Google Groups no longer supports new Usenet posts or subscriptions. Historical content remains viewable.
Dismiss

Home electrolysis

1 view
Skip to first unread message

Dirk Bruere at NeoPax

unread,
May 13, 2008, 9:25:48 PM5/13/08
to
Looking for an electrolysis machine so I can generate H2 for use in
cooking using excess electricity produced by a small scale wind turbine.
Max likely power is 2kW.
Also looking for anyone who produces a simple method of storing a couple
of cu m of the gas (gasometer over water old style?)

--
Dirk

http://www.transcendence.me.uk/ - Transcendence UK
Remote Viewing classes in London

Bill Penrose

unread,
May 13, 2008, 9:32:38 PM5/13/08
to
On May 13, 6:25 pm, Dirk Bruere at NeoPax <dirk.bru...@gmail.com>
wrote:

> Looking for an electrolysis machine so I can generate H2 for use in
> cooking using excess electricity produced by a small scale wind turbine.
> Max likely power is 2kW.

Stainless steel rod or mesh in 1N NaOH. Put in a spray trap for
airborne NaOH drops.

The gasometer's a good bet for storage if you pressurize the whole
system, so the pressure's generated by electrolysis. Avoid the
temptation to use an electric pump. You could make it out of 2 or 3
garbage cans.

Hydrogen might not be your best cooking fuel. You'd need special jets
to burn it. Air mixing, etc, would all be different.

DB

Dirk Bruere at NeoPax

unread,
May 13, 2008, 9:42:55 PM5/13/08
to

Thanks - more information in your post than I got out of a couple of
days wasted with the morons in sci.energy.hydrogen

I was thinking of pressurising it with a slab of concrete on top of the
garbage cans :-)

Overall, the efficiency doesn't have to be particularly high since the
energy is mostly 'free'. As for burning it, I'm old enough to recall
when we had to change jets from coal gas (50% H2) to methane. Ideally
I'd like to find some company that could supply them. I'm also a bit
worried about whether the flame would be visible, and related safety
aspects.

Mark Thorson

unread,
May 13, 2008, 9:52:50 PM5/13/08
to
Dirk Bruere at NeoPax wrote:
>
> Looking for an electrolysis machine so I can generate H2 for use in
> cooking using excess electricity produced by a small scale wind turbine.

How about using the excess energy to pump water into
an elevated tank or raising a weight? Then recover
the energy as electricity, and convert it to heat.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydraulic_accumulator

This is a commercial item. These people make them:

http://www.tobul.com/

hanson

unread,
May 13, 2008, 10:08:17 PM5/13/08
to

"Dirk Bruere at NeoPax" <dirk....@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:68utcvF...@mid.individual.net...

> Looking for an electrolysis machine so I can generate H2 for use in
> cooking using excess electricity produced by a small scale wind turbine. >
> Max likely power is 2kW.
> Also looking for anyone who produces a simple method of storing a couple
> of cu m of the gas (gasometer over water old style?)
>
hanson wrote:
If you have 2 KW available why go thru these wasteful
of steps of electrolysis and cooking with H2?
Why not store your Wind electricity in a bunch of Auto
batteries (transform the V-output as needed) and cook
your food with conventional electrical heating utensils.
It's cheaper & safer and all the items are commercially
available off the shelf.
hanson


Dirk Bruere at NeoPax

unread,
May 13, 2008, 10:10:06 PM5/13/08
to

Hadn't thought of that, but it seems more complex than just collecting a
bag of H2. I'll look into it...

Dirk Bruere at NeoPax

unread,
May 13, 2008, 10:31:08 PM5/13/08
to

Well, auto batteries are not designed for deep discharge.
Also I was hoping to keep the battery pack size down for a number of
reasons, not least cost. The perfect battery is a long way off, and lead
acid seems to be the only real choice until A123 start selling the stuff
I need a lot cheaper.

Sam Wormley

unread,
May 13, 2008, 11:03:23 PM5/13/08
to
Dirk Bruere at NeoPax wrote:

Do your cooking when the wind blows, your gardening when it's not
raining and your reading when the sun is up.

Dirk Bruere at NeoPax

unread,
May 13, 2008, 11:11:03 PM5/13/08
to

Just doing some calcs on that
1kWh = 3.6MJ
So I need to lift approx 36 tonnes through 10m to get that.
Seems like hard work given that 1 cu m of H2 is 90g which corresponds to
about 12MJ (assuming I've got my sums right)

Androcles

unread,
May 13, 2008, 11:14:52 PM5/13/08
to

"hanson" <han...@quick.net> wrote in message
news:lQrWj.112$vE.111@trnddc03...

|
| "Dirk Bruere at NeoPax" <dirk....@gmail.com> wrote in message
| news:68utcvF...@mid.individual.net...
| > Looking for an electrolysis machine so I can generate H2 for use in
| > cooking using excess electricity produced by a small scale wind turbine.
>
| > Max likely power is 2kW.
| > Also looking for anyone who produces a simple method of storing a couple
| > of cu m of the gas (gasometer over water old style?)
| >
| hanson wrote:
| If you have 2 KW available why go thru these wasteful
| of steps of electrolysis and cooking with H2?

To store it for later when you are miles from home
and don't have it available. It may seem silly to carry
a bar of chocolate up Mt. Everest when you can eat
it before you start climbing, but people do.

| Why not store your Wind electricity in a bunch of Auto
| batteries (transform the V-output as needed) and cook
| your food with conventional electrical heating utensils.

Have you ever tried carrying 20 lbs of lead and acid up
Mt. Everest when a Mars bar will give you the same energy
at the top?

| It's cheaper & safer and all the items are commercially
| available off the shelf.

