KR20200031847A - Agitation Type Hydrogen Generating System - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a stirred hydrogen generation apparatus and a method thereof capable of generating hydrogen without discharging carbon while controlling the generation amount of hydrogen by producing hydrogen after making metal and water react. According to the present invention, the stirred hydrogen generation apparatus includes: a reactor in which hydrogen is produced by the reaction of metal and water; and a hydrogen discharge line which connects the reactor with a hydrogen demand source and supplies hydrogen gas generated by a reaction in the reactor to the hydrogen demand source. The reactor includes a metal storage means detachably coupled to a lower part in the reactor and storing metal, and a stirrer installed in a lower part in the reactor and stirring fluid in the reactor, and more includes a control unit controlling the reaction speed of metal and water by controlling the operation of the stirrer.

Description

Stirring type hydrogen generator {Agitation Type Hydrogen Generating System}

The present invention relates to an agitation type hydrogen generating device capable of controlling hydrogen generation while generating hydrogen without emitting carbon by reacting metal and water to produce hydrogen.

Currently, energy systems depend heavily on fossil fuels, but fossil fuels are expected to be depleted in the near future due to limited reserves. In addition, global warming is accelerating due to carbon dioxide (CO ₂ ) generated when burning fossil fuels. Therefore, research on the development of environmentally friendly alternative energy is being conducted worldwide.

Of these, hydrogen energy is environmentally friendly and has a high energy density, so it can be used as fuel for fuel cells for automobile power sources and portable electronic devices. It is being advanced. The demand for hydrogen is increasing as a paradigm shift toward an energy economy mainly based on hydrogen, such as a hydrogen fuel cell.

In addition, hydrogen fuel is a clean fuel that hardly emits environmental pollutants even when directly combusted, and it is also expected to be an ideal energy source in the near future because it can also be used as a fuel for high-efficiency fuel cells that convert hydrogen into electricity. .

The most widely used hydrogen production method is a method of reforming a hydrocarbon-based fuel. Representatively, hydrogen is reacted by two reactions: a steam reforming method in which hydrogen is contained in water (water) by reacting a hydrocarbon with water vapor, a partial oxidation method of obtaining hydrogen by reacting hydrocarbon with oxygen, and a steam reforming reaction and partial oxidation reaction. There are autothermal reforming methods that combine the efficiency of the partial oxidation method with the efficiency of the steam reforming method.

This reforming method has the advantage that a large amount of hydrogen can be obtained from a certain amount of hydrocarbon and its technology level is commercialized, but since the hydrocarbon is used as a fuel, the emission of carbon as an environmental pollutant is inevitable.

Another method for producing hydrogen is a method of generating hydrogen by reacting a metal such as aluminum with water. Using the reaction of metal and water has the advantage of being environmentally friendly because it can produce hydrogen without zero emission.

However, in order to produce hydrogen by reacting aluminum with water, a by-product oxide or hydroxide forms a film on the surface of aluminum, and the aluminum inside the film cannot come into contact with water. There is a problem that occurs only on the surface and then stops.

As a method proposed to solve this problem, there is a method of cutting aluminum in water to create a new surface of aluminum so that the reaction is continued. However, this method requires mechanical equipment for removing the coating on the aluminum surface, and it is difficult to control the reaction rate since new surfaces and fine particles of aluminum are continuously produced.

Accordingly, the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a stirred hydrogen generating apparatus and method capable of controlling hydrogen production rate while producing hydrogen without emitting carbon.

According to an aspect of the present invention for achieving the above object, a reactor in which hydrogen is generated by the reaction of metal and water; And a hydrogen discharge line connecting the reactor and a hydrogen demand source, and supplying hydrogen gas generated by a reaction in the reactor to the hydrogen demand source, wherein the reactor is coupled to be detachable in the lower portion of the reactor and is metal Metal storage means in which it is stored; And a stirrer installed in the lower portion of the reactor to stir the fluid in the reactor; and a control unit controlling the reaction speed of the metal and water by controlling the operation of the stirrer. do.

Preferably, the metal storage means may be provided with a porous filter through which the metal does not pass and the fluid passes.

Preferably, the metal may be aluminum in powder form.

Preferably, the metal storage means detachable means for coupling the metal storage means and the reactor to be detachably attached to the reactor; further comprising, when the reaction of the metal is completed, the metal storage means storing the metal where the reaction is completed is removed And new metal can be replaced with stored metal storage means.

