KR102385106B1 - Hydrogen production apparatus using plasma discharge and seawater desalination system comprising the same - Google Patents

Abstract

A hydrogen production device according to an embodiment of the present invention includes: a water supply pump for supplying seawater from a water intake device of a seawater desalination system or for supplying fresh water produced by a reverse osmosis device; a reaction vessel supplied with water by the water pump; a methane tank for supplying methane to the reaction vessel; a plurality of discharge electrodes arranged on the upper portion of the reaction vessel; a ground electrode disposed on the bottom of the reaction vessel; and a power supply supplying high voltage power to the plurality of discharge electrodes.

Description

Hydrogen production apparatus using plasma discharge and seawater desalination system including the same

The present invention relates to a hydrogen production device using plasma discharge and a seawater desalination system including the same.

In general, in a treatment system for desalination of seawater, in the pretreatment stage, the seawater is stored in a storage tank of a certain capacity and sent to a sand or multi-layer filter by a transfer pump to remove primary impurities, and in some cases, through an activated carbon filter, Remove impurities and finally pass through cartridge filter, bag filter, etc. to remove fine impurities.

The pre-treated water that has undergone such a pre-treatment process is introduced into the reverse osmosis filtration device for desalination and separated into desalinated treated water and concentrated water, the concentrated water is discharged, and the desalinated treated water is mineralized and sterilized in the post-treatment step. It goes to the final treatment storage tank.

The conventional reverse osmosis filtration device has a structure in which a plurality of reverse osmosis membrane units are inserted and disposed inside a vessel. Specifically, while the seawater flowing into one side of the reverse osmosis membrane unit flows to the other side of the reverse osmosis membrane unit, water passes through the reverse osmosis membrane by reverse osmosis, gathers in the central tube, and flows out to the other side of the reverse osmosis membrane unit.

However, the conventional reverse osmosis filtration device has a problem in that the energy consumption rate is high, the maintenance cost is high, and the operation and maintenance are difficult.

In addition, the conventional reverse osmosis filtration device requires an additional heat source supply device.

Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 10-2010-0060494

The present invention provides a hydrogen production device capable of maximizing the amount of hydrogen generated in a short time using pulsed plasma discharge, and a seawater desalination system that can be operated by supplying the produced hydrogen to a fuel cell and supplying the produced power to a high-pressure pump. aim to

A hydrogen production device according to an embodiment of the present invention for achieving the above object includes: a water supply pump for supplying seawater from a water intake device of a seawater desalination system or for supplying fresh water produced by a reverse osmosis device; a reaction vessel supplied with water by the water pump; a methane tank for supplying methane to the reaction vessel; a plurality of discharge electrodes arranged on the upper portion of the reaction vessel; a ground electrode disposed on the bottom of the reaction vessel; and a power supply supplying high voltage power to the plurality of discharge electrodes.

In the hydrogen production apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, the methane may react with water to produce carbon monoxide and hydrogen, and the carbon monoxide may react with water to produce carbon dioxide and hydrogen.

In the hydrogen production apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, the reaction vessel may have a rectangular parallelepiped shape, and the plurality of discharge electrodes may be arranged to form a plurality of rows and columns on the ceiling of the reaction vessel.

In the hydrogen production apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, the ground electrode may be formed in the form of a flat plate or a plurality of ribs, and may be disposed on the bottom surface of the reaction vessel.

In the hydrogen production apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, the reaction vessel has a water supply port connected to the water tank on one side, a drain port provided at a position lower than the water level supplied to the other side, and the methane tank on the lower side It may include a gas inlet connected to and a gas outlet provided on the upper surface or one side of the upper surface.

A seawater desalination system according to an embodiment of the present invention includes: a water intake device for collecting seawater; a pretreatment device for filtering impurities contained in seawater; a high-pressure pump for supplying pretreated seawater at high pressure; a reverse osmosis device for producing fresh water by reverse osmosis from high-pressure seawater; a hydrogen production device in which seawater taken in by the water intake device is supplied or fresh water produced by the reverse osmosis device is supplied, and the gas is injected and hydrogen is produced by plasma discharge; And the hydrogen produced by the hydrogen production device is supplied to produce electric power and supplied to the high-pressure pump.