I'd still go for the Mars bar.
Thanks for the laughs!


ji...@specsol.spam.sux.com

unread,
May 13, 2008, 11:25:03 PM5/13/08
to

RV batteries handle deep discharge better than auto batteries.


--
Jim Pennino

Remove .spam.sux to reply.

Bill Penrose

unread,
May 13, 2008, 11:57:49 PM5/13/08
to
On May 13, 5:42 pm, Dirk Bruere at NeoPax <dirk.bru...@gmail.com>
wrote:

> Overall, the efficiency doesn't have to be particularly high since the
> energy is mostly 'free'.

There'll be little enough that you should still shoot for efficiency
as much as possible.

>... I'm also a bit


> worried about whether the flame would be visible, and related safety
> aspects.

I"m pretty sure it won't be visible, unless you can hang a crystal of
salt or something in the flame. A flammable gas alarm wouldn't be a
bad idea either.

DB

Bill Penrose

unread,
May 14, 2008, 12:00:35 AM5/14/08
to
On May 13, 7:14 pm, "Androcles" <Headmas...@Hogwarts.physics> wrote:

> I'd still go for the Mars bar.
> Thanks for the laughs!

You have a wind turbine that makes Mars bars???

DB

Ken $ Tucker

unread,
May 14, 2008, 12:36:24 AM5/14/08
to
On May 13, 6:25 pm, Dirk Bruere at NeoPax <dirk.bru...@gmail.com>
wrote:

> Looking for an electrolysis machine so I can generate H2 for use in
> cooking using excess electricity produced by a small scale wind turbine.
> Max likely power is 2kW.
> Also looking for anyone who produces a simple method of storing a couple
> of cu m of the gas (gasometer over water old style?)
>
> --
> Dirk
>
> http://www.transcendence.me.uk/- Transcendence UK

> Remote Viewing classes in London

Did I ever tell you about the atomic candle I built.
Using 6V or so I electrolysed H2O using a pair of
Al plates in a jar with a hole at the top, (metal lid).
So I put a match to the hole and nothing happened.
A minute or so later I passed my hand over the
hole and was burned. It worked but the flame was
totally invisible.
The Al plates went shiny and black, of course thats
the effect of the anode and cathode.
A hydrogen flame is odorless and invisible, so be
careful.
Ken


Androcles

unread,
May 14, 2008, 2:26:42 AM5/14/08
to

"Bill Penrose" <pen...@iit.edu> wrote in message
news:2f6d4cc7-7e9b-4260...@p39g2000prm.googlegroups.com...

Doesn't everybody?
What's the DB for, it sure ain't "Bill Penrose"?
Dumb Billy, perhaps. Or did you forget who you are?


Dirk Bruere at NeoPax

unread,
May 14, 2008, 7:37:05 AM5/14/08
to
On 14 May, 04:57, Bill Penrose <penr...@iit.edu> wrote:
> On May 13, 5:42 pm, Dirk Bruere at NeoPax <dirk.bru...@gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
> > Overall, the efficiency doesn't have to be particularly high since the
> > energy is mostly 'free'.
>
> There'll be little enough that you should still shoot for efficiency
> as much as possible.
>

So what's the recipe for efficient electrolysis?

Dirk

Daddy Tadpole

unread,
May 14, 2008, 1:00:29 PM5/14/08
to

"Dirk Bruere at NeoPax" <dirk....@gmail.com> a écrit dans le message de
news:68v17gF...@mid.individual.net...

I would use the current to heat water, specially if you already have
water-type central heating and can add another tank.

Yet again, this may not be cost-effective - you'll have to buy heavy cable
and a special heating element for low voltage, or an up-convertor.

In France, they're trying to create a market (and bring prices down), by
buying at a good price the excess electricity from systems that have an up
convertor to feed the current into your mains supply. Currently, the payback
time is about 15 years for professionally-installed systems that qualify for
tax relief.

Don't let this stop you having some fun.

Regards

Bill Penrose

unread,
May 14, 2008, 1:33:51 PM5/14/08
to
On May 14, 4:37 am, Dirk Bruere at NeoPax <dirk.bru...@gmail.com>
wrote:

> So what's the recipe for efficient electrolysis?

No idea, but think about these:
- regular electrode cleaning
- do the electrolysis at a voltage controlled to give the best ratio
of hydrogen output vs. input power (too low a voltage, no
electrolysis, to high a voltage, the electrolyte gets hot but no more
hydrogen is made
- stirring of the electrolyte constantly or intermittently to reduce
polarization (losses as heat)
- whether to generate AC vs DC
- use a solid state switching voltage regulator to turn a variable
input voltage to a constant electrolysis voltage

Dirk Bruere at NeoPax

unread,
May 14, 2008, 3:26:50 PM5/14/08
to

Thanks.
I won't be able to connect to any mains supply for anything.
And heating the water as a byproduct probably won't be so bad since I
can use the heat, at least in winter.

Dirk Bruere at NeoPax

unread,
May 14, 2008, 3:27:53 PM5/14/08
to

That's the only real worry I have, which is why I'm looking for a burner
that's not DIY.

--
Dirk

http://www.transcendence.me.uk/ - Transcendence UK

Mark Thorson

unread,
May 14, 2008, 3:48:02 PM5/14/08
to
Dirk Bruere at NeoPax wrote:
>
> Just doing some calcs on that
> 1kWh = 3.6MJ
> So I need to lift approx 36 tonnes through 10m to get that.
> Seems like hard work given that 1 cu m of H2 is 90g which corresponds to
> about 12MJ (assuming I've got my sums right)

That's a water tank about 3m x 3m x 4m,
if your numbers are correct.

0 new messages