Preferably, a catalyst storage tank for storing a catalyst to be supplied to the reactor; A catalyst supply line connected to the upper portion of the reactor from the catalyst storage tank and supplying a catalyst from the catalyst storage tank to the reactor; And a catalyst supply valve installed in the catalyst supply line, the opening and closing amount being controlled, and the control unit controlling the reaction rate of metal and water in the reactor by controlling the opening amount of the catalyst supply valve. .

Preferably, the catalyst recovery line is connected to the catalyst storage tank from the bottom of the reactor, and recovers the catalyst from the reactor to the catalyst storage tank; And a catalyst circulation pump circulating the catalyst from the reactor to the catalyst storage tank.

According to another aspect of the present invention for achieving the above object, in a hydrogen generating method for generating hydrogen by reacting metal and water in a reactor, the metal storage means storing the metal to be reacted is detachably attached to the lower portion of the reactor. Combined to enable this, the reaction of the metal and water to produce hydrogen, the metal storage means is provided with a porous filter through which the metal does not pass and the water can pass, to control the operation of the stirrer, in the reactor By stirring the water, a control unit for controlling the reaction rate of the metal and water; further comprising, a hydrogen generating method is provided.

Preferably, when the reaction of the metal is completed, the metal storage means storing the metal where the reaction is completed may be detached and replaced with a metal storage means storing new metal.

Preferably, by supplying a catalyst to the reactor, the oxide film formed on the surface of the metal does not interfere with the contact of the metal and water, and by controlling the flow rate of the catalyst supplied to the reactor, the reaction rate of the metal and water is controlled can do.

Agitated hydrogen generating apparatus and method according to the present invention, by reacting metal and water to produce hydrogen, hydrogen can be produced without emitting carbon, and high-purity hydrogen generated without emitting carbon generates electricity and heat It can be used as fuel for fuel cells.

In addition, by controlling the operation of the stirrer, by controlling the amount of catalyst supplied, by controlling the explosive reaction rate of the metal and water, it is possible to control the amount of hydrogen generated.

In addition, the metal storage device in which the metal is accommodated in the reactor and a desorption means are provided, so that the completed reaction metal can be easily separated from the reactor and easily replaced with a new metal to be reacted.

In addition, the by-products generated by the reaction can be removed together when the reaction-removed metal is separated and removed from the reactor, and a separate by-product removal process is not required.

Also, the catalyst used in the reaction can be reused by recovering it using a pump.

1 is a conceptual diagram briefly showing a stirred hydrogen generating apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In order to fully understand the operational advantages of the present invention and the objects achieved by the practice of the present invention, reference should be made to the accompanying drawings and the contents described in the accompanying drawings, which illustrate preferred embodiments of the present invention.

Hereinafter, the configuration and operation of the preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Here, when adding reference numerals to the components of each drawing, it should be noted that the same components are denoted by the same reference numerals as much as possible even though they are displayed on different drawings. In addition, the following examples may be modified in various other forms, and the scope of the present invention is not limited to the following examples.

1 is a conceptual diagram briefly showing a stirred hydrogen generating apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. Hereinafter, with reference to Figure 1, it will be described a stirring type hydrogen generating apparatus and method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Stirred hydrogen generating apparatus 500 according to an embodiment of the present invention, the reaction of the metal and water takes place, the reactor 100 is generated hydrogen by the reaction of the metal and water; And a catalyst storage tank 200 for storing a catalyst required for a hydrogen production reaction in the reactor 100.

In addition, the reactor 100 of the present embodiment includes a metal storage means 110 in which metal, which is a raw material of a hydrogen production reaction, is stored; Stirrer 120 to accelerate the reaction rate by stirring the fluid contained in the reactor 100; And detachable means 130 for attaching or detaching the metal storage means 110 to or from the reactor 100.

In addition, according to the present embodiment, a hydrogen discharge line (HL) connecting the reactor 100 and the hydrogen demand so that the hydrogen generated by the reaction in the reactor 100 is discharged from the reactor 100; A catalyst supply line CL1 connecting the catalyst storage tank 200 and the reactor 100 so that the catalyst is supplied from the catalyst storage tank 200 to the reactor 100; And a catalyst recovery line CL2 connecting the reactor 100 and the catalyst storage tank 200 so that the catalyst is recovered from the reactor 100 to the catalyst storage tank 200.

The hydrogen discharge line HL may be directly connected to a hydrogen demand source such as a fuel cell from the reactor 100, or may be connected to a hydrogen storage tank (not shown) for storing hydrogen.

