______________________________________________________________________________ | File Name : H2OGAS.ASC | Online Date : 11/25/95 | | Contributed by : Mike Randall | Dir Category : ENERGY | | From : KeelyNet BBS | DataLine : (214) 324-3501 | | KeelyNet * PO BOX 870716 * Mesquite, Texas * USA * 75187 | | A FREE Alternative Sciences BBS sponsored by Vanguard Sciences | | InterNet email keelynet@ix.netcom.com (Jerry Decker) | | Files also available at Bill Beaty's http://www.eskimo.com/~billb | |----------------------------------------------------------------------------| There are three files from Mike which are all related. They are listed on KeelyNet as : H2OGAS.ASC - this file WATERGAS.ASC - another version WATGAS1.GIF - circuit diagram for your own experiments ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Michael Randall, Energy Researcher 2nd Judicial District c/o PO Box 1028 Sierra Madre, California U.S.A. November 2, 1995 Subject Title: Water Electrolysis with Unique Features. Subject Experiment: Enclosed are my observations on an electrolyzer design based on George Wiseman's book "Brown's Gas, Book 1", see Reference 1, that I have been working on for the past two months. Due to the general lack of information in the field of the generating and uses of this mon-atomic stoichiometric gas mixture of hydrogen and oxygen. I observed the need for writing this report and to inform other researchers the verification of some of its unique features even though still in the experimentation stage. Summary: Verification of the following unique water electrolysis features of experiment to Date 10/15/95: 1. Large volumes of gas produced at little power input. 2. No heating of electrolytic cell. The third unique feature, the analyzing of the gas and its ignition into a flame, have not been tested as yet. See Ref. 1 for a good description of this gas called Brown's Gas, in honor of Yull Brown. Yull Brown did most of the pioneering work to show that this stoichiometric gas mixture is a safe gas with many unique properties. Brief Description: A testbed electrolytic cell of electrodes connected in parallel is used to try two different power supply designs. The cell is without a membrane to separate the anode and cathode and the gases are freely mixed. This mixed gas has unique features. The electrodes are given DC pulses at 120 pulses/sec. from standard wall plug AC electricity (60 hz USA) that was fullwave rectified. This electrolysis also has unique features. A complete electrolyzer design and procedure are given in Ref. 1 and will not be repeated in this paper. Observations on Electrolytic Cell: The purpose of this exercise was to reproduce an electrolyzer as described in Ref. 1 and observe what happened. Tried two different power sources to the same electrolytic cell, of parallel spaced plates, (22) stainless steel (1"X 4"X 1/16" thick at 1/8" min. spacing) electrodes, connected in parallel. Power source (A) Capacitor Power Design (as described in Ref. 1), and (B) a Variable Transformer Design. The electrolytic cell voltage was between 1.75 to 2.2 volts DC and was dependent on amount electrolyte (NaOH) used. The more electrolyte used the less voltage required for electrolysis. The surface area of the cathode determined the current amps flowing through the cell between 1 amp. per sq. inch to 1 amp per 4 sq.in. The more area the more efficient the current flowed. One design goal was to keep the electrode voltage below 2.2 VDC (above which di-atomic bonding could occur which would lower gas volume efficiency and also cause heating of the electrolyzer). This was easily achieved in this design. The spacing between plates needed to have room for the gas bubbles to rise to the surface otherwise it would increase resistance by blocking the electrolyte. The gases also need surface area to escape from, so a shallow depth and wide cell design is preferable to a tall skinny cell design. Verification of Feature 1: A) Capacitor Power Design: The electrolytic cell current, of pulsing DC current (120 pulses per sec.), was dependent on capacitor size used. At each 24 mf AC capacitor, 1 amp flowed thru the electrolyte to the plates. Used three 24 mf AC capacito rs in parallel or a total of 72 mf AC capacitors, and got three amps to flow. Could not find larger AC capacitors so this power design observation was limited to 3 amps. B) Variable Transformer Power Design: Used a Variac, variable transformer (140 VAC, 15 amp.), without capacitors, to a 300 VAC, 25 amp. full wave bridge rectifier. With the power available at the wall electrical outlet plug, got 15 amps