction enthalpy is exothermic giving 33.7 kcals. In addition, the energy of activation of this reaction is approximately 0 kcal. Hence under certain process conditions, the reaction is favorable and hence, these substitutions occur at practically every collision between a hydrogen atom and halogen molecule (e.g.
iodine) even at room temperature. There axe various methods to recover iodine to be used again.
In another method for separation a magnetic field may be established in order to effect the separation of hydrogen and oxygen. Free radicals have magnetic moments and are thus influenced by external magnetic fields. Stern and Gerlach teach that the deflection of species is governed by the following equation:
X(v) =1/(2E ) Jeff (cS H/8x) l~' 536rhere,1= length of the field & I-I/Sx = magnetic field gradient ~ = kinetic energy of molecules ~u~~ = Mgp.~ ( M can have values -J, -J+1, ...J; g i~ the I,ande factor, and ~0 is the Rohr magnetron) Thus, an inhomogenous magnetic field may be established under certa'vi process conditions in order to separate the free radicals by their magnetic moments.
Furthermore, under certain conditions in the plasma, hydrogen and oxygen have dissimilar ionization potentials. Thus, by imposing a potential difference on the plasma it is possible to separate the species under certain specialized conditions due to the different ionic potentials of the ionized species. At very high temperatures the hydrogen and oxygen species become ionized and are influenced by the external voltage applied, thus promoting separation.
For stationary generation of hydrogen in large quantities, a source of water and electricity is needed. There are several sources that can be used that are found naturally. Geothermal sources provide both water vapor in the form of steam as a reactant for the reactor 10 as well as a source of electricity. Hydroelectric power may also be used to drive the device and the nearby water source xxiay be used as a reactant. The portable form of this device may be used anywhere so long as there is a source of water and electricity.
Conventional power plants that use natural gas, coal, nuclear, or other fossil fuels as a source of heat to generate steam f~r electrical power, generate large quantities of waste stem that needs to be eliminated through condensation. This invention may use this waste steam as reactant material in order to generate hydrogen as an energy carrier. As an example, a small electrical power plant that generates S,SpO kw (Standard Handbook for Electrical Engineers, A.
~. Knowlton, 9~ Edition, McCaraw-Hill Company, Section 10-43, page 920) is used fox illustrative purposes. The extracted or waste steam in this example is 71,400 pounds per hour or 32,455 kgs/hour or approximately 1,03 kg-moles of hydrogen produced par hour.
Assuming perfection conversion of the steam ), the amount of hydrogen produced would be X94 kilograms of hydrogen per hour or 10,927 m3 /hour or 95,71 x,949 m3 !year .
Additionally, the plasma may be operated at lower power levels if it can be initiated more easily. The method that can increase the conductivity of the plasma and thereby lower the input power is called seeding. This elass of materials possesses low ionization potentials. This means that substantial conductivities can be achieved at relatively low temperatures. The alkali and altcaline earth metals possess that property. For example, ionic salts from the alkali and alkaline earth metals are excellexit candidates. Examples of such compounds are CsC~2, CsCl, K~C~3, I~~H, ~Cl, ~TaCI, I~Ta~H, ~a2~~3, and the like. Alternatively, mercury may be used as a seed material.
Plasmas in the higher pressure range will emit Iarge quantities of heat and light. The heat is derived from a variety of sources such as the recombination reaction of hydrogen and oxygen.
Recovery of that heat could be by means of heat exchange, heat pipes, similarly as described above, or even photovoltaic cells, or thermoelectric or thermoionic devices.
The heat recovered may be used to raise the temperature of the incoming reactant steam or water so that the plasma will utilize less energy in the cracking process. Since the plasma is electrically conductive, it is even possible to capture some of the electrical energy of the plasma using techniques common to 1V1>;iD systems.
There has been described hereinabove novel apparatus and methods for developing hydrogen gas. Those skilled in the art may now make numerous uses of and departures from the above identified embodiments without departing from the inventive concepts disclosed herein.
Accordingly, the present invention is to be defined solely by the scope of the appended Claims.

Claims (88)

1. A method to generate hydrogen and oxygen gas comprising steps of:
introducing water molecules into an electromagnetic energy field having a frequency commensurate with a selected mode frequency of said molecules to excite said molecules at said mode frequency and further having an energy level commensurate with a molecular bonding energy of said molecules to dissociate said molecules into hydrogen and oxygen species;
separating said hydrogen and oxygen species upon being dissociated from said water molecules; and removing said species such that like species recombine to form hydrogen and oxygen gas.

