CN109576731B - Liquid metal magnetic fluid direct electrolysis water hydrogen production device and method - Google Patents

Abstract

The present disclosure provides a device and method for producing hydrogen by directly electrolyzing water with liquid metal magnetic fluid. Wherein, a liquid metal magnetic fluid direct electrolysis water hydrogen plant includes: a container; an insulating plate provided in the container for dividing the container into a first-layer container and a second-layer container; the first layer container is an electrolytic tank, and the second layer container is a sealing chamber; a liquid metal conduit that is a closed-loop sealed conduit and passes through the second-tier container; the liquid metal pipeline is internally provided with liquid metal; the permanent magnets are arranged in the second-layer container, comprise a permanent magnet N pole and a permanent magnet S pole and are respectively arranged at two sides of the liquid metal pipeline; one end of the pair of electrodes is embedded into the side wall of the liquid metal pipeline to be in direct contact with the liquid metal, and the other end of the pair of electrodes passes through the insulating plate; the electrodes are used for transmitting electric energy and providing electric energy for the water electrolysis process. The device of this disclosure simple structure is compact, and the modularization of being convenient for is arranged, convenient washing maintenance.

Description

Liquid metal magnetic fluid direct electrolysis water hydrogen production device and method

Technical field

The present disclosure belongs to the fields of high-efficiency utilization technology of ocean energy and electrolysis of seawater for hydrogen production, and particularly relates to a device and method for direct electrolysis of water to produce hydrogen using liquid metal magnetic fluid.

Background technique

The statements in this section merely provide background technical information related to the present disclosure and do not necessarily constitute prior art.

The ocean contains the richest resources in the world, and the development and utilization of ocean energy is of great significance to reducing pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. Tidal energy, wave energy, tidal energy, etc. are common forms of ocean energy. Ocean energy power generation devices are mostly deployed far away from the coastline. The utilization of electric energy requires laying submarine cables or setting up offshore charging platforms, which is costly and inconvenient to use and maintain. Hydrogen energy is regarded as the most rational energy carrier due to its advantages such as cleanliness, efficiency, safety, storage and transportation. Seawater is the main source of hydrogen energy, and electrolysis of seawater for hydrogen production has broad prospects. At present, the main methods of hydrogen production include fossil fuel hydrogen production, water electrolysis hydrogen production, biomass hydrogen production, solar photolysis hydrogen production, etc. Among them, hydrogen production from fossil fuels has not fundamentally solved the problem of serious pollution and unsustainability. Biomass hydrogen production and solar photolysis hydrogen production are both in the research and development stage. However, water electrolysis hydrogen production is simple to operate, has mature technology, a wide range of raw materials, and is easy to produce. Hydrogen and oxygen are of high purity. However, electrolysis of water requires a large amount of electricity, and the use of renewable energy, especially ocean energy, to produce hydrogen is the future development trend.

Using the remaining electricity from renewable energy sources such as "abandoning water, abandoning wind, abandoning light" to produce hydrogen is a new idea in the development of hydrogen energy in recent years. Norway has built a power supply system on the island of Utesila that fully integrates wind power generation, hydrogen energy storage and power generation. In 2016, the world's largest wind power hydrogen production comprehensive utilization demonstration project constructed in Guyuan County, Hebei Province, my country, has been fully connected to the grid to generate electricity. However, existing renewable energy water electrolysis hydrogen production technologies need to first collect and convert electrical energy into usable voltage, and then load it into the positive and negative electrodes of the electrolyzer. This process increases the complexity of the device and causes energy loss. Liquid metal magnetic fluid power generation uses liquid metal fluid with low melting point and high conductivity as the working fluid to carry out magnetic fluid power generation. When the liquid metal in the power generation channel flows through the magnetic field area, it cuts the magnetic induction lines and generates induced electromotive force on the electrodes on both sides. Liquid metal magnetic fluid power generation has no mechanical energy conversion link and can replace rotating electrical machines. In recent years, the American Association for Scientific Applications and Research, Tokyo Institute of Technology, and the Chinese Academy of Sciences have applied it to ocean wave energy for direct power generation. However, the inventor found that liquid metal magnetic fluid power generation has the characteristics of large current and small voltage, and requires a complex power conversion system to output directly usable electrical energy. This problem can be solved if the liquid metal magnetic fluid technology is directly applied to water electrolysis for hydrogen production. Problem, and currently liquid metal magnetic fluid technology cannot be directly applied to water electrolysis to produce hydrogen.

