JP2001106502A - Hydrogen producing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a hydrogen producing device capable of highly efficiently producing hydrogen using inexpensive water as a raw material. SOLUTION: A cathode assembly 48 ad a tubular anode 26 are arranged in housings 14, 16, 18 to form an arc reaction chamber 76, the anode 26 and a cathode holder 22 are cooled by cooling passage means 38, 40 communicated with an inlet 32, steam generated in a steam generating part 50 is jetted to the arc reaction chamber 76 through an injector ring 24 and allowed to catalytically react with an arc to obtain hydrogen and oxygen.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a hydrogen production apparatus for obtaining a cracked gas composed of hydrogen or hydrogen oxygen from water, and more particularly to a hydrogen production apparatus for producing hydrogen useful as new energy.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art New energy has been sought as an effective countermeasure against the finite nature of petroleum resources, air pollution from automobiles and industry, and global warming due to carbon dioxide emissions. Have been. Conventionally, alkaline electrolysis,
High temperature steam electrolysis and pyrolysis have been proposed,
Either method was inefficient and therefore extremely costly compared to fossil fuels. The development of hydrogen energy technology in other countries is based on German SWB (Solar Was
serstoff Byern) Project and HYS
The OLAR project and the EU-Canada joint project EQHHPP (Euro Qubec Hy)
The development of hydrogen technology has been activated with the launch of the “dogen Pilot Project” project. EQ in Canada
In addition to the HHPP project, the Canadian government has set up CNHP (Hydro
gen R & D Program), and the R & D of Natural Resources
f Canada (NRCan) is in charge. In the United States, research and development with the support of the Department of Energy (DOE) began, and HTAP (Hydrogen)
Technical Advisory Pane
l), with the cooperation of industry and academic societies, Hydrogen
Program is being promoted. Among them, various hydrogen production methods have been proposed so far.

[0003] US Patent 5,085,176 discloses an automotive hydrogen engine incorporating a catalytic hydrogen production system. In this engine, hydrogen is generated by injecting water into a catalyst of a hydrogen production device. In this device, when the catalyst reacts with water, a metal hydroxide is generated on the surface of the catalyst to deactivate the catalytic function,
It was not possible to generate hydrogen continuously.

[0004] US Patent Nos. 5,143,025, 5,305,715, 5,452,688, 5,513,600 and 5,799,624
Discloses a hydrogen gas generator using an electrolysis method for an automobile engine system. All of these devices are structurally large, expensive, and have poor hydrogen production efficiency. The reason is that a large amount of bubbles are generated on the electrode surface during electrolysis, and the contact between water and the electrode surface is deteriorated, and the electrolysis performance is significantly deteriorated. For this reason, it is difficult to instantaneously generate a required amount of hydrogen on demand in an automobile, and it has been difficult to put it to practical use.

In US Pat. No. 5,385,657, an electrode is concentrically arranged in a hollow reaction chamber, and a voltage is applied to both ends of the electrode to raise the electrode to a high temperature and contact water with the electrode. There has been proposed an apparatus for thermal decomposition. In this device, a large amount of bubbles are generated on the electrode surface, and water cannot continuously contact the electrode surface. For this reason, the hydrogen gas generation efficiency was extremely low.

US Pat. No. 5,690,902 proposes a power system with a hydrogen generator for a hydrogen-powered vehicle. In this apparatus, iron powder of 300 μm or less is filled in a tube as a catalyst, and high-temperature water is allowed to act on the catalyst to generate hydrogen by oxidizing the metal surface. However, an oxide film is formed on the surface of the iron powder. Then, the reaction deteriorates. For this reason, using a special polishing device,
Attempts have been made to regenerate the catalytic metal surface, but the efficiency of continuous generation of hydrogen gas is poor, and practical use has been difficult.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In a conventional hydrogen production apparatus, the required amount of hydrogen cannot be instantaneously generated on demand due to poor hydrogen generation efficiency.

The present invention makes it possible to reduce the use of hydrogen useful as a new energy source for mobile objects such as automobiles, ships, aircraft, space probes, construction machines, agricultural machines, etc., large power plants and various other industrial equipment, or as raw materials for the chemical industry. It is an object of the present invention to provide a hydrogen production apparatus capable of mass-producing low-cost on-demand water from raw water.

[0009]

Means for Solving the Problems In the first invention of the present application, the hydrogen production apparatus comprises a housing means having an inlet for introducing water and an outlet for discharging cracked gas; a first electrode means supported in the housing means; A second electrode means spaced from the one electrode means; an arc reaction chamber formed between the first and second electrode means;
Power supply means for supplying electric power to the second electrode means and generating an arc in the arc reaction chamber;
And a cooling means for cooling the second electrode means, and a passage means for connecting the inlet and the arc reaction chamber.