2. A method as set forth in Claim 1 wherein said selected mode frequency excites a translational mode of said water molecules.

3. A method as set forth in Claim 1 wherein said selected mode frequency excites a vibrational mode of said water molecules.

4. A method as set forth in Claim 1 wherein said selected mode frequency excites a rotational mode of said water molecules.

5. A method as set forth in Claim 1 wherein said selected mode frequency excites an electronic mode of said water molecules.

6. A method as set forth in Claim 1 wherein said separating step includes placing a membrane within said electromagnetic field whereat said water molecules become dissociated, said membrane having a porosity permeable to the dissociated hydrogen species to effect separation from said oxygen species.

7. A method as set forth in Claim 1 wherein said separating step includes developing a time variant electromagnetic field about said dissociated hydrogen and oxygen species to cause rotation thereof, said species separating due to centrifugation.

8. A method as set forth in Claim 1 further comprising combusting carbon dioxide with a selected one of said hydrogen species and said hydrogen gas to form organic compounds.

9. A method as set forth in Claim 8 wherein said combusting step includes injecting carbon dioxide into said water molecules prior to said introducing step.

10. A method as set forth in Claim 8 wherein said combusting step includes injecting carbon dioxide into said hydrogen species while contained within said electromagnetic field.

11. A method as set forth in Claim 8 wherein said combusting step includes injecting carbon dioxide into a selected one of said hydrogen species and said hydrogen gas subsequent to said separating step.

12. A method as set forth in Claim 8 further comprising seeding the combustion of carbon dioxide and said selected one of said hydrogen species and said hydrogen gas with a catalyst selected to promote formation of a preselected one of said organic compounds.

13. A method as set forth in Claim 12 wherein said seeding step includes selecting a point of injection of said catalyst in accordance with a distribution of said organic compounds to be obtained.

14. A system for producing hydrogen gas comprising:
a source of high temperature steam;
a source of electrical energy; and a radiant energy transfer reactor to which said electrical energy is applied to develop a high frequency electromagnetic field within said reactor, said high temperature steam being introduced into said electromagnetic field to be dissociated into hydrogen species and oxygen species within said reactor and separated therein to produce a stream of output hydrogen gas and a stream of output oxygen gas.

15. A system as set forth in claim 14 wherein said source of steam is geothermal steam.

16. A system as set forth in claim 14 said source of steam includes:
a combustor in which combustible products are ignited and combusted with air;
and a boiler to produce said steam from the heat of combustion from said combustor.

17. A system as set forth in Maim 16 wherein said combustible products include waste materials.

18. A system as set forth in, Claim 17 wherein said waste materials include plastics.

19. A system as set forth in Claim 16 wherein said combustor produces flue gas, said flue gas further preheating said steam introduced into said electromagnetic field.

20. A system as set forth in Claim 16 wherein said combustor produces flue gas, said flue gas preheating said air applied to said combustor.

21. A system as set forth in claim 16 wherein said stream of oxygen gas is introduced into to said combustor for combustion with said products.

22. A system as set forth in Claim 21 wherein said combustor produces flue gas, said flue gas preheating said oxygen introduced into said combustor.

23. A system as set forth in Claim 16 wherein said source of electricity includes:
a steam turbine driven by said high temperature steam wherein steam exiting said turbine is introduced into said electromagnetic fields; and a generator driven by said steam turbine to develop said electricity.

24. A system as set forth in Claim 16 wherein said source of electricity includes a magneto hydrodynamic generator including a coil wherein ions of one of said high temperature steam and said species flow within a time variant electromagnetic field to develop said electricity in said coil.

25. A system as set forth in Claim 19 wherein sand flue gas contains carbon dioxide, said carbon dioxide being combusted with a portion of a selected one of said hydrogen species and said hydrogen gas to produce organic compound products.

26. A system as set forth in Claim 25 wherein heat of combustion of said carbon dioxide with said selected one of said hydrogen species and said hydrogen gas is reintroduced into said system.

27. A system as set forth in Claim 25 wherein a catalyst is introduced with the combustion of said carbon dioxide and said selected one of said hydrogen species and said hydrogen gas.

28. A method of generating hydrogen and oxygen gas comprising steps of:
injecting water molecules into a plasma to dissociate said molecules into a hydrogen species and an oxygen species;
separating within said plasma said hydrogen species from said oxygen species;
removing each of said oxygen species and said hydrogen species from said plasma so that said oxygen species forms gaseous oxygen and said hydrogen species forms gaseous hydrogen.