Contents of the invention

According to one aspect of one or more embodiments of the present disclosure, a liquid metal magnetic fluid direct electrolysis water hydrogen production device is provided, which has a simple and compact structure, facilitates modular layout, and facilitates cleaning and maintenance.

The disclosed liquid metal magnetic fluid direct electrolysis water hydrogen production device includes:

container;

An insulating plate is provided in the container for dividing the container into a first-layer container and a second-layer container; the first-layer container is an electrolytic cell, and the second-layer container is a sealed chamber;

A liquid metal pipe, which is a closed-loop sealed pipe and passes through the second layer of containers; liquid metal is provided in the liquid metal pipe;

A pair of permanent magnets, which are arranged in the second-layer container and include the N pole of the permanent magnet and the S pole of the permanent magnet, respectively arranged on both sides of the liquid metal pipe;

A pair of electrodes, one end of which is embedded in the side wall of the liquid metal pipe and is in direct contact with the liquid metal, and the other end passes through the insulating plate; the electrodes are used to transmit electrical energy and provide electrical energy for the electrolysis of water process.

In one or more embodiments, the electrolytic cell includes a cathode chamber and an anode chamber, and a cathode and anode chamber separator is disposed between the cathode chamber and the anode chamber.

In one or more embodiments, the bottom area of the electrolytic cell is provided with a water inlet and a water outlet.

In one or more embodiments, a cathode chamber exhaust port is provided in the top area of the electrolytic cell, and the cathode chamber exhaust port is connected with the cathode chamber.

In one or more embodiments, the top area of the electrolytic cell is provided with an anode chamber exhaust port, and the anode chamber exhaust port is connected with the anode chamber.

In one or more embodiments, a one-way valve is also provided in the liquid metal pipeline.

In one or more embodiments, the liquid metal pipe is also connected to a driving mechanism, and the driving mechanism is used to drive the liquid metal to flow in one direction in the liquid metal pipe.

In one or more embodiments, an electrolyte is provided in the electrolytic tank, and the electrolyte is input into the electrolytic tank through a water inlet.

According to another aspect of one or more embodiments of the present disclosure, a hydrogen production method of a liquid metal magnetic fluid direct electrolysis water hydrogen production device is provided, which breaks through the limitations of the geographical location of the ocean energy power generation device and effectively realizes seawater Direct hydrogen production expands the sources of hydrogen energy and provides new solutions for the efficient use of ocean energy.

A hydrogen production method based on the liquid metal magnetic fluid direct electrolysis water hydrogen production device disclosed in the present disclosure includes:

Liquid metal flows in one direction in the liquid metal pipe under the action of external force. When passing through the magnetic field generated by the N pole of the permanent magnet and the S pole of the permanent magnet, the magnetic field lines are cut, and an induced electromotive force is generated between a pair of electrodes. The electric energy is led out to An electrolytic cell uses electrical energy to electrolyze an electrolyte.

In one or more embodiments, hydrogen gas is precipitated in the cathode chamber of the electrolytic cell, discharged and collected through the cathode exhaust port, and the remaining products are discharged through the anode exhaust port and water outlet.

The beneficial effects of this disclosure are:

(1) The liquid metal magnetic fluid direct electrolysis water hydrogen production device of the present disclosure has many advantages such as simple structure, good matching of electrical energy characteristics, sufficient hydrogen production raw materials, and convenient storage. The overall device structure is compact, easy to modularize, and easy to clean and maintain. , does not require complicated circuit connections, overcomes the problems of power conversion and electric energy transmission, and provides a new solution to the problem of utilizing renewable energy power generation devices.

(2) The hydrogen production method of the liquid metal magnetic fluid direct electrolysis water hydrogen production device of the present disclosure breaks through the limitations of the geographical location of the ocean energy power generation device, effectively realizes the direct production of hydrogen from seawater, expands the source of hydrogen energy, and provides ocean Provides new solutions for efficient utilization of energy.