In the second invention of the present application, the hydrogen production apparatus has a housing means having an inlet for introducing water and an outlet for discharging cracked gas, a first electrode means supported in the housing means, and an interval from the first electrode means. The second electrode means, the arc reaction chamber formed between the first and second electrode means, the minute arc forming means filled in the arc reaction chamber, and the first and second electrode means. This is achieved by providing power supply means for supplying power to generate a minute arc in the minute arc forming means, and passage means for connecting the inlet and the arc reaction chamber.

In the third invention of the present application, the hydrogen production apparatus has a housing means having an inlet for water introduction and an outlet for discharging cracked gas, and a three-phase AC concentrically arranged in the housing means at an axial interval. A tubular electrode, an arc reaction chamber formed in the tubular electrode and communicating with the inlet and the outlet, a micro-arc forming means filled in the arc reaction chamber, and a micro-arc forming by feeding a three-phase AC electrode to the tubular electrode Power supply means for generating a minute arc in the means.

[0012]

In the hydrogen production apparatus of the present invention, the first electrode means and the electrode holder are supported in the housing means, and the second electrode means is supported by the electrode holder so as to face the first electrode means. An arc reaction chamber is formed between the two electrode means, a passage means is disposed between the inlet of the housing means and the arc reaction chamber, and a spark is generated in the reaction chamber, whereby water is decomposed to hydrogen or hydrogen oxygen. In this case, a decomposition gas is obtained.

[0013]

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. 1 and 2, a hydrogen production apparatus 10 includes a front cover 12, a front housing 14, a center housing 16, and a rear housing 18. The housings 14, 16, 18 are each made of ceramic or other heat-resistant insulating material, have a common central shaft 20, and are connected by screws (not shown). For example, in FIG. 2, the screw passes through the through hole 21 of the center housing 16 and passes through the rear housing 1.
8 are screwed into the tapped holes. In FIG. 2, a cathode holder 22, an injector ring 24 and an anode 26 are housed inside the housings 18, 16, and 14. The cathode holder 22 is fixedly supported inside the housings 18 and 16. The injector ring 24 is fixedly supported inside the center housing 16 while being sandwiched between the cathode holder 22 and the anode 26. The rear portion of the anode 26 extends partially into the center housing 16 and is held in a fixed position by the front cover 12.

The cathode holder 22 and the anode 26 are connected to a DC power supply or a high-frequency power supply (not shown) via terminal members 28 and 30, respectively. The terminal member 28 is screwed to the cathode holder 22, and the terminal member 30 is connected to the anode 26.
Tap hole 1 of front housing 14
4a. The housing 14 and the front cover 12 each include a water inlet 32 and an outlet 34 for discharging cracked gas. Water is supplied to the inlet 32 through a water supply pipe 36. NaO in water
An electrolyte such as H or KOH may be added, or seawater may be used as electrolyzed water. However, in this case, since chlorine gas is also contained in the decomposition gas, it is preferable to separate unnecessary gas components from the decomposition gas by washing with water or other appropriate method. Inside the housings 14 and 16, first cooling passage means 38 for cooling the outer periphery of the anode 26, second cooling passage means 40 for cooling the cathode holder 22, and an intermediate passage 41
And

In FIG. 2, the cathode holder 22 includes a front end 46 for holding a screw portion 44 of the cathode assemble 42. The cathode assembly 42 is the anode 2
6 is provided with a rod-shaped cathode 48 extending inside. Cathode 48
Is made of an electrode material such as thorium-containing tungsten or hafnium nitride. The central portion of the cathode holder 22 is located at the steam generator 5 disposed in the second cooling means 40.
0 is provided. The steam generating section 50 has a central hole 52 in the cathode holder 22, a tubular copper mesh 54, and a copper mesh 5.
A plurality of pellets or ball-shaped solid heat transfer bodies 56 filled in 4 and dissipating heat of the cathode assemblage 48 to generate steam from the preheated water are provided. The second cooling passage means 40 includes an annular passage 58, an inlet 60, and an outlet 62 formed in the cathode holder 22. The annular passage 58 communicates with the first cooling passage means 38. A steam supply passage 64 is arranged between the outlet 62 and the injector ring 24. The steam supply passage 64 is formed in the rear housing 18, and a flow regulating valve 66 for adjusting the steam supply amount is disposed at an intermediate portion thereof. The center housing 16 has a passage 68 for supplying steam to the injector ring 24. An annular passage 70 is formed between the outer periphery of the injector ring 24 and the inner wall of the center housing 16. The injector ring 24 includes a plurality of steam injection nozzles 72 for injecting steam in a tangential direction,
A vortex chamber 74 is formed between the inner wall and the outer periphery of the cathode assemble 42.

