WO2011019299A1

WO2011019299A1 - Electric hydrogen generator

Info

Publication number: WO2011019299A1
Application number: PCT/RU2010/000380
Authority: WO
Inventors: Михаил Алексеевич ИГНАТОВ
Original assignee: Ignatov Mikhail Alexeevich
Priority date: 2009-08-10
Filing date: 2010-07-08
Publication date: 2011-02-17
Also published as: RU2009130354A; RU2410470C2

Abstract

The invention relates to the field of electrochemistry, specifically to electrolyser structures for producing an oxygen/hydrogen mix, oxyhydrogen gas, by means of electrolysis of water. The device comprises a body filled with an electrolyte with a current-conducting bar arranged coaxially within said body. In essence, the surface of the bar acts as cathode, and the inner surface of the body acts as anode. The current-conducting bar is either short-circuited galvanically with the body or is connected thereto via a direct current consumer. A centrifugal impeller, which is set in motion by an external drive, is arranged within the body, coaxially thereto. In order to discharge the products of electrolysis and to replenish the water and electrolyte consumed, the device is equipped with supply and discharge channels. The installation configuration makes it possible to achieve high values for the inertial field acting on the electrolyte and at the same time provides conditions for intensive splitting of the electrolyte ions and for performing an electrochemical reaction with isolation of the gases. This makes it possible to increase the efficiency and to simplify the design of the device whilst at the same time extending the functional possibilities of said device.

Description

Hydrogen generator

The invention relates to the field of electrochemistry, and in particular, to designs of electrolyzers for producing an oxygen-hydrogen mixture — explosive gas, by electrolysis of water.

The following devices are known for converting energy by decomposing water by electrolysis:

RU 2015395, F02 M21 / 00 06/30/1994;

RU 2174162, C25 B9 / 00, 1/02 2001;

RU 2224051, C25 B 1/04, C25B9 / 12 2004;

Signs: the presence of a hollow body filled with electrolyte; the presence of electrodes, one of which is formed by the inner surface of the housing, are common essential features of the claimed and well-known technical solutions.

With the known device described in patent RU 2346083, C25 1/04/2009, the similarity of the presented device lies in the presence of a stationary cylindrical body and the location of the second electrode along the longitudinal axis of the cylindrical body.

A general characteristic of the principle of operation of the devices is the creation of a mechanical field of artificial gravity (inertial field), sufficient to overcome the forces of hydration bonds and creating an electromotive force (EMF) to induce an electric current in the electrolyte, in order to conduct electrochemical reactions with the release of hydrogen and oxygen (see Description of the invention to patent RU 2174162, C25 B9 / 00, 1/02 2001).

The disadvantage of these devices arises from the mechanics of their work, which implies the rotation of the electrolyte volume around an axis with a constant angular velocity ω. In this case, the inertial force the field applied to any point in the volume of the electrolyte is proportional to centripetal acceleration, that is, proportional to the relation V ² ZR, where v is the projection of the linear velocity vector onto a plane perpendicular to the axis of rotation, and R is the radius of the trajectory. It is known that the linear speed related to the angular velocity of the expression v = Rω, therefore ZR ratio V ² can be expressed as ω ² R. It follows that when using the resulted devices, the maximum effect of the inertial field undergoes an electrolyte layer located at the outer electrode (anode) which is limited by the rotational speed of the shaft (for RU 2346083, C25 B 1/04 2009 - pumping), which certainly limits their performance.

The technical result, to which the claimed invention is directed, consists in increasing productivity and simplifying the design of the device.

The specified technical result is achieved by the device as claimed in the present description, by applying a mechanism represented by a set of impeller connected to a rotation drive, and a device body forming a twisted, inverted toroidal flow from oncoming (external and internal) spiral electrolyte flows, due to which a tornado-like vortex is formed, which creates a high-intensity inertial field acting on the electrolyte. Figure 1 presents the diagram of the device and the principle of its operation.