In addition, the hydrogen discharge line HL can be connected from the top of the reactor 100, as shown in FIG. 1.

Although not shown in the figure, a mist removal filter (not shown) for removing liquid components such as mist contained in hydrogen gas discharged to the hydrogen discharge line HL may be installed on the upper side inside the reactor 100; .

A hydrogen discharge valve 401 whose opening and closing is controlled according to whether hydrogen gas generated in the reactor 100 is discharged may be installed in the hydrogen discharge line HL.

The catalyst supply line CL1 of this embodiment may be connected to the top of the reactor 100 from the catalyst storage tank 200, as shown in FIG. 1.

In addition, although not shown in the drawing, the catalyst supply line CL1 may extend to the inside of the reactor 100 so that the catalyst is stably supplied to the reactor 100.

The catalyst supply line CL1 may be provided with a catalyst supply valve 402 in which opening and closing amount is controlled to control the flow rate of the catalyst to be supplied to the reactor 100.

The catalyst recovery line CL2 of the present embodiment may be connected to the catalyst storage tank 200 from the bottom of the reactor 100, as shown in FIG. 1.

In addition, a catalyst recovery valve 403 in which opening and closing is controlled according to whether or not catalyst is discharged from the reactor 100 may be installed in the catalyst recovery line CL2;

The hydrogen discharge valve 401, the catalyst supply valve 402, and the catalyst recovery valve 403 of this embodiment may be controlled by a control unit (not shown), not shown.

In addition, the reactor 100 of this embodiment, a pressure sensor (not shown) for measuring the internal pressure of the reactor 100; may be installed. The control unit may control the internal pressure of the reactor 100 by interlocking the pressure sensor and the hydrogen discharge valve 401 so that the internal pressure of the reactor 100 is within a set range. Or, the hydrogen discharge valve 401 is automatically opened when the internal pressure of the reactor 100 exceeds a set value, a safety valve (not shown) to discharge hydrogen gas from the reactor 100; may be further provided will be.

In addition, according to the present embodiment, the catalyst circulating pump 300 for pressurizing the catalyst discharged from the reactor 100 and transferring it to the catalyst storage tank 200 may be further included.

The metal of this embodiment may be aluminum (111). Further, aluminum is disposed on the metal storage means 110. That is, in the reactor 100 of this embodiment, aluminum 111 disposed in the metal storage means 110 reacts with water to generate hydrogen.

In this embodiment, aluminum may be provided in powder form.

The metal storage means 110 of this embodiment may be a container that can accommodate aluminum 111 in powder form, and as shown in FIG. 1, may be disposed at a lower portion of the interior space of the reactor 100.

In addition, the solid, that is, the aluminum powder 111 accommodated inside the metal storage means 110 does not pass, and may be a structure capable of passing water in the fluid, that is, the reactor 100, for example, a porous filter. Or it may be a mesh (mesh) structure.

Since water stored in the reactor 100 can pass inside and outside the metal storage means 110, it contacts the aluminum powder 111 accommodated in the metal storage means 110, and hydrogen is generated by the reaction. .

According to this embodiment, when the stirrer 120 is operated, the water in the reactor 100 is stirred to facilitate the contact between the aluminum powder 111 accommodated in the metal storage means 110 and water to facilitate the reaction. have.

That is, when the stirrer 120 is operated, the hydrogen generation rate may be increased, and the amount of hydrogen generated per hour may be increased.

Although not shown in the drawing, the stirrer 120 of this embodiment includes a rotating shaft (not shown); And an electric motor (not shown) for driving the rotating shaft.

The control unit may control whether or not the stirrer 120 is operated, and may control the operation speed of the stirrer 120. For example, the control unit may control the operation of the stirrer 120 according to a hydrogen supply amount required by a hydrogen demand source (not shown) receiving hydrogen generated in the reactor 100.

As shown in FIG. 1, the stirrer 120 may be installed below the metal storage means 110.

Hydrogen is generated in the reactor 100, that is, hydrogen is generated by the reaction of aluminum and water. Immediately after the aluminum reacts with water, an oxide film is formed on the aluminum surface to rapidly decrease the reaction rate.

According to this embodiment, in order to overcome this, the catalyst stored in the catalyst storage tank 200 may be supplied into the reactor 100 through the catalyst supply line CL1.

The catalyst storage tank 200 may be installed at a higher position than the reactor 100, as shown in FIG. 1. Since the catalyst storage tank 200 is installed at a higher position than the reactor 100, the catalyst can be supplied into the reactor 100 from the catalyst storage tank 200 by gravity without additional power.