Description of the drawings

The description drawings that form a part of the present disclosure are used to provide a further understanding of the present disclosure. The illustrative embodiments of the present disclosure and their descriptions are used to explain the present disclosure and do not constitute an improper limitation of the present disclosure.

Figure 1 is a schematic structural diagram of a liquid metal magnetic fluid direct electrolysis water hydrogen production device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Figure 2 is a flow chart of the direct electrolysis of seawater by ocean energy liquid metal magnetic fluid according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Among them: 1-cathode chamber exhaust port, 2-cathode chamber, 3-water inlet, 4-cathode, 5-permanent magnet N pole, 6-liquid metal pipe, 7-permanent magnet S pole, 8-sealed chamber, 9 -Anode, 10-water outlet, 11-sea water, 12-anode chamber, 13-anode chamber exhaust port.

Detailed ways

It should be noted that the following detailed description is illustrative and is intended to provide further explanation of the present disclosure. Unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this disclosure belongs.

It should be noted that the terms used herein are for the purpose of describing specific embodiments only and are not intended to limit the exemplary embodiments according to the present disclosure. As used herein, the singular forms are also intended to include the plural forms unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. Furthermore, it will be understood that when the terms "comprises" and/or "includes" are used in this specification, they indicate There are features, steps, operations, means, components and/or combinations thereof.

Figure 1 is a schematic structural diagram of a liquid metal magnetic fluid direct electrolysis water hydrogen production device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

As shown in Figure 1, the main body of a liquid metal magnetic fluid direct electrolysis water hydrogen production device in this embodiment is a container. Among them, the container is a pressure-resistant container.

An insulating plate is provided in the container, and the insulating plate is used to divide the container into a first-layer container and a second-layer container; wherein the first-layer container is an electrolytic cell and the second-layer container is a sealed chamber.

The sealed chamber is a sealed chamber of a liquid metal magnetic fluid power generation unit. The power generation unit includes a liquid metal pipe 6, a permanent magnet N pole 5, a permanent magnet S pole 7, a positive pole 9 and a negative pole 4. The liquid metal pipe 6 is an insulating tube with a rectangular cross-section. Passing through the sealed chamber 8 and located between the permanent magnet N pole 5 and the permanent magnet S pole 7, one end of the positive pole 9 and the negative pole 4 are embedded in the side wall of the liquid metal pipe and are in direct contact with the liquid metal. When the liquid metal flows in one direction in the liquid metal pipe 6 under the action of external force, and passes through the magnetic field generated by the permanent magnet N pole 5 and the permanent magnet S pole 7, the magnetic field lines are cut, and an induced electromotive force is generated between the positive pole 9 and the negative pole 4, and the electric energy passes through The positive electrode 9 and the negative electrode 4 are led to the electrolytic cell.

In a specific implementation, a one-way valve is also provided in the liquid metal pipeline.

The liquid metal pipe is also connected to a driving mechanism, and the driving mechanism is used to drive the liquid metal to flow in one direction in the liquid metal pipe.

When this disclosure is applied to ocean energy liquid metal magnetic fluid to directly electrolyze seawater to produce hydrogen, it is necessary to combine the liquid metal magnetic fluid direct electrolysis water module with a reciprocating ocean energy capture device, a seawater filtration and treatment device, a hydrogen storage device, etc.

The reciprocating ocean energy capture device converts renewable energy such as wave energy and tidal energy into mechanical energy to drive the movement of liquid metal in closed pipelines. With the help of one-way valves and other assistance, liquid metal flows in one direction at a relatively stable speed through the liquid metal magnetic fluid direct electrolysis water module, generating a relatively stable DC voltage on the electrodes to provide electrical energy for the electrolyzer. This ensures that the liquid metal maintains a one-way flow when passing through the power generation unit and generates relatively stable direct current on the electrodes.

In specific implementation, the reciprocating ocean energy capture device can be implemented by using any one of a planar linkage mechanism, a gear mechanism, a turbine mechanism, a ratchet mechanism, a pulley mechanism or a spring mechanism, and the structures are all existing structures.

It should be noted that other reciprocating machinery can also be used to provide a power source to drive the liquid metal to move.

An electrolyte is provided in the electrolytic cell, and the electrolyte is input into the electrolytic cell through a water inlet.