29. A method as set forth in Claim 28 further comprising the step of:
generating said plasma in the microwave frequency segment of the electromagnetic spectrum.

30. A method as set forth in Claim 28 further comprising the step of:
generating said plasma in the radio frequency segment of the electromagnetic spectrum.

31. A method as set forth in Claim 28 further comprising the step of:
generating said plasma from low frequency electromagnetic waves.

32. A method as set forth in Claim 28 further comprising the step of:
generating said plasma from an arc discharge.

33. A method as set forth in Claim 28 further comprising the step of:
developing an electromagnetic field from a source of electrical energy to define a plasma reaction zone, said water molecules being injected into said zone.

34. A method as set forth in Claim 33 further comprising the step of:

developing said electrical energy from at least one of solar energy, hydroelectric energy and geothermal energy.

35. A method as set forth in Claim 33 further comprising the steps of:
developing said electrical energy from a hydroelectric source; and recovering at least a portion of water used by hydroelectric source as said injected water molecules.

36. A method as set forth in Claim 33 further comprising the steps of:
developing said electrical energy from a geothermal source in which water vapor is emitted; and recovering at least a portion of said emitted water vapor as said injected water molecules.

37. A method as set forth in Claim 28 further comprising the step of recovering waste steam to provide said injected water molecules.

38. A method as set forth in Claim 28 wherein said injecting step includes the step of concurrently injecting a gas into said plasma.

39. A method as set forth in Claim 38 wherein said injecting step includes the step of injecting air into said plasma.

40. A method as set forth in Claim 38 wherein said injecting step includes tho step of injecting nitrogen into said plasma.

41. A method as set forth in Claim 38 wherein said injecting step includes the step of injecting an inert gas into said plasma.

42. A method as set forth in Claim 41 wherein said inert gas injecting step includes injecting a selected one of xenon, neon, krypton, helium and argon into said plasma.

43. A method as set forth in Claim 28 wherein said injecting step includes the step of injecting steam into said plasma.

44. A method as set forth in Claim 28 wherein said separating step includes the step of placing a porous membrane adjacent said plasma wherein said porous membrane includes a plurality of pores having a diameter intermediate a diameter of said hydrogen species and said oxygen species such that said hydrogen species permeates through said membrane.

45. A method as set forth in Claim 44 wherein said placing step includes the steps of forming said porous membrane as a first tube;
placing said first tube within a nonporous second tube such that said reaction gone is confined between said first tube and said second tube, said water molecules being injected into said reaction gone from a first end of said second tube.

46. A method as set forth in Claim 44 wherein said placing step further includes placing a plurality of membranes in a selected one of a parallel and a serial arrangement.

47. A method as set forth in Claim 44 further comprising electrically biasing said membrane.

48. A method as set forth in Claim 47 wherein said biasing step includes the step of applying a DC voltage to said membrane.

49. A method as set forth in Claim 47 wherein said biasing step includes the step of applying an AC voltage to said membrane.

50. A method as set forth in Claim 49 wherein said applying step includes applying a high frequency voltage to said membrane.

51. A method as set forth in Claim 28 wherein said separating step includes the step of pumping said oxygen species and said hydrogen species through a converging diverging node to form an exit beam wherein said oxygen species emerges from said node substantially along a core of said beam and said hydrogen species migrates outwardly of said beam.

52. A method as set forth in Claim 51 wherein said converging diverging node is a Laval node.

53. A method as set forth in Claim 28 wherein said separating step includes the step of quenching of said oxygen species and said hydrogen species upon exiting said plasma to prevent recombination thereof.

54. A method a set forth in Claim 53 wherein said quenching step includes the step of pumping said oxygen species and said hydrogen species through an expansion nozzle prior to said shock cooling step.

55. A method as set forth in Claim 28 wherein said separating step includes the step of developing an electrical potential across said plasma wherein said potential interacts with a differing electrical potential of each of said hydrogen species and said oxygen species to effect separation.

56. A method as set forth in claim 28 wherein said separating step includes the step of developing a magnetic field across said plasma wherein said field interacts with a differing magnetic moment of each of said hydrogen species and said oxygen species to effect separation.

57. A method as set forth in Claim 56 wherein said separating step further includes the step of developing an electrical potential across said plasma wherein said potential interacts with a differing electrical potential of each of said hydrogen species and said oxygen species to effect separation.