In the seawater desalination system according to an embodiment of the present invention, the hydrogen production device includes: a water tank for temporarily storing seawater supplied from the water intake device or fresh water produced by the reverse osmosis device; a water pump for supplying water from the water tank; a reaction vessel supplied with water by the water pump; a methane tank for supplying methane to the reaction vessel; a plurality of discharge electrodes arranged on the upper portion of the reaction vessel; a ground electrode disposed on the bottom of the reaction vessel; and a power supply supplying high voltage power to the plurality of discharge electrodes.

In the seawater desalination system according to an embodiment of the present invention, the methane may react with water to produce carbon monoxide and hydrogen, and the carbon monoxide may react with water to produce carbon dioxide and hydrogen.

In the seawater desalination system according to an embodiment of the present invention, the reaction vessel may have a rectangular parallelepiped shape, and the plurality of discharge electrodes may be arranged to form a plurality of rows and columns on the ceiling of the reaction vessel.

In the seawater desalination system according to an embodiment of the present invention, the ground electrode may be formed in the form of a flat plate or a plurality of ribs, and may be disposed on the bottom surface of the reaction vessel.

In the seawater desalination system according to an embodiment of the present invention, the reaction vessel has a water supply port connected to the water tank on one side, a drain port provided at a position lower than the water level supplied to the other side, and the methane tank on the lower side It may include a gas inlet connected to and a gas outlet provided on the upper surface or one side of the upper surface.

According to the hydrogen production apparatus using plasma discharge of the present invention and the seawater desalination system including the same, it is possible to maximize the amount of hydrogen generated in a short time by using pulse plasma discharge in the hydrogen production apparatus, and the produced hydrogen is supplied to the fuel cell The generated power can be supplied to the high-pressure pump to operate the seawater desalination system.

1 is a schematic diagram showing a seawater desalination system according to an embodiment of the present invention.
2 is a block diagram showing a hydrogen production apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
3 is a conceptual diagram for explaining an operating principle of a fuel cell.

Since the present invention can apply various transformations and can have various embodiments, specific embodiments are illustrated and described in detail in the detailed description. However, this is not intended to limit the present invention to specific embodiments, and should be understood to include all modifications, equivalents, and substitutes included in the spirit and scope of the present invention.

The terms used in the present invention are only used to describe specific embodiments, and are not intended to limit the present invention. The singular expression includes the plural expression unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. In the present invention, terms such as 'comprising' or 'having' are intended to designate that the features, numbers, steps, operations, components, parts, or combinations thereof described in the specification exist, and one or more other features It should be understood that this does not preclude the existence or addition of numbers, steps, operations, components, parts, or combinations thereof.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In this case, it should be noted that in the accompanying drawings, the same components are denoted by the same reference numerals as much as possible. In addition, detailed descriptions of well-known functions and configurations that may obscure the gist of the present invention will be omitted. For the same reason, some components are exaggerated, omitted, or schematically illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

1 is a schematic diagram showing a seawater desalination system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The seawater desalination system of the present invention includes a water intake device 10 , a pretreatment device 20 , a high pressure pump 30 , a reverse osmosis device 40 , a post-treatment device 50 , a hydrogen production device 100 , and a fuel cell (200) may be included.

The water intake device 10 is an intake device that takes in seawater, and draws seawater from the sea to a predetermined flow rate and pressure.

The pretreatment device 20 takes in seawater and filters impurities contained in the introduced water.

The pretreatment of the pretreatment device 20 includes precipitation treatment, filtration treatment, and chemical treatment. Precipitation treatment and filtration treatment are carried out to prevent contamination of the membrane by removing suspended substances contained in the raw water. Chemical treatment is performed to maintain the performance of the reverse osmosis membrane to the maximum by controlling the quality of the feed water. In addition, such pretreatment is absolutely necessary in order to prevent contamination of the reverse osmosis membrane and to exhibit high performance.

The high-pressure pump 30 introduces the pretreated seawater into the reverse osmosis device 40 at high pressure.

