Note : Les descriptions sont présentées dans la langue officielle dans laquelle elles ont été soumises.
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CURRENT STATE OF ART
This invention relates to an electrochemical process where it will reduce the
energy input
requirement of water electrolysis to produce hydrogen, bringing a hydrogen
based economy one
step forward to become a realistic alternative to the current carbon based
economy.
Expensive electric power makes water electrolysis a non-feasible process, and
this is the main
factor why water electrolysis is not seen today as a solution for energy
problems. The potential
exists, therefore large resources (fiscal and man power alike) are spent on
finding ways) to
reduce the input energy requirement of water electrolysis. These efforts
already brought results,
but still the produced hydrogen is not cost competitive with other energy
sources and
technologies.
The current invention makes water electrolysis a cost competitive alternative
to other energy
sources or energy Garners. The Vertical Chamber Electrolyser Booster (VCEB)
will reduce the
cost of the produced hydrogen gas by making it possible to separate larger
volume of hydrogen
gas with the same input electric energy level.
Some of the advantages of the Vertical Chamber Electrolyser Booster (VCEB)
are:
- can be attached to existing water electrolysers without the need to alter
the existing
electrolyser,
- doesn't produce any by-product,
- can be used at any location where an electrolyser can be operated,
- will work any time, it is not influenced by conditions of nature,
- simple technology, therefore doesn't require substantial investments,
- the VCEB unit itself can be produced in large quantities and doesn't require
any high-tech
(expensive) production line or materials.
t
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WORIONG OPERATION THEORY
The VCEB unit is based on a simple idea. Once we produce gases in an
electrolyser, we could
use those gases to drive a turbine and produce some low power electricity.
Energy equals SPEED times MASS.
Since the mass of hydrogen and oxygen gas is very small even in large volumes,
the only factor
would be speed to produce electricity. High speed could be achieved by high
pressure
electrolysers, but if we use the gas from such an electrolyser to drive a
turbine, we would loose
the pressure of the gas. We could be able to produce some electric power, but
then the re-
compression of the gases would require more energy than what we produced by
the turbine. So
this is not a way to go.
If we release the produced gas under water from the electrolyser, we create a
completely dii~erent
situation. The gas has buoyancy! The gas will form bubbles under the water. If
we place a
turbine blade ABOVE these bubbles under the water, the mass of the hydrogen
gas will still be
very small, but it becomes irrelevant. Under water the force of buoyancy is
the weight of the
disposed water: not the mass of the gas, but the volume of the gas.
In other words: only a few grams of hydrogen gas may produce a several
kilograms force.
The speed of the buoyant gas will be low in terms of turbine technology, but
the force of the
buoyant gas will be substantial. The weight (mass) of one litre hydrogen gas
is 0,09 grams. But
this gas produces under water a buoyancy of almost 1,000 grams.
That is a difference of more than 100,000 times! ! !
A water electrolyser produces two gases. The VCEB unit will utilize the oxygen
gas, as well as
the hydrogen gas by a structural two chamber arrangement. As the two chambers
are isolated
from each other, the two gases are not mixed up during the process. Using the
buoyancy of the
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oxygen gas alongside the hydrogen gas, will increase the efficacy of the VCEB
unit by 33
percent, because of the electrolyser gas production ratio of hydrogen and
oxygen is 2:1.
Every electrolyser has a certain gas output pressure. There are high pressure
water electrolysers
with a gas output pressure of 370 PSI (25 Atm), or more. Significant pressure
drop in the VCEB
unit would eliminate the purpose of the high pressure electrolyser. The VCEB
unit - by its design
- is suitable for high pressure electrolysers as well. The pressure drop of
the gasses can be
marginal compared to the gain achieved in the turbine generating process.
[Theoretically it can be
as low as 1 (one) PSI]
DESCRIPTION
The structure and composition of an embodiment of the current invention is
illustrated in the
accompanying drawings:
- Figure 1 is a representation of a fully assembled VCEB unit utilizing
turbine blades.
- Figure 2 is a representation of a fully assembled VCEB unit utilizing cup
collectors, in front and
side views.
- Figure 3 is a representation of a VCEB unit with a secondary electrolyser.
Apart from the operational effects of the current invention, a major technical
merit lies in the fact
that the embodiment contains only a limited number and simple components.
To build an embodiment of the current invention as shown in Figure 1, we need
to design the
Chamber Housing ( 1 ). The vertical length of the Chamber Housing ( 1 ) will
determine the water
column height that will reside above the Gas Input Pipe (4). The pressure of
the input gas must be
higher than the pressure created by this water column.
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The Chamber Cover (2) has all the other operational components built into it.
It has a special
shape to accommodate the Collection Chamber (23), the Gas Output Pipe (5) with
the Pressure
Regulator ( 11 ). The other side accommodates the Water Filling Valve (3). The
centre holds the
Turbine Axel (6) with the Turbine Blades (7). The turbine Axel (6) passes
through the Chamber
Cover (2) at the Pressure Seal (12).
