JP2007045646A5 - Hydrogen production method, hydrogen production apparatus and power supply - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a method for producing hydrogen using a hydrogen generating material, a hydrogen production apparatus , and a power source .

In the first method for producing hydrogen of the present invention, water is supplied into a container containing a hydrogen generating substance that generates hydrogen by an exothermic reaction with water, and the water and the hydrogen generating substance are contained in the container. and reacted a process for producing hydrogen which Ru to generate hydrogen, the temperature of the interior of said container, so as to be maintained at a temperature capable of continuing the exothermic reaction, the amount of water supplied to the inside of the container or water It is characterized by controlling the supply speed of the. In the second method for producing hydrogen of the present invention, water is supplied into a container containing a hydrogen generating substance that generates hydrogen by an exothermic reaction with water, and the water and the hydrogen generating substance are supplied to the container. A method for producing hydrogen in which hydrogen is generated by reacting in the method, wherein after the start of the exothermic reaction, the supply rate of water is increased to shift the exothermic reaction to a steady state.

The hydrogen production apparatus of the present invention is a hydrogen production apparatus including a container containing a hydrogen generating substance that generates hydrogen by an exothermic reaction with water, and is a water supply for supplying water into the container And a control means for controlling the water supply rate, and after the start of the exothermic reaction, control is performed to increase the water supply rate and shift the exothermic reaction to a steady state .

The hydrogen produced by the hydrogen production apparatus of the present invention can be used as a fuel source of a fuel cell, and the hydrogen production apparatus of the present invention and the fuel cell constitute a power source.

(Embodiment 1)
First, an embodiment of the method for producing hydrogen of the present invention will be described. The method for producing hydrogen according to the present invention includes a step of supplying water into a container containing a hydrogen generating substance that generates hydrogen by an exothermic reaction with water, and reacting the water and the hydrogen generating substance in the container. is allowed and a step of generating hydrogen, the step of supplying the water, by controlling the supply amount of the water, so that the temperature inside the container is maintained at a temperature capable of maintaining the exothermic reaction The water supply amount or the water supply speed to the inside of the container is controlled .

Even if the exothermic reaction between water and the hydrogen generating substance starts , if the supply amount of water is excessive, the reaction temperature may decrease and the reaction rate may decrease. In addition, if the amount of water supplied is too small, the reaction efficiency may decrease. Therefore, in the hydrogen production method of the present invention, the interior of the container is maintained at a temperature at which an exothermic reaction can be maintained by controlling the amount of water supplied. Thereby, the exothermic reaction of water and a hydrogen generating substance can be continued stably, and hydrogen can be produced simply, efficiently and stably. The control of the water supply amount may be control of the water supply speed.

The temperature at which the exothermic reaction can be maintained is usually 40 ° C. or higher. Once the exothermic reaction is started and hydrogen is generated, the internal pressure of the container may increase and the boiling point of water may increase. Although it may reach 120 ° C., it is preferably 100 ° C. or less from the viewpoint of controlling the hydrogen generation rate.

The water supply amount is preferably controlled by controlling the water supply rate. For example, when controlling the water supply rate at the start of the reaction to be smaller than the water supply rate in the steady state after the start of the reaction , that is, after the start of the reaction, the water supply rate is increased to make the reaction steady. In the case of transition to the state, the water supply rate at the start of the reaction is preferably 1 μl / min or more, preferably 3 μl / min or more per 1 g of the hydrogen generating material, although it depends on the type of the hydrogen generating material. Is more preferably 5 μl / min or more, preferably 50 μl / min or less, more preferably 25 μl / min or less, and particularly preferably 15 μl / min or less. In addition, the water supply rate in a steady state is preferably 5 μl / min or more, more preferably 10 μl / min or more, and particularly preferably 20 μl / min or more per 1 g of the hydrogen generating substance. It is preferably 200 μl / min or less, more preferably 100 μl / min or less, and particularly preferably 50 μl / min or less.