The reverse osmosis device 40 supplies the water filtered from the cartridge filter by the high-pressure pump 30 to produce fresh water by reverse osmosis. Reverse osmosis (RO) is a phenomenon in which a pure solvent escapes from a solution through a semipermeable membrane when a pressure higher than the osmotic pressure is applied. Reverse osmosis can be used to desalinate seawater. In order to cause reverse osmosis to occur, a high-pressure pump 30 for supplying filtered water at a pressure higher than the osmotic pressure of seawater before the reverse osmosis device 40 is disposed.

When passing through the reverse osmosis device 40, the supplied seawater becomes high salt water (concentrated water), and the water that has passed through the reverse osmosis membrane becomes treated water.

A post-treatment device 50 for re-treating the filtered treated water may be disposed behind the reverse osmosis device 40 . The post-treatment device 50 may perform pH adjustment, mineral injection, chlorine disinfection, and the like.

In addition, a device (not shown) for treating the high salt water generated in the reverse osmosis device 40 to waste water may be further provided.

On the other hand, the hydrogen production device 100 is supplied with seawater taken in by the water intake device 10 or fresh water produced by the reverse osmosis device 40 is supplied, injects gas, and can produce hydrogen by plasma discharge. .

The fuel cell 200 may receive hydrogen produced by the hydrogen production device 100 , generate electricity, and supply it to the high-pressure pump 30 . In the seawater desalination system of the present invention, power is generated in the fuel cell 200 by using the hydrogen produced in the hydrogen production device 100 without supplying a separate power to the high-pressure pump 30 and supplied to the high-pressure pump 30 . can supply That is, the seawater desalination system can be operated by generating electricity by itself.

2 is a block diagram showing a hydrogen production apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 2 , the hydrogen production device 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention supplies seawater from the water intake device 10 of the seawater desalination system or fresh water produced by the reverse osmosis device 40 . A water supply pump 115 for supplying, a reaction vessel 130 supplied with water by the water pump, a methane tank 120 for supplying methane to the reaction vessel, a plurality of discharge electrodes 140 arranged on the upper portion of the reaction vessel, It includes a ground electrode 150 disposed on the bottom of the reaction vessel, and a power supply 160 for supplying high voltage power to the plurality of discharge electrodes.

A water tank 110 that is connected from the downstream of the water intake device 10 or the downstream of the reverse osmosis device 40 to temporarily store seawater or fresh water may be connected to the upstream of the hydrogen production device 100 . The water tank 110 may temporarily store water required for the plasma discharge reaction. The water tank 110 may be formed in a size of a predetermined capacity, an inlet pipe may be connected to an upper part, and an outlet pipe may be connected to a lower part.

The water supply pump 115 may be installed in a pipe connected from the water tank 110 to supply water into the reaction vessel 130 at a predetermined pressure.

The reaction vessel 130 is supplied with water (H ₂ O) and methane (CH ₄ ) therein, and hydrogen (H ₂ ) may be generated by a plasma discharge reaction.

The methane tank 120 may store methane gas at a high pressure therein. At one side of the methane tank 120 , a gas supply pipe may be connected to the lower surface of the reaction vessel 130 .

A plurality of discharge electrodes 140 may be arranged on the upper portion of the reaction vessel 130 to generate pulse plasma toward the water in the reaction vessel 130 .

The ground electrode 150 is disposed on the bottom of the reaction vessel 130 and may be formed in the form of a flat plate or a plurality of ribs. The plurality of ribs may be arranged parallel to or perpendicular to the flow direction of the water flowing from the inlet pipe to the outlet pipe.

A power supply 160 may be connected in parallel to the plurality of discharge electrodes 140 to supply high voltage power to each discharge electrode 140 in the form of a pulse.

Methane (CH ₄ ) supplied into the water in the reaction vessel 130 reacts with water (H ₂ O) by pulsed plasma discharge as shown in Formula 1 to generate carbon monoxide (CO) and hydrogen (H ₂ ) can be created

[Formula 1]

CH ₄ + H ₂ O → CO + 3H ₂

Specifically, one molecule of methane (CH ₄ ) gas and one molecule of water (H ₂ O) react to generate one molecule of carbon monoxide (CO) and three molecules of hydrogen (H ₂ ).