of pulsing DC current (120 pulses per sec.) flowing to the electrodes. The Variac was adjusted (2.75 to 3.5 VAC) so as to provide out of the bridge rectifier, 1.75 VDC to 2.2 VDC across the electrodes. Could not test over 15 amps due to wall plug electrical circuit breaker rated at 15 amps. Again, the cell voltage was dependent on the amount of electrolyte used and current dependent on surface area of cathode electrodes. In both power designs, observed the electrolyzer gases evolving from stainless steel electrode plates through the clear polyethylene (PE) container. In one set of plates, 75% of the gases formed at the edges of the plates. Electrons liked to flow to edges and sharp pointed surfaces. So then made groove cuts in a crosshatched pattern on flat surfaces of electrodes and found that lots more gases were created for the same electrode plate area. The gases generated in the cell came in steady pulses of bubbles as observed in the flashback container. By visual observation estimate, the gas volume from the electrolytic cell through the flashback (PE) container were as follows: A) Capacitor design at 3 amps: - sized each bubble at 1/2" to 3/4" cubic inch (CI) - counted a gas bubble every 5 to 7 seconds B) Variable transformer design at 15 amps: - sized each bubble, 3/4" to 1" (CI) - counted a gas bubble every 1 to 3 sec. Gas Volume Calculation for (B) Design: 2.2 VDC cell voltage X 15 amps= 33 watts per hr. 3/4 CI per 3 sec X 20 per min. X 60 min.= 900 CI per hr. = 14.7 liters/hr. Conventional electrolyzer: 16.8 liters per Faraday (26.8 amp/hr.) 2.2 VDC X 26.8 amps = 58.96 watts per hr. at 33 watts = 9.4 liters/hr. Gas Volume Efficiency: 156.8% in worst case, 2.2 VDC and a 3/4 CI bubble very 3 sec. For a detailed explanation of the above calculation see Ref. 1. Verification of Feature 2: In both power designs no heat increase of the electrolyzer unit was felt for voltage under 2.2 VDC. The electrolytic cell was running for over a thirty minute period with no heat being generated either in the fluid or electrodes. Future Verification 3: With ignition of the pure electrolytic gases a flame is created that has unique properties, such as an open air flame temperature of 127 to 132 C, to over 6000 C when welding certain materials (see Ref. 1). The gas output of this design can be used as a small gas welder as described in Ref. 1. Have not yet made containers vacuum tight, for the electrolytic cell or flashback container, to evacuate the air out of these containers. If air is present in these containers and mixed with the electrolyzer gases generated, then ignition of this combination causes an explosion. Verified this in the flashback container. This is also how you run a car engine with this gas (future work). Conclusion: Observed more gas was generated than would have been with conventional water electrolyzer design. This would mean that a portion of the gas was atomic moles, which is twice the volume of di-atomic moles for the same amount of water electrolyzed. Also no heat was generated in the electrolyzer which means that it was an endothermic (energy added) reaction only. Conventional electrolyzers get hot due to the forming of di-atomic bonds into H2 and O2 which is an exothermic reaction and releases large amounts of heat. The more current flowing the more gas was generated and the lower the voltage the less power used and therefore the higher the efficiency. The more edges and cut groove cross hatches on the electrodes plate surface the more gas was generated. To increase the design for more gas, series connected electrolyzer cells would be more practical with low current and high voltage like the typical building wall plug electrical circuit. At 15 amps and 125 VAC (2.1 VDC X 60 cells = 125 VDC), that is bridge rectified to DC, a series connected cell design can be plugged right into the wall without a transformer. This would have maximum power input of 1,875 watts. And for even higher gas generation, 220 VAC could be used with 110 separate electrolyzer cells in series. Questions and Theory: Why the atoms do not recombined to form di-atomic atoms while still in the electrolyzer is unknown due to the lack of research. One theory is it could be due to the DC pulsing action (120 pulses/sec.) of the full wave bridge rectifier of the 60 hertz AC waveform to the electrodes. There could even be a "best pulse rate", and this is an area still to be explored. Reference: 1) "Brown's Gas, Book 1", by George Wiseman. Published by Eagle Research, Box 145, Eastport, ID 83826 USA. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------