We affix the Chamber Cover (2) to the Chamber Housing (1) so it creates an
airtight sphere
inside.
The Turbine Axel (6) will be connected to the Electric Generator ( 10) by
means of the Generator
Shaft (9). If the design calls for a horizontal Electric Generator (10)
placement - as opposed to a
vertical placement - a 90° gear (8) will also be needed.
Since we will handle two gases exactly the same way but separately, we will
need two VCEB
units side by side.
For simplicity reasons the two VCEB units should be placed beside the existing
electrolyses. We
call this electrolyses THE PRIMARY ELECTROLYSER.
All embodiments of the VCEB unit for either gas need a simple set up process
in the following
sequence:
1/ The Gas Input Pipe (4) of the VCEB unit need to be connected to one of the
gas output pipes of
the primary electrolyses. (Either hydrogen, or oxygen)
2/ The VCEB unit must be filled up with a liquid. This can be just water. We
fill up the VCEB
unit through the Water Filling Valve (3). As the water level rises inside the
unit, the air will leave
the unit through the open Gas Output Pipe (5). When water starts appearing at
the Gas Output
Pipe (5) both - the Water Filling Valve (3) and also the Gas Output Pipe (5)
should be closed.
Now the unit is free from air and completely filled with water.
3/ Start the operation of the primary electrolyses in a low gas volume
production mode. The gas
output from the primary electrolyses will go into the VCEB unit through the
Gas Input Pipe (4),
and it will bubble up to the Collection Chamber (23) right under the Gas
Output Pipe (5). The
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Water Filling Valve (3) now needs to be opened. The gas pressure inside the
VCEB unit will
pump out water through the open Water Filling Valve (3). Continue feeding gas
from the primary
electrolyser into the VCEB unit until the water is completely pressed out from
the Collection
Chamber (23) under the closed Gas Output Pipe (S), and gas starts leaving the
VCEB unit through
the Water Filling Valve (3). Then close the Water Filling Valve (3) and stop
the operation of the
primary electrolyser.
4/ The Gas Output Pipe (5) of the VCEB unit needs to be connected to a gas
storage device {i.e.
gas tank) where the ready made product (hydrogen gas or oxygen gas) would be
otherwise stored
either for further compression, or for delivery to the end user.
5/ The VCEB unit will produce electricity during the operation. The Electric
Generator ( 10) of the
VCEB unit needs to be connected to the means of the intended use of the
generated electricity:
a/ it can be connected to a separate battery charging device, so the generated
electric energy
can be used at a later time,
b/ it can be connected to a smaller, SECONDARY ELECTROLYSER (24), where
further
quantities of gases can be produced by this electric power in addition to the
gas volume
produced by the primary electrolyser,
c/ it can be connected back to the electric supply line of the primary
electrolyser where it will
boost the gas production by generating additional gas volumes.
For simplicity purpose the following operation description will mention only
one VCEB unit like
as if the electrolyser would generate only one kind of gas.
After the initialization of the VCEB unit regular operation can be started and
maintained.
The primary electrolyser now should run at full capacity. The produced gas
will enter the VCEB
unit through the Gas Input Pipe (4) and due to the buoyancy of the gas the
Turbine Blades (7) will
come into motion and bring the Turbine Axel (6) into rotation. This torque
will drive the Electric
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Generator (10) and thus electric power will be generated. This generated
electric power will be
proportionally very small compared to the electric power consumption of the
primary electrolyses.
The Electric Generator ( I0) can be either AC or DC generator. Since water
electrolysis requires
DC input, if the Electric Generator ( 10) is an AC generator then the
alternating current (AC) must
be converted to direct current (DC). This direct current then can be loaded
back to the primary
electrolyses (with proper voltage regulation) to further increase the gas
production, or can be used
as the input power for a secondary electrolyses.
For simplicity reasons the following explanation of the operation will be
based on a configuration
where a secondary electrolyses is used. The secondary electrolyses should have
the same gas
output pressure as the primary electrolyses. The DC current generated by the
VCEB unit is the
input power on the secondary electrolyses. This secondary electrolyses will
also produce separated
hydrogen and oxygen gases, though in marginal volume compared to the primary
electrolyses.
Each gas from the secondary electrolyses is reloaded. separately to the VGEB
unit of the same gas
type through the Gas Input Pipe (4) where it will join the other larger gas
volume coming from the
primary electrolyses as shown in Figure 3.
This way the VCEB unit receives an increased volume of gas input which in turn
will produce
larger buoyant force to drive the Turbine Blades (7). Therefore now the
Electric Generator (10)
will produce slightly more energy; which in turn will produce slightly more
gases in the
secondary electrolyses. The combined volumes of gases leave the VCEB unit
through the Gas
output Pipe (5) toward the external gas tank as the end product of the
process, or it can be used as
feed gas to a second VCEB unit, and repeating the entire process to produce
even more electricity.
