Making Hydrogen Fuel From Aluminum
While hydrogen is technically a store of energy, not a fuel, it can be used as a gaseous fuel. Hydrogen can be extracted from water by using electricity to separate the hydrogen from the oxygen in the water.
Another way to obtain hydrogen for use as a fuel is to "burn" aluminum. Aluminum reacts with lye and produces aluminum oxide and hydrogen, along with a small amount of other by-products. The lye is a catalyst and so is not used up in the reaction. The aluminum and water are consumed and give off hydrogen.
To produce the hydrogen, mix a small amount of Red Devil lye with water in the ratio of one quart of water to ten tablespoons of Red Devil lye. Pour the lye into the water and not the other way around. Be very careful, as lye is a very caustic agent. It can badly burn your skin. The water will rapidly heat up due to the chemical reaction taking place. Let the water cool before you use it.
Place small pieces of aluminum in the water and hydrogen will start bubbling up. If the reaction is too vigorous, heat will build up and steam will come off the water with the hydrogen. The hydrogen can be collected and sent to a special burner and used as a fuel. The aluminum oxide thus formed can be refined back into aluminum again.
Lere at Winter lake Research Center, we have been doing some experiments to find out if enough hydrogen can be produced to be of practical use. We have found that a small amount of aluminum produces a very large amount of hydrogen. Aluminum scrap can be used to obtain the hydrogen.
The hardware needed to make a practical aluminum reactor is common plastic plumbing parts and hoses from the hardware store. Lye eats up metals like crazy, so plastic or glass must be used in the reactor.
The collected hydrogen was used to run a small cooking burner and to power a small lawn mower. A hydrogen burner is a specialized piece of hardware.
Be very careful when using hydrogen. It is highly explosive. It can be neither seen or smelled, so do these experiments outside. Fortunately, hydrogen is lighter than air and will rise up the first chance it gets. So outside, the hydrogen has no chance to concentrate to dangerous levels.
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