In this embodiment, the electrolyte is selected as: filtered seawater as the raw material for electrolyzing water to produce hydrogen. When used in other non-marine energy power generation devices, an aqueous solution can also be used as the raw material for electrolyzing water to produce hydrogen.

Liquid metal is a low melting point alloy, metal or nanometal conductive solution, such as NaK78, U47, Hg, gallium indium tin liquid alloy, nanosilver solution, etc.

The electrolytic cell is composed of cathode 4, anode 9, cathode chamber 2, anode chamber 12 and cathode and anode chamber separators. A water inlet 3 and a water outlet 10 are provided at the bottom area of the electrolytic cell, and a cathode chamber exhaust port 1 and anode are provided at the top area. Room exhaust port 13. When the electrolytic cell is filled with seawater, appropriate catalysts or auxiliary materials are added, and the voltage generated by the power generation unit is loaded on the cathode 4 and anode 9, and an electrochemical reaction occurs. Hydrogen is precipitated on the cathode 4 and is discharged through the cathode exhaust port 1. Collect, and the remaining products are discharged through the anode exhaust port 13 and water outlet 10.

The positive and negative electrodes are also the anode and cathode of the electrolytic cell. A block-shaped good conductor with low resistance is preferred as the electrode. For example: titanium-based Ru, Ir, Ti, Sn, Co five-element mixed oxide is used as the anode, titanium alloy is used as the cathode, hydrogen is precipitated at the cathode, and Cl ₂ is precipitated at the anode.

For example: graphite is used as the anode and Pt is used as the cathode. For example, activated carbon is used as a catalyst for electrolyzing seawater. Hydrogen is precipitated at the cathode and CO ₂ is produced at the anode.

This embodiment uses hydrogen storage materials to collect and store hydrogen generated by water electrolysis to facilitate the storage, transportation, and use of hydrogen.

Seawater 11 is filtered and then injected into the electrolytic cell. An electrochemical reaction occurs, and hydrogen is precipitated on the cathode 4. It is discharged through the cathode exhaust port 1 and collected by the hydrogen storage device. Other products are collected through the anode exhaust port 13 and the water outlet 10 or discharge.

The disclosure adopts a modular design. When the device needs maintenance, the liquid metal magnetic fluid direct electrolysis water module can be removed to facilitate cleaning, maintenance, and replacement without affecting the use of other devices.

The ocean energy liquid metal magnetic fluid direct electrolysis water hydrogen production system provided by this specific embodiment uses the liquid metal magnetic fluid power generation technology to directly apply the ocean energy power generation device to the electrolysis of seawater to produce hydrogen. It adapts to local conditions, exploits strengths and avoids weaknesses, and breaks through the geographical location of the ocean energy power generation device. It effectively realizes the direct production of hydrogen from seawater, expands the sources of hydrogen energy, and provides a new solution for the efficient utilization of ocean energy.

As shown in Figure 2, a hydrogen production method based on the liquid metal magnetic fluid direct electrolysis water hydrogen production device in this embodiment includes:

Liquid metal flows in one direction in the liquid metal pipe under the action of external force. When passing through the magnetic field generated by the N pole of the permanent magnet and the S pole of the permanent magnet, the magnetic field lines are cut, and an induced electromotive force is generated between a pair of electrodes. The electric energy is led out to An electrolytic cell uses electrical energy to electrolyze an electrolyte.

The external force device is an ocean energy capture device in this example.

In this embodiment, the electrolyte is seawater, which is filtered by a filtering device and then input into the electrolytic cell through the water inlet.

Among them, a filter can be used as the filtration device.

Hydrogen is precipitated in the cathode chamber of the electrolytic cell, and is discharged and collected through the cathode exhaust port. The remaining products are discharged through the anode exhaust port and water outlet.

This disclosure makes full use of the characteristics of liquid metal magnetic fluid power generation with small voltage and large current, and applies this technology to electrolysis of water for hydrogen production for the first time. The electrolyzer and the liquid metal magnetic fluid power generation unit are respectively located in the upper and lower layers of the same insulated pressure-resistant container. , the one-way flow of liquid metal is controlled by a one-way valve to generate relatively stable direct current. The positive and negative electrodes of the power generation unit are directly led out as the anode and cathode for electrolyzing water to produce hydrogen, and hydrogen is precipitated and collected at the cathode. The device has a simple and compact structure, facilitates modular layout, and is convenient for cleaning and maintenance. Applying the present disclosure to ocean energy liquid metal magnetic fluid to directly electrolyze seawater to produce hydrogen breaks through the limitations of the geographical location of ocean energy power generation devices, effectively realizes direct hydrogen production from seawater, expands the source of hydrogen energy, and provides a solution for the efficient utilization of ocean energy. new plan.