58. A method as set forth in Claim 28 wherein said separating step includes the step of introducing a catalyst into said plasma to effect termination of the active species in each of said hydrogen species and said oxygen species.

59. A method as set forth in Claim 28 wherein said separating step includes the step of introducing a homogenous reactant into said plasma to react with said oxygen species to prevent recombination with said hydrogen species.

60. A method as set forth in Claim 59 wherein said introducing step includes the step of introducing carbon monoxide such that an OH intermediate combines with said carbon monoxide resulting in the production hydrogen atoms and carbon dioxide.

61. A method as set forth in Claim 28 wherein said separating step includes the step of introducing a sacrificial component into said plasma to react with said oxygen species to prevent recombination with said hydrogen species.

62. A method as set forth in Claim 61 wherein said introducing step includes the step of introducing carbon such that an OH intermediate combines with said carbon resulting in the production hydrogen atoms and carbon monoxide.

63. A method as set forth in Claim 28 wherein said separating step includes the stela of introducing a atomic or molecular component into said plasma concurrently with said water molecules to inhibit recombination of said oxygen species and said hydrogen species

64. A method as set forth in Claim 63 wherein said introducing step includes the step of introducing iodine (I2) into said plasma.

65. A method as set forth in Claim 28 wherein said separating step includes injecting a cryothermic gas selected to be non-reactive with one of said oxygen species and said hydrogen species into said plasma to shock cool said oxygen species and said hydrogen species to prevent recombination thereof.

66. A method as set forth in Claim 28 further comprising recovering energy from said plasma wherein said recovered energy is converted to a useful form.

67. A method as set forth in Claim 66 wherein said recovering step includes the step of inducing electrical current in electromagnets placed about said plasma from the electromagnetic energy of said plasma.

68. A method as set forth in Claim 66 wherein said recovering step includes the step of placing a heat exchanger proximal said plasma to recover heat energy therefrom.

69. A method as set forth in Claim 66 wherein said recovering step includes the step of placing a heat pipe within said plasma to recover heat energy therefrom.

70. A method as set forth in Claim 69 wherein said recovering step includes the step of placing solar cells proximal said plasma to recover light energy therefrom.

71. A method as set forth in Claim 69 wherein said recovering step includes the step of placing a thermoelectric device proximal said plasma to recover electrical energy therefrom.

72. A method as set forth in Claim 69 wherein said recovering step includes the step of placing a thermoionic device proximal said plasma to recover electrical energy therefrom.

73. A method as set forth in Claim 28 wherein said injecting step includes the step of injecting said water molecules in a first stream and further injecting an inert gas in a second stream, said first stream and said second stream having an angle therebetween ranging from 0° to 180°.

74. A method as set forth in Claim 28 wherein said plasma is a pulsed plasma.

75. A method as set forth in Claim 28 wherein said plasma is an oscillating plasma of having a controlled frequency.

76. A method as set forth in Claim 28 wherein said plasma is an oscillating plasma of having a variable frequency.

77. A method as set forth in Claim 28 wherein said plasma is developed at a pressure of between 1 mtorr to 1000 atmospheres.

78. A method as set forth in Claim 28 wherein said plasma is developed at a temperature between 5°C and 20,000°K.

79. A method as set forth in Claim 28 wherein said plasma is developed at a frequency between 50Hz and 100gHz.

80. A method as set forth in Claim 28 further comprising the step of introducing a seed material into said plasma to thereby lower the temperature thereof.

81. A method as set forth in Claim 28 wherein said introducing step includes the step of selecting said seed material from materials having low ionization potentials.

82. A method as set forth in Claim 81 wherein said selecting step includes the step of selecting from alkali and alkaline earth metals.

83. A method as set forth in Claim 81 wherein said seed material is mercury.

84. A method as set forth in Claim 28 wherein said removing step includes the step of introducing a catalyst into said plasma to terminate said oxygen species and said hydrogen species and to redirect said oxygen species and said hydrogen species to molecular hydrogen and molecular oxygen.

85. A method as set forth in Claim 84 wherein said catalyst has a high surface area.

86. A method as set forth in Claim 84 wherein said catalyst is silica gel.

87. A method as set forth in Claim 28 wherein said injecting step further includes the steps of:
injecting nitrogen concurrently with said water molecules into said plasma such that nitric oxide is formed as a byproduct;
injecting an acid post plasma such that said nitric oxide reacts with said acid to form a salt thereby releasing molecular hydrogen.

88. A method as set forth in Claim 87 wherein said acid is phosphoric acid.