The device comprises a cylindrical housing 1 filled with electrolyte with a conductive rod 2 coaxially located inside it. In essence, the surface of the rod is a cathode, and the inner surface of the body is an anode. The conductive rod is either galvanically short-circuited with the housing or connected to it through a consumer of direct electric current. Inside the case, coaxially with it and a conductive rod, a centrifugal impeller 3 is located, driven by an external drive 4 and setting the movement of the electrolyte inside the housing. The electrolysis products are removed from the device through channel 5, the flow of electrolysis products is controlled by valve 6. The flow of water and electrolyte is replenished through the supply channel 7. To carry out heat exchange with the environment, in order to compensate for the heat of the endothermic reaction, air can be made on the outer surface of the device or liquid heat transfer.

Signs: the presence of a mechanism forming a twisted, inverted toroidal flow of electrolyte, represented by a set of impeller connected to a rotation drive, and the device body;

the presence of a second circular electrode, represented by a conductive rod located along the longitudinal axis of the cylindrical body, are significant features that distinguish the claimed device from its closest analogue.

The electrolyte moves in a spiral of radius R along the walls of the casing, away from the impeller to the opposite base, reaching which the electrolyte flow is pushed to the axis of the casing, and then moves toward the impeller, creating a whirlwind similar to a spiral in a smaller radius r. Since the radius of rotation decreases, the angular velocity of rotation increases significantly in comparison with the adjacent layers, and therefore the dynamic pressure head has increased, and the static pressure, accordingly with the Bernoulli law, becomes smaller than in the adjacent outer layers. Lowering the static component of the pressure leads to an additional decrease in the radius r of the flow due to the static pressure of the outer layers of the electrolyte, and, accordingly, the compression of the flow section. As a result, due to decreasing the flow cross section, the value of the linear velocity modulus v increases according to the principle of fluid incompressibility. Figure 2 is a top view of the dynamics of the formation of a tornado vortex in an electrolyte.

The part of the electrolyte flow passing in the near-axial zone of the installation experiences the maximum action of the centrifugal field, since here the greatest value of the ratio of the square of the linear velocity to the radius of the trajectory v ² / r is achieved, here the hydrated ions of the solution are separated according to their mass. Light cations are pushed to the axis of the housing and discharged on the surface of the conductive rod, being restored to hydrogen molecules. Heavy anions are carried away from the axis under the influence of inertial forces and forces of interionic electrical interaction.

On Fig.3 presents a diagram of the electrochemical reactions occurring during operation of the installation on the example of an aqueous solution of bromic acid.

The released gases are collected in bubbles and carried along the rod to the channel for removal of electrolysis products, which can be performed in the rod or in the impeller. The flow of bubbles of the exhaust gases is regulated by a valve, which allows to reduce the outflow of part of the electrolyte entering the channel with gas bubbles. The electrolyte consumed during operation is replenished through the electrolyte supply channel.

The setup scheme allows one to achieve high values of the inertial field acting on the electrolyte in the near-axis zone, thereby creating conditions for intensive separation of electrolyte ions and the passage of an electrochemical reaction with gas evolution. In addition, a high inertial field will allow the use of electrolytes with a small difference in the mass of ions included in its composition. The claimed invention in comparison with analogues allows to increase productivity, simplify the design of the device and expand its functionality, for example, by creating a large pressure difference in the axial region and near the walls of the housing, it becomes possible, in addition to inertial separation, to use the shift of chemical equilibrium in a mixture of chemical compounds, change in solubility, etc. in order to obtain the required products.

Claims

Claim

1. A device for producing an oxygen-hydrogen mixture containing channels for supplying water and electrolyte and for discharging electrolysis products, an electrolyzer including a cylindrical body filled with an electrolyte solution and connected to a channel for supplying water and electrolyte, short-circuited or connected electrodes through a DC consumer, one of which formed by the inner surface of the housing, and the heat exchanger, characterized by the presence of a mechanism forming a twisted inverted toroidal flow of electrolyte, is made as a combination of an impeller connected to a rotation drive, and a cylindrical body, and a second circular electrode represented by a conductive rod located along the longitudinal axis of the cylindrical body.

SUBSTITUTE SHEET (RULE 26)