In this embodiment, the catalyst may be an alkali solution or an aqueous alkali solution. For example, the catalyst of this embodiment may be sodium hydroxide (NaOH). However, the present invention is not limited thereto, and the catalyst may be any material that removes byproducts such as oxides generated by the reaction of metal and water, but does not adversely affect the hydrogen gas generated by the reaction.

The flow rate of the catalyst supplied from the catalyst storage tank 200 to the reactor 100 may be adjusted by controlling the opening amount of the catalyst supply valve 402. By adjusting the flow rate of the catalyst supplied to the reactor 100, the explosive reactivity of aluminum can be suppressed, and thus the reaction rate of the hydrogen production reaction occurring in the reactor 100 can be controlled.

Desorption means 130 of this embodiment, as shown in Figure 1, may be a hinge installed on both ends of the metal storage means (110). In this embodiment, although the detachable means 130 is described as an example of a hinge structure, it is not particularly limited, and the detachable means 130 may be coupled to the metal storage means 110 to be detachable to the reactor 100. It should just be a structure.

The metal storage means 110 and the reactor 100 of this embodiment can be detached by the detachable means 130.

That is, the metal storage means 110 storing the aluminum to be reacted is hinged to the inside of the reactor 100 using the detachable means 130, and after the reaction proceeds, when the reaction of aluminum is completed, the hinge is released to release the metal The storage means 110 may be detached from the reactor 100 to remove aluminum and by-products that have been reacted, and the metal storage means 110 in which new aluminum is stored may be installed inside the reactor 100.

Hydrogen generation reaction in the reactor 100, that is, by reaction of aluminum and water, hydrogen gas as well as by-products such as aluminum hydroxide (Al (OH) ₃ ) are produced. According to this embodiment, aluminum is accommodated. Since the metal storage means 110 is provided with a structure in which the solid component cannot pass, aluminum hydroxide, a by-product, also remains in the metal storage means 110.

Therefore, according to the present embodiment, by-products can be removed together when the reaction is completed by removing the metal storage means 110 from the reactor 100 without removing a separate process for removing by-products.

Since aluminum hydroxide is a component harmless to the human body, it can be safely performed even if an operator directly replaces the metal storage means 110 after the reaction is completed.

In addition, according to this embodiment, the catalyst injected into the reactor 100 may be discharged from the reactor 100, and the catalyst storage tank 200 through the catalyst recovery line CL2 using the catalyst circulation pump 300 Can be recovered.

For example, the reaction is stopped when the reaction-completed aluminum is removed from the reactor 100. At this time, the catalyst used in the reactor 100 is opened to the catalyst recovery line CL2 by opening the catalyst recovery valve 403. By discharging and operating the catalyst circulation pump 300, the catalyst discharged from the reactor 100 is supplied to the catalyst storage tank 200, whereby the catalyst can be reused in the hydrogen production reaction.

The catalyst recovery line CL2 may be connected to the catalyst storage tank 200 from the bottom of the reactor 100, as shown in FIG. 1.

According to this embodiment, the metal storage means 110, which can be easily detached to the reactor 100 by the detachable means 130, stores metals such as aluminum in powder form, and stores the metal storage means 110 in the reactor ( 100).

Water stored in the reactor 100 reacts with aluminum powder stored in the metal storage means 110 to produce hydrogen gas.

While the reaction is in progress, to control the reaction rate between aluminum and water, the catalyst supply valve 402 is controlled to adjust the amount of catalyst supplied from the catalyst storage tank 200 to the reactor 100.

In addition, while the reaction is in progress, the reaction speed may be controlled by promoting the reaction by operating the stirrer 120 to facilitate the contact between the aluminum metal stored in the metal storage means 110 and water.

As hydrogen gas is generated by the reaction of aluminum and water, the internal pressure of the reactor 100 gradually increases, and the hydrogen discharge valve 401 is controlled and reacted according to the internal pressure of the reactor 100 and / or the demand of the hydrogen demand. The hydrogen gas generated by is discharged from the reactor 100 to the hydrogen demand.

In this embodiment, the hydrogen demand destination may be a fuel cell that generates electricity and heat using hydrogen as a fuel. For example, the fuel cell may be a PEMFC (Proton Exchanger Membrane Fuel Cell).