An arc reaction chamber 76 is formed between the cathode assemble 42 and the inner wall of the anode 26, and the arc reaction chamber 76 is filled with minute arc forming means 78 made of a number of high-melting particles. As a first example, the high-melting-point granular material has a diameter of 2-3.
It may be made of a ball-shaped electrode material of 0 mm, and may be made of the same material as the cathode 48. As a second example, the granular material 78 is composed of a mixture of a granular conductor and a granular non-conductor made of a ball-shaped electrode material, and the mixture ratio is 1: 1.5 to 1.5: the spark generation efficiency is the highest. 1 range. The granular non-conductor may be selected from silicon dioxide or ceramic made of ore such as silica or quartz. In this case, silicon dioxide is effective not only as an insulating material but also for decomposing water into hydrogen and oxygen while repeating oxidation and reduction in the presence of an arc. As a third example, the granular material 78 is selected from the group consisting of a granular titanium oxide (T ₁ O ₂ ) -based catalyst, an iron oxide (Fe ₃ O ₄ ) -based catalyst, and a silicon oxide (SiO ₂ ) -based catalyst. The purpose of the granules 78 is to uniformly generate a small arc due to sparks in a large number of gaps in the arc reaction chamber 76. For this reason, a very large amount of minute arcs are generated in the arc reaction chamber 76, the efficiency of the contact reaction with steam is remarkably improved, and the efficiency of hydrogen generation is increased. In addition, when the particles of the catalyst are emitted from the cathode 48,
FeO, Fe ₃ O ₄ ; SiO, SiO ₂ ;
From metal oxides such as TiO and TiO ₂ to Fe, FeO; S
i, SiO; reduced to a metal such as Ti or TiO, and also generates an oxygen atom (excited state oxygen atom) O ^* that is extremely reactive. It is considered that the oxygen atom O ^* contributes to oxidizing the steam H ₂ O and decomposing it to H ₂ + O ₂ . As described above, since the catalyst repeats oxidation-reduction in the presence of electrons, the water splitting reaction continues, and cracked gas is continuously generated from steam. In order to obtain a decomposition gas containing only hydrogen, the granular material 78 is treated with magnetite (F
After filling the catalyst ball comprising e 3 _{O 4)} iron oxide, such as the arc reaction chamber 76, it may be feeding the electrode into the actual operation after the oxygen defects magnetite through hydrogen while generating an arc. In this case, hydrogen can be continuously obtained from water by connecting a plurality of hydrogen production apparatuses in parallel and periodically introducing hydrogen into the apparatus. At the front side of the arc reaction chamber 76, a disc-shaped perforated plate 80 is provided.
Is arranged. A quenching chamber 82 and a quenching fin 84 are formed at the front end of the anode 26, and the quenching chamber 82 communicates with the first cooling passage means 38 via a passage 86. A quenching chamber 88 and a quenching fin 9 in the center of the front cover 12
0 is formed. Quenching chambers 82 and 88 and quenching fins 8
Reference numerals 4 and 90 are aligned and continuous in the axial direction. The decomposed gas is blown out from the perforated plate 80 to expand, and the quench fin 8
After being quenched by 8, 90, it is discharged from the outlet 34.

In the above configuration, the water for decomposition is shared as cooling water. For this purpose, cooling water is introduced from the inlet 32 into the first cooling passage means 38, a part of which is supplied to the quenching chambers 82, 88 via the passage 86, and the remainder through the passage 41 to the second cooling passage. Supplied to the means 40.
At this time, the anode 26 and the cathode 48 are energized, and the granular material 7
In the gap No. 8, a large amount of minute arcs are generated. In this state, the outer periphery of the anode 26 is continuously cooled by the cooling water. The cooling water is then supplied to the annular passage 58 of the second cooling passage means 40.
After flowing into the inlet 60, the cathode holder 22 is cooled and preheated to become hot water. This hot water comes into contact with the high-temperature heat transfer body 56 in the steam generating section 50 to generate steam. The flow rate of the steam is adjusted by the opening adjustment screw 66, and the steam is injected into the vortex chamber 74 through the injection nozzle 72.
The cathode air flows into the arc reaction chamber 76 while cooling the surface of the cathode assembly 42. At this time, the steam comes into contact with a large amount of minute arcs in the arc reaction chamber 76 to be decomposed into hydrogen oxygen. The decomposed gas is ejected from the perforated plate 80, quenched by the quench fins 84 and 90, and then discharged from the outlet 34.