Although the specific embodiments of the present disclosure have been described above in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, they do not limit the scope of the present disclosure. Those skilled in the art should understand that on the basis of the technical solutions of the present disclosure, those skilled in the art do not need to make creative efforts. Various modifications or deformations can be made and still fall within the scope of the present disclosure.

Claims (8)

1. A device for directly electrolyzing water to prepare hydrogen by liquid metal magnetic fluid, which is characterized by comprising:

a container;

an insulating plate provided in the container for dividing the container into a first-layer container and a second-layer container; the first layer container is an electrolytic tank, and the second layer container is a sealing chamber;

a liquid metal conduit that is a closed-loop sealed conduit and passes through the second-tier container; the liquid metal pipeline is internally provided with liquid metal; a one-way valve is arranged in the metal pipeline; the metal pipeline is connected with a driving mechanism, and the driving mechanism is used for driving the liquid metal to flow in a unidirectional manner in the liquid metal pipeline; the driving mechanism is a reciprocating ocean energy capturing device, converts wave energy and tidal energy into mechanical energy and drives liquid metal in the liquid metal pipeline to move;

the permanent magnets are arranged in the second-layer container, comprise a permanent magnet N pole and a permanent magnet S pole and are respectively arranged at two sides of the liquid metal pipeline;

one end of the pair of electrodes is embedded into the side wall of the liquid metal pipeline to be in direct contact with the liquid metal, and the other end of the pair of electrodes passes through the insulating plate; the electrode is used for transmitting electric energy and providing electric energy for the water electrolysis process;

the positive electrode and the negative electrode of the electrode are the positive electrode and the negative electrode of the electrolytic cell at the same time; seawater is filtered and then injected into an electrolytic tank to perform electrochemical reaction, hydrogen is separated out on a cathode, and the hydrogen is discharged through a cathode exhaust port and collected by a hydrogen storage device.

2. The liquid metal magnetic fluid direct water electrolysis hydrogen production device according to claim 1, wherein the electrolytic tank comprises a cathode chamber and an anode chamber, and a cathode-anode chamber diaphragm is arranged between the cathode chamber and the anode chamber.

3. The liquid metal magnetic fluid direct water electrolysis hydrogen production device according to claim 1, wherein a water inlet and a water outlet are formed in the bottom area of the electrolytic tank.

4. The liquid metal magnetic fluid direct water electrolysis hydrogen plant of claim 1, wherein the top region of the electrolyzer is provided with a cathode chamber vent, the cathode chamber vent being in communication with the cathode chamber.

5. The liquid metal magnetic fluid direct water electrolysis hydrogen plant of claim 1, wherein the top area of the electrolyzer is provided with an anode chamber exhaust port, the anode chamber exhaust port being in communication with the anode chamber.

6. A liquid metal magnetic fluid direct water electrolysis hydrogen production device according to claim 3, wherein electrolyte is arranged in the electrolytic tank, and the electrolyte is input into the electrolytic tank through a water inlet.

7. A method of producing hydrogen based on the direct electrolysis of water by a liquid metal magnetic fluid according to any one of claims 1 to 6, comprising:

the liquid metal flows unidirectionally in the liquid metal pipeline under the action of external force, when passing through the magnetic field generated by the N pole and the S pole of the permanent magnet, cuts magnetic force lines, generates induced electromotive force between a pair of electrodes, and electric energy is led out to an electrolytic tank through the pair of electrodes, and the electrolytic tank utilizes the electric energy to electrolyze electrolyte.

8. The method for producing hydrogen by directly electrolyzing water with liquid metal magnetic fluid as claimed in claim 7, wherein hydrogen is separated out in the cathode chamber of the electrolyzer, discharged through the cathode exhaust port and collected, and the remaining products are discharged through the anode exhaust port and the water outlet.