The hydrogen gas discharged from the reactor 100 may be directly supplied to a hydrogen demand source, or may be stored in a hydrogen storage tank and then supplied to a hydrogen demand source. When the hydrogen gas discharged from the reactor 100 is stored in a hydrogen storage tank and then supplied to a hydrogen demand source, hydrogen fuel supply to the hydrogen demand source can be made more stable.

When the reaction of aluminum stored in the metal storage means 110 installed to be detachably installed inside the reactor 100 is completed and no longer can generate hydrogen gas, the metal storage means 110 and the metal storage means 110 are used using the detachable means 130. The reaction of the reactor 100 is released, and by-products such as aluminum and aluminum hydroxide produced by the reaction, which are contained in the metal storage means 110, are removed.

The reaction can be resumed by re-bonding the metal storage means 110 in which the new aluminum is stored to the reactor 100. If necessary, the catalyst recovery valve 403 is opened to replace the reactor with new aluminum before the reactor is replaced. The used catalyst is discharged from the catalyst 100, and the catalyst circulation pump 300 is operated to recycle the catalyst discharged from the reactor 100 to the catalyst storage tank 200.

The catalyst recovery valve 403 may be controlled to be closed while the reaction is in progress, but is opened during the reaction to control the concentration of the catalyst in the reactor 100 or the level of the reactor 100 to discharge the catalyst from the reactor 100 You can also

As described above, according to the present invention, hydrogen can be generated by reacting a metal with water, and the generated hydrogen can be supplied to a fuel cell or the like to produce energy, and ultimately energy can be produced without emitting carbon. It is eco-friendly.

In addition, by reacting the powdered metal with water, the stability of the reaction is promoted, and since the metal after the reaction is completed, as well as by-products can be replaced using a desorption means, hydrogen gas can be continuously and easily produced.

In addition, by controlling the operation of the stirrer and the amount of catalyst supplied, it is possible to easily adjust the reaction speed, compared to the prior art, where it was difficult to control the reaction rate by an explosive reaction.

As described above, the embodiments according to the present invention have been reviewed, and the fact that the present invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or scope of the embodiments described above are those with ordinary knowledge in the art. It is self-evident. Therefore, the above-described embodiments are to be regarded as illustrative rather than restrictive, and accordingly, the present invention is not limited to the above description and may be changed within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents.

500: stirred hydrogen generating device
100: reactor
110: metal storage means
120: stirrer
130: detachable means
200: catalyst storage tank
300: catalytic circulation pump
401: hydrogen discharge valve
402: catalyst supply valve
403: catalyst recovery valve
HL: Hydrogen discharge line
CL1: Catalyst supply line
CL2: catalyst recovery line

Claims (6)

A reactor in which hydrogen is produced by the reaction of metal and water; And
It includes; a hydrogen discharge line connecting the reactor and the hydrogen demand, and supplying the hydrogen gas generated by the reaction in the reactor to the hydrogen demand.
The reactor,
A metal storage means coupled to a removable part in the lower part of the reactor and storing metal; And
It is installed in the lower portion of the reactor and agitator for stirring the fluid in the reactor; includes,
Further comprising, a control unit for controlling the reaction speed of the metal and water by controlling the operation of the stirrer; Stirring type hydrogen generating device further comprises. The method according to claim 1,
The metal storage means is provided with a porous filter through which the metal does not pass through the fluid, the stirring type hydrogen generating device. The method according to claim 2,
The metal is a powdered aluminum, agitated hydrogen generating apparatus. The method according to claim 1,
Further comprising; detachable means for coupling the metal storage means and the reactor so that the metal storage means is detachable to the reactor,
When the reaction of the metal is completed, the metal storage means storing the metal where the reaction is completed may be removed, and a new metal storage means may be replaced with a metal storage means. The method according to claim 1,
A catalyst storage tank for storing a catalyst to be supplied to the reactor;
A catalyst supply line connected to the upper portion of the reactor from the catalyst storage tank and supplying a catalyst from the catalyst storage tank to the reactor; And
It is installed on the catalyst supply line, and further includes a catalyst supply valve for opening and closing and controlling the opening amount,
The control unit controls the opening amount of the catalyst supply valve to control the reaction rate of the metal and water in the reactor, a stirred hydrogen generating device. The method according to claim 5,
A catalyst recovery line connected to the catalyst storage tank from the bottom of the reactor and recovering a catalyst from the reactor to the catalyst storage tank; And
A catalyst circulating pump for circulating the catalyst from the reactor to the catalyst storage tank; further comprising a stirred hydrogen generating device.

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