Cornish Hydrogen Generator
There are just three components to the basic cornish
hydrogen generator. Obviously the system can be
enhanced, but we are only going to cover the reaction
that occurs when you mix aluminum, water and sodium
hydroxide (Red Devil Lye).
Note: This is a dangerous reaction. This
is not a feasible generator for a home generator or for
transportation as the reaction is nearly impossible to
control.
Do not build the cornish hydrogen generator unless
you are a quaified professional with appropriate safety
gear.
To build a cornish hydrogen generator, start
with a plastic bucket (called a reactor)approx. one
gallon in size. Loosely seal the top with a hose
that comes out (to capture the gas) and feed the tube
into a bubbler. A bubbler is a quart sized
container filled 3/4 with water. The tube from the
reactor should go to the bottom of the bubbler so
that the gas bubbles from the base of the bubbler
all the way to the top. Fix another tube on the
bubbler and connect a fuel hose to it. The tip of
the fuel hose should be metal (copper flexible tubing).
Note: The bubbler is a stop gap between the
source of fuel (reactor) and the flame. The last
thing you want is to have a flame reach your
reactor. You will meltdown your reactor which is
not a good thing as your mixture will flow and burn and
water will not put it out, only feed the fire more.
Once you have your reactor, bubbler and fuel line
constructed, it is now time to start a reaction.
Put a quart of water, aluminum and red devil lye into
the reactor. Seal the lid of the reactor.
Pick up the reactor and stir around the red devil lye so
that it desolves into the water. Set down the
reactor and watch bubbles start to form on the
aluminum. The rate should increase within 2-3
minutes. If not, add more lye. We are
not going to give you the amount to put in, this is
your experiment and if your experiment goes horribly
wrong we don't want a lawsuit saying "But the
website said to put X amount in".
You now have a cornish hydrogen generator. The
reactor should produce enough pressure to push gas
through the bubbler. We found that we had to
elevate the bubbler so that less pressure is
needed. The bubbler will eventually be filled with
gas and push all of the air out of the system and at
some point you will have pure Brown's Gas. Once
that happens, you should be able to crimp your copper
tubing so that instead of being round it is flat (not
closed off). This will allow you to ignite the gas
coming out of the tube and it should carry a flame so
long as the reaction continue in the reactor.
Will It Scale?
If an
engineering firm can figure out how to control the
reaction on a larger scale, then you may have a feasible
reactor. The aluminium feedstock would need to be
from reclamation of waste aluminum from sources that
normally would be wasted by sitting in the
landfill.
Sea, waste or tap water is combined with
aluminum and a chemical matrix that initiates an
exothermic reaction within proprietary machinery that is
computer controlled to manage the reaction within ASME
pressure vessels. The process separates pure
hydrogen from the water, creates steam and changes the
scrap aluminum into valuable and pure alumina. The
steam drives turbines, which creates electricity.
The hydrogen fuels internal combustion engines attached
to a power generator, which also creates
electricity. The process emits no harmful
emissions into the atmosphere as only potable water and
pure oxygen is released.
Below is a breakdown comparing the current
recycling process compared to how the Cornish Hydrogen
Generator could split out materials into base components
that could be sold to individual markets.
MARKET SUMMARY
The following market
summary is based on Umpqua Energy's cursory
research, potential revenue from electricity, alumina,
oxygen and water will fluctuate.
Scrap Aluminum
Scrap aluminum has a
commodity market, as there is a ready supply of
purchasers willing to buy limitless quantities.
There is not much use for scrap aluminum besides
smelting into new aluminum, which is cheaper than mining
bauxite, processing to alumina then smelting alumina
into new aluminum. Preparations for scrap aluminum
to enter the marketplace include an energy consuming
process of baling, shredding, crushing, compacting and
cleaning. Recyclers processing facilities operate
on a 2-4% margin and sell to customers who a) pay their
bills and b) have the highest bid price and has a market
value of $.60/lb.
Alumina
Alumina is not part of a
commodity market as there is not a ready supply of
purchasers who will buy limitless quantities. Most
importantly, alumina can be smelted back into
aluminum. Alumina can be sold domestically or
internationally for between $.72/lb at smelter grade and
$2,000/lb at chemical grade. Chemical grade
revenue can be garnered only if performed in a certified
lab environment. There are many uses for alumina
as a raw material to be used in the creation of cement,
ceramics, toothpaste, deodorants, inks and abrasive
slurries.
Hydrogen
Hydrogen is not part of a
commodity market as there is not a ready supply of
purchasers who will buy limitless quantities.
Transport and storage issues must be resolved prior to
having the ability to sell into a marketplace.
When the market is established, the prices will be
reliant on oil and natural gas pricing as the majority
of research development grants have gone to reformation
projects. Hydrogen can be used as a fuel to power
gensets which can produce electricity to supply to
customers.
Oxygen
Oxygen is not part of a
commodity market as there is not a ready supply of
purchasers who will buy limitless quantities.
Accessing the market would require compressing,
liquefying, bottling and transporting the product to
market. Current plans for the excess oxygen would
be to feed it into the induction systems of the internal
combustion engine or vent it into atmosphere.
Water
A thorough market study is
recommended to compare the costs and revenues associated
with desalinization plants being constructed along our
coastlines. Converting industrial wastewater to
potable water has intrinsic value and with appropriate
proximity to a client revenue could be garnered as a
service to the neighboring facility. The water
could be bottled and sold or recycled back into the
process to reduce consumption.
Electricity
Electricity has a
commodity market, as there is a ready supply of
purchasers willing to buy limitless quantities.
Renewable, green and emission free energy is in high
demand. Federal, State and Local Governments have
initiated policy change to purchase 100% green energy
over the next 20 years. To encourage the market to
meet that challenge, tax incentives and accelerated
depreciation schedules have been put into place.
In addition, various States fund self-generation
initiatives. California has taken the lead in
being the most green energy and self-generation friendly
State in our union. In 2004 they have funded a
rebate program worth $175mm to those who self generate
power. Rebates can be applied for through the
utility companies who also certify the workmanship of
the machinery. | 