[Formula 2]

CO + H ₂ O → CO ₂ + H ₂

One molecule of carbon monoxide (CO) generated in Chemical Formula 1 may react with water (H ₂ O) again as in Chemical Formula 2 to generate one molecule of carbon dioxide (CO ₂ ) and one molecule of hydrogen (H ₂ ).

As a result, one molecule of methane (CH ₄ ) gas can react with sufficient water (H ₂ O) to produce four molecules of hydrogen (H ₂ ).

The reaction vessel 130 may be formed in the form of a rectangular parallelepiped case.

The plurality of discharge electrodes 140 may be arranged at predetermined intervals to form a plurality of rows and columns on the ceiling of the reaction vessel 130 . Each discharge electrode 140 may be disposed to discharge pulsed plasma in a direction perpendicular to the water surface.

As described above, the ground electrode 150 may be formed in the form of a flat plate or a plurality of ribs, and may be disposed on the bottom surface of the reaction vessel 130 . When the ground electrode 150 is in the form of a flat plate, it may be seated to cover the entire bottom surface of the reaction vessel 130 . When the ground electrode 150 is in the form of a plurality of ribs, the ground electrode 150 may be mounted parallel to each other on the bottom surface of the reaction vessel 130 .

The reaction vessel 130 has a water supply port 131 connected to the water tank 110 on one side, a drain port 132 provided at a position lower than the water level supplied to the other side, and a methane tank 120 on the lower side. It may include a gas inlet 135 connected to and a gas outlet 136 provided on the upper surface or one side of the upper surface.

The water supply port 131 is provided on one side of the reaction vessel 130 and is connected to the water supply pump 115 by a pipe, and the water in the water tank 110 through the water supply port 131 is supplied to the reaction vessel at a predetermined pressure ( 130) can be supplied internally.

The drain port 132 is provided on the other side of the reaction vessel 130, and is provided at a position higher than the water supply port 131, but may be disposed at a position lower than the water level. Water that has undergone plasma discharge treatment may be drained through the drain hole 132 .

The gas inlet 135 is provided on the lower surface of the reaction vessel 130 and is connected to the methane tank 120 , so that methane gas may be introduced into the water through the gas inlet 135 .

The gas outlet 136 is provided on the upper surface or one side of the upper side of the reaction vessel 130, and hydrogen (H ₂ ) and carbon monoxide (CO) generated by Chemical Formula 1 can be discharged through the gas outlet 136 . . In addition, although not shown in FIG. 2 , carbon dioxide (CO ₂ ) may also be discharged along with hydrogen (H ₂ ) and carbon monoxide (CO) through the gas outlet 136 .

It is preferable that all of the carbon monoxide (CO) produced in Chemical Formula 1 is reacted by Chemical Formula 2 to form carbon dioxide (CO ₂ ). However, since a portion of carbon monoxide (CO) does not react and can be discharged as it is, carbon dioxide (CO ₂ ) is also discharged along with hydrogen (H ₂ ) and carbon monoxide (CO) through the gas outlet 136 .

The hydrogen production apparatus 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention can efficiently produce hydrogen by supplying water and methane and performing pulse plasma discharge. Hydrogen produced by the hydrogen production device 100 may be supplied to the fuel cell 200 and used as a raw material for generating electricity, or may be stored in a hydrogen storage tank (not shown).

3 is a conceptual diagram for explaining an operating principle of a fuel cell.

① Hydrogen (H ₂ ) produced in the hydrogen production device 100 and injected into the fuel cell 200 stack is separated into positive ions (H ⁺ ) and electrons (e ⁻ ) by an oxidation reaction in which electrons are lost at the anode.

② Positive ions (H ⁺ ) move toward the cathode through the electrolyte, and electrons (e ^- ) move to the external circuit.

③ At the cathode, positive ions (H ⁺ ) meet with oxygen (O ² ) contained in the incoming air to undergo a reduction reaction to become water (H ₂ O), a more stable structure, and attract electrons (e ^- ) from the power source.

④ Water (H ₂ O) as a by-product is discharged to the outside.

⑤ The process of ①~④ above is repeated to create a continuous flow of electrons to produce electricity.