First, after filling the container body 10a with 3.2 g of aluminum powder having an average particle diameter of 3 μm as a hydrogen generating substance and 0.8 g of α-Al ₂ O ₃ powder as an additive, the container body 10a is sealed with a lid 10b. did. Next, the container body 10a is heated to 65 ° C. by energizing the resistor 13 with an electric power of 2.2 W (10 V, 0.22 A), and at the same time with a water supply rate of 0.023 ml / min from the water supply pipe 11. Water was supplied. After 6 minutes from the start of heating and water supply, the container temperature starts to rise, and after 8 minutes, when the container temperature exceeds 70 ° C., heating by the resistor 13 is stopped and the water supply rate is set to 0.11 ml / min. Increased to. When water was continuously supplied at a constant flow rate, hydrogen was constantly generated for 1.4 hours while maintaining the container temperature at about 90 ° C. After that, since the container temperature began to decrease , the water supply amount was sequentially decreased so that the water supply amount would not be excessive, and hydrogen could be generated for 1.7 hours from the start of the hydrogen generation reaction. The total hydrogen generation amount from the start to the end of the reaction was 2606 ml, and 60% of the theoretical hydrogen generation amount (about 4350 ml) with respect to 3.2 g of aluminum could be obtained.

Claims (20)

A method for producing hydrogen in which water is supplied into a container containing a hydrogen generating substance that generates hydrogen by an exothermic reaction with water, and the water and the hydrogen generating substance are reacted in the container to generate hydrogen. There,
A method for producing hydrogen, comprising controlling a supply amount or a supply rate of water into the container so that the temperature inside the container is maintained at a temperature at which the exothermic reaction can be continued.   The method for producing hydrogen according to claim 1, wherein the interior of the container is maintained at 40 ° C. or higher.   The method for producing hydrogen according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the interior of the container is maintained at 100 ° C or lower.   The method for producing hydrogen according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein a supply amount of water at the start of the exothermic reaction is less than a supply amount of water in a steady state after the start of the exothermic reaction.   The method for producing hydrogen according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein a supply rate of water at the start of the exothermic reaction is smaller than a supply rate of water in a steady state after the start of the exothermic reaction. A method for producing hydrogen in which water is supplied into a container containing a hydrogen generating substance that generates hydrogen by an exothermic reaction with water, and the water and the hydrogen generating substance are reacted in the container to generate hydrogen. There,
After the start of the exothermic reaction, the method for producing hydrogen is characterized by increasing the supply rate of water and shifting the exothermic reaction to a steady state.   The method for producing hydrogen according to claim 5 or 6, wherein a supply rate of water at the start of the exothermic reaction is 50 µl / min or less per 1 g of the hydrogen generating substance.   The method for producing hydrogen according to any one of claims 5 to 7, wherein a supply rate of water in a steady state after the start of the exothermic reaction is 200 µl / min or less per 1 g of the hydrogen generating substance.   The method for producing hydrogen according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the water supply amount or the water supply rate is controlled by detecting a hydrogen generation amount or a container temperature.   The method for producing hydrogen according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the hydrogen generating substance and the water is heated.   The method for producing hydrogen according to claim 10, wherein the heating is performed using heat generated by an exothermic reaction between an alkali metal oxide or an alkaline earth metal oxide and water.   The method for producing hydrogen according to any one of claims 1 to 11, wherein the hydrogen generating substance is at least one selected from the group consisting of aluminum, silicon, zinc, magnesium, and an alloy mainly composed of these elements.   The method for producing hydrogen according to claim 12, wherein the hydrogen generating material is aluminum or an alloy mainly composed of aluminum, and an average particle diameter thereof is 0.1 μm or more and 100 μm or less. An apparatus for producing hydrogen comprising a container containing a hydrogen generating substance that generates hydrogen by an exothermic reaction with water,
Water supply means for supplying water into the container;
Control means for controlling the water supply speed,
An apparatus for producing hydrogen, wherein after the start of the exothermic reaction, control is performed to increase a water supply rate and shift the exothermic reaction to a steady state.   The hydrogen production apparatus according to claim 14, further comprising a heating unit capable of heating at least one of the hydrogen generating substance and the water.   The hydrogen production apparatus according to claim 14, further comprising a detector that detects a hydrogen generation amount or a container temperature.   The apparatus for producing hydrogen according to any one of claims 14 to 16, wherein a supply rate of water at the start of the exothermic reaction is 1 µl / min or more per 1 g of hydrogen generating substance.   The apparatus for producing hydrogen according to any one of claims 14 to 17, wherein a supply rate of water at the start of the exothermic reaction is 50 µl / min or less per 1 g of the hydrogen generating substance.   The hydrogen production apparatus according to any one of claims 14 to 18, wherein a supply rate of water in a steady state after the start of the exothermic reaction is 200 µl / min or less per 1 g of the hydrogen generating substance.   A power supply comprising the hydrogen production apparatus according to any one of claims 14 to 19 and a fuel cell using hydrogen produced by the production apparatus as a fuel source.