FIG. 3 shows a modification of the hydrogen production apparatus of FIG. 2, and the same parts as those of FIG. 2 are denoted by the same reference numerals. In FIG. 3, the anode 100 includes multi-phase electrodes 102, 104 and 106 formed of tubular three-phase AC electrodes concentric with the cathode 48,
These are the R phase, S phase, T
Connected to the phase. The cathode holder 42 is a three-phase AC power supply 10
8 or a ground potential.
The electrode 106 includes a quenching chamber 110. Electrodes 102 and 10
An insulating spacer 112 is disposed between the electrodes 4, and similarly, an insulating spacer 114 is disposed between the electrodes 104 and 106.
When the three-phase AC voltage is supplied to the multi-phase electrodes 102, 104, and 106, at the first timing, the multi-phase electrodes 102,
A minute arc is generated in the gap between the granular material 78 between the neutral electrode 104 and the neutral electrode 48. Next, at the second timing, a potential difference is generated between the multi-phase electrodes 102, 104, 106 and the neutral electrode 48, and a minute arc is generated in a gap between the granular bodies 78 therebetween. At the third timing, a potential difference is generated between the multi-phase electrodes 102 and 106 and the neutral electrode 48, and an arc is generated in a gap between the granular bodies 78 therebetween. At the fourth timing, all the multiphase electrodes 10
Granules 78 between 2, 104, 106 and neutral electrode 48
An arc is generated in the gap. At the fifth timing, an arc is generated in the gap of the granular material 78 between the multi-phase electrodes 104 and 106 and the neutral electrode 48. At the sixth timing, an arc is generated in the gap of the granular material 78 between the multi-phase electrodes 102, 104, 106 and the neutral electrode. Since then
The same cycle is repeated. As described above, in the arc reaction chamber 76, the arc generation position is sequentially changed according to the voltage phase, and the ionized gas at a plurality of arc generation positions is constantly supplied. Therefore, even if the amount of steam is increased, the arc is not interrupted in the arc reaction chamber 76 up to the clearance of the granular material 78, and stable hydrogen oxygen is generated from the steam. The three-phase AC power supply 108 may be constituted by a high-frequency AC power supply. The neutral electrode 48 is removed, the arc reaction chamber 76 is filled with a granular material 78 made of an electrode material, and the multiphase electrodes 102, 104, and 106 are connected to a delta (Δ) -connected three-phase AC power supply. Thus, the arc generating position may be changed at a plurality of points along the three-phase AC voltage.

FIG. 4 shows another modification of the hydrogen production apparatus of FIG. 2, and the same parts as those of FIG. 2 are denoted by the same reference numerals. In FIG. 4, the first electrode is a front housing 14 (FIG. 2).
The anode 120 and the cathode holder 42 housed in the
Cathode 122 supported on the anode, anode 120 and cathode 1
22 and the insulating sleeve 1 housed in the front housing 14 and the center housing 16.
24. The anode 120 includes a cooling water passage 126, a quenching chamber 128, a quenching fin 130,
32. The cathode 122 has a steam supply port 134 and communicates with the swirl chamber 74 of the injector ring 24. The arc reaction chamber 76 is provided inside the insulating sleeve 124.
Are formed, and the minute arc forming material 78 is filled therein. Since the minute arc forming material 78 has been described in detail in relation to the embodiment of FIG. 2, a detailed description will be omitted. When power is supplied to the anode 120 and the cathode 122, a minute arc is generated in the gap of the minute arc forming material 78. When steam is introduced from the swirl chamber 74 into the arc reaction chamber 76 via the steam supply port 134 of the cathode 122, the steam
8 and then decompose into hydrogen oxygen by contact reaction with the arc in the gap. Decomposed gas is spout 1
While being squirted from 32, it is quenched by the quench fin 130 and discharged from the outlet 136. In FIG. 4, a second hole having a through hole between the anode 120 and the cathode 122 is shown.
Flat electrodes may be arranged and these electrodes may be connected to a three-phase AC power supply or a high-frequency AC power supply as in the embodiment of FIG.

In the embodiment of FIG. 3, the neutral electrode 48 may be omitted. Further, the three-phase AC electrode may be a four-phase AC four electrode or a six-phase AC six electrode. The granular material 78
May be deleted.

[0021]

As is clear from the above, according to the hydrogen production apparatus of the present invention, inexpensive water, distilled water, pure water, drinking water,
It makes it possible to mass-produce hydrogen on demand at low cost using industrial water or seawater as a raw material, greatly contributing as a new energy source or for the chemical industry.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external view of a hydrogen production apparatus according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the hydrogen production apparatus of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a modification of the hydrogen production apparatus of FIG.