As described above, the fuel cell 200 may receive hydrogen produced by the hydrogen production device 100 , generate electric power, and supply it to the high-pressure pump 30 . Accordingly, the seawater desalination system may be operated with the power generated by the fuel cell 200 .

As described above, one embodiment of the present invention has been described, but those of ordinary skill in the art can add, change, delete or add components within the scope that does not depart from the spirit of the present invention described in the claims. Various modifications and changes of the present invention will be possible by this, and this will also be included within the scope of the present invention.

10: water intake device 20: pretreatment device
30: high pressure pump 40: reverse osmosis device
50: post-processing device
100: hydrogen production device 110: water tank
115: water pump 120: methane tank
130: reaction vessel 131: water inlet
132: drain 135: gas inlet
136: gas outlet 140: discharge electrode
150: ground electrode 160: power supply
200: fuel cell

Claims (11)

a water supply pump for supplying seawater from the water intake device of the seawater desalination system or for supplying fresh water produced by the reverse osmosis device;
a reaction vessel supplied with water by the water pump;
a methane tank for supplying methane to the reaction vessel;
a plurality of discharge electrodes arranged higher than the water level supplied to the upper portion of the reaction vessel to generate pulsed plasma toward the water;
a ground electrode disposed on the bottom surface of the reaction vessel and formed in the form of a flat plate or a plurality of ribs; and
and a power supply supplying high voltage power to the plurality of discharge electrodes in the form of a pulse,
The reaction vessel is
A water supply port provided on one side and connected to the water tank;
A drain port provided at a position lower than the water level supplied to the other side;
a gas inlet provided on the lower surface and connected to the methane tank;
Hydrogen production apparatus using plasma discharge including a gas outlet provided on the upper surface or one side of the upper surface. According to claim 1,
The methane reacts with water to produce carbon monoxide and hydrogen,
Hydrogen production apparatus using plasma discharge, characterized in that the carbon monoxide reacts with water to produce carbon dioxide and hydrogen. 3. The method of claim 2,
The reaction vessel is made in the form of a rectangular parallelepiped,
The plurality of discharge electrodes are hydrogen production apparatus using plasma discharge, characterized in that arranged to form a plurality of rows and columns on the ceiling of the reaction vessel. delete delete water intake device for water intake;
a pretreatment device for filtering impurities contained in seawater;
a high-pressure pump for supplying pretreated seawater at high pressure;
a reverse osmosis device for producing fresh water by reverse osmosis from high-pressure seawater;
a hydrogen production device in which seawater taken in by the water intake device is supplied or fresh water produced by the reverse osmosis device is supplied, and the gas is injected and hydrogen is produced by plasma discharge; and
and a fuel cell that receives the hydrogen produced in the hydrogen production device, generates electric power, and supplies it to the high-pressure pump,
The hydrogen production device is
a water tank for temporarily storing seawater supplied from the water intake device or fresh water produced by the reverse osmosis device;
a water pump for supplying water from the water tank;
a reaction vessel supplied with water by the water pump;
a methane tank for supplying methane to the reaction vessel;
a plurality of discharge electrodes arranged higher than the water level supplied to the upper portion of the reaction vessel to generate pulsed plasma toward the water;
a ground electrode disposed on the bottom surface of the reaction vessel and formed in the form of a flat plate or a plurality of ribs; and
and a power supply supplying high voltage power to the plurality of discharge electrodes in the form of a pulse,
The reaction vessel is
a water supply port provided on one side and connected to the water tank;
A drain port provided at a position lower than the water level supplied to the other side;
a gas inlet provided on the lower surface and connected to the methane tank;
A seawater desalination system including a gas outlet provided on the upper surface or one side of the upper surface. delete 7. The method of claim 6,
The methane reacts with water to produce carbon monoxide and hydrogen,
Seawater desalination system, characterized in that the carbon monoxide reacts with water to produce carbon dioxide and hydrogen. 9. The method of claim 8,
The reaction vessel is made in the form of a rectangular parallelepiped,
The plurality of discharge electrodes are seawater desalination system, characterized in that arranged to form a plurality of rows and columns on the ceiling of the reaction vessel. delete delete

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