FIG. 4 is another modification of the hydrogen production apparatus of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

12 Front cover, 14 Front housing, 16 Center housing, 18 Rear housing, 20 Center shaft, 22 Cathode holder, 24
Injector ring, 26 anode, 28, 30 terminal member, 32 inlet, 34 outlet, 3
8 First cooling passage, 40 Second cooling passage, 42 Cathode assemblage, 48 Cathode, 50 Steam generation part, 72 Jet nozzle, 74 Eddy flow chamber, 76 Arc reaction chamber, 78 Micro arc forming material, 82, 88 Quenching chamber, 102 , 104, 106 tubular three-phase AC electrodes,
108 three-phase AC power supply, 110 quenching room, 122
Flat cathode, 126 anode

Claims (20)

[Claims] 1. A housing means having an inlet for introducing water and an outlet for discharging cracked gas, first electrode means supported within the housing means, and second electrode means spaced from the first electrode means. An arc reaction chamber formed between the first and second electrode means; a power supply means for supplying power to the first and second electrode means to generate an arc in the arc reaction chamber; An apparatus for producing hydrogen, comprising: cooling means for cooling a second electrode means; and passage means for connecting an inlet and an arc reaction chamber. 2. The hydrogen production apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the passage means and the cooling means are integrated. 3. The hydrogen production apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an electrode holder housed in the housing means and supporting the second electrode means. 4. The hydrogen production apparatus according to claim 3, further comprising steam generating means, wherein the steam generating means is connected to the passage means. 5. The hydrogen production apparatus according to claim 4, further comprising an injector means for supplying steam to the arc reaction chamber. 6. The hydrogen production apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a minute arc forming means disposed in the arc reaction chamber. 7. The hydrogen production apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the minute arc forming means includes a high melting point granular material, and a minute arc is formed in a gap between the high melting point granular material. 8. The hydrogen production apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the granular material is made of an electrode material. 9. The method according to claim 7, wherein the granular material is a mixture of a granular conductor and a granular non-conductor, and the mixture ratio is 1: 1.
A hydrogen production apparatus having a range of 5 to 1.5: 1. 10. The hydrogen production apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the first electrode means comprises a tubular anode, and the second electrode means comprises a cathode assembly supported by an electrode holder and concentric with the tubular anode. 11. The hydrogen production apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first and second electrode means comprise three-phase AC electrodes spaced apart in the axial direction, and the power supply means comprises a three-phase AC power supply. 12. The hydrogen production apparatus according to claim 11, further comprising a neutral electrode, wherein the neutral electrode is grounded. 13. Hydrogen production according to claim 3, wherein the first electrode means comprises an anode, and the second electrode means comprises a flat cathode supported by an electrode holder and spaced axially from the anode. apparatus. 14. The hydrogen production apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the high-melting-point granular material comprises a solid catalyst selected from the group consisting of a titanium oxide-based catalyst, an iron oxide-based catalyst, and a silicon oxide-based catalyst. 15. The hydrogen production apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the granular non-conductor comprises a silicon oxide-based catalyst. 16. The method according to claim 1, further comprising:
A hydrogen production apparatus comprising: a front cover fixed to a housing means; and a quenching means in which the front cover is disposed at an outlet. 17. The method according to claim 4, further comprising:
A hydrogen production apparatus comprising a flow rate adjusting means between a steam generating means and an injector means. 18. A housing means having an inlet for introducing water and an outlet for discharging cracked gas, first electrode means supported in the housing means, and second electrode means spaced from the first electrode means. An arc reaction chamber formed between the first and second electrode means; a minute arc forming means filled in the arc reaction chamber; A hydrogen production apparatus comprising: a power supply unit for generating a minute arc in the air; and a passage unit connecting the inlet and the arc reaction chamber. 19. A housing means having a water inlet and a cracked gas outlet, a three-phase alternating tubular electrode concentrically spaced in the housing means in the axial direction, and a tubular electrode within the tubular electrode. An arc reaction chamber that is formed and communicates with the inlet and the outlet, a minute arc forming means filled in the arc reaction chamber, and a three-phase AC electrode is supplied to the tubular electrode to generate a minute arc in the minute arc forming means. A hydrogen production apparatus comprising a power supply unit. 20. The hydrogen production of claim 19, further comprising an electrode holder concentrically disposed with the tubular electrode and grounded, and a neutral electrode supported by the electrode holder and extending into the arc reaction chamber. apparatus.