Practically we initiated a recurring production process where the secondary
electrolyses will
produce gradually larger and larger volume of gases. The increase in volume of
the produced
gasses will be very small, but being a recurring process, the volume of the
increased gas
production will grow into substantial level by time.
This recurring process can not be increased without limitations.
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The internal energy losses of both, the primary electrolyser and the VCEB unit
will be the limiting
factors of the achievable maximum additional gas production according to the
laws of physiscs.
Water electrolysers have their designed pressure level for the output gas.
The VCEB unit will preserve much of this pressure. It is necessary to keep the
gas pressure at the
Gas Output Pipe (5) lower then the pressure of the input gas at the Gas Input
Pipe (4) for the
operation of the VCEB unit. Therefore a Pressure Regulator (11) is installed
on the Gas Output
Pipe (5). If the gas pressure is not lower at the Gas Output Pipe (5) than at
the Gas Input Pipe (4)
the gas from the primary electrolyser can not enter the VCEB unit. If the gas
pressure inside the
VCEB unit gets higher than the output gas pressure of the primary electrolyser
then the water
from the VCEB unit may enter backward to the primary electrolyser. Therefore
the proper setting
of the Pressure Regulator ( 11 ) is a critical factor in the operation.
Generally speaking, in most of
the cases 1 or 2 PSI pressure drop in the VCEB unit is all what is needed for
the operation.
Therefore the VCEB unit can be utilized to boost the gas production of high
pressure electrolysers
as well as with low pressure electrolysers.
After understanding the theoretical operation of the VCEB unit we have to
examine how it will
function under real conditions in practice. Our investigation now will focus
on the laws of physics
instead of theories.
A water electrolyser with a hydrogen gas output capacity of 2 Nm3 per hour
will produce:
555 Ncm3 Hydrogen gas per second,
and also
277 Ncm3 Oxygen gas per second.
That is a total of 833 cm3 gas volume per second that has over 800 grams (1.76
pound) buoyant
force in water under normal water pressure.
The speed generated by the buoyant force of the rising gas will depend on the
design structure of
the VCEB unit. (i.e. pressure drop, turbine location and resistance, water
column height, etc.)
For our present calculation purpose it will be set at 1 footlsec.
. ,. .
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A typical water electrolyses would consume an average of 4.2 kWh energy per
one Nm3 hydrogen
gas production.
As energy: 1 Watt second = 0.?4 Foot pound-force
As power: 1 Watt = 0.74 Pound foot/second.
As we could see above we have 1.76 pound force available at 1 ft/sec velocity.
This would generate 2.38 Watt power.
Taking into consideration the internal losses of the system, and also for
simplicity purpose of the
following calculations, we consider only 1 (one) Watt power generation.
This "generous" allowance will increase the credibility of the following
calculations as well.
If 4.2 kWh energy produces a total of 1,500,000 Ncm3 gas (hydrogen and oxygen
as a total) then
1 Wh will produce 357 Ncm3 gas (hydrogen and oxygen together).
This translates into: 4.2 kWsec produces 416 Ncm3 gas (hydrogen and oxygen as
a total) then 1
Wsec will produce 0.096 Ncm3 gas (hydrogen and oxygen as a total).
In a table form:
Additional
Minute Volume (Ncm3) Volume (Ncm')
0 416.67 0.09583333
This is the starting gas volume condition when the operation of the VCEB unit
begins.
As time passes the Additional Volume is added to the regular volume, which in
turn will produce
more Additional Volume.
If we update the Volume every 6 seconds, we get the following result:
Additional
MinuteVolume (Ncm3)Volume (Ncm')
0 416.666666670.09583333
0.1 416.762500000.09585538
0.2 416.858355380.09587742
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0.3 416.95423280 0.09589947
0.4 417.05013227 0.09592153
0.5 417.14605380 0.09594359
0.6 417.24199739 0.09596566
0.7 417.33796305 0.09598773
0.8 417:43395078 0.09600981
0.9 417.52996059 0.09603189
1 417.62599248 0.09605398
1.1 417.72204646 0.09607607
1.2 417.81812253 0.09609817
1.3 417.91422070 0.09612027
1.4 418.01034097 0.09614238
1.5 418.10648335 0.09616449
1.6 418.20264784 0.09618661
1.7 418.29883445 0.09620873
1.8 418.39504318 0.09623086
1.9 418.49127404 0.09625299
2 418.58752703 0.09627513
We can clearly see the volume steadily increases.
Continuing the calculation in the same manner we get the following result:
the total gas volume production is increased by 14.8 per cent in one how.
It is worth to mention that this is a pessimistic calculation as we reduced
the actual power from
2.38 Watt to 1 Watt, and we updated the volume only by every 6 seconds. The
actual recurnng
effect will happen in a faster time cycle, therefore the gas volume will
accumulate faster then the
above table shows.
Another embodiment of the VCEB unit is shown in Figure 2.
This embodiment is almost identical to the embodiment shown in Figure 1 as
explained in detail
above. The only difference is that the buoyant force of the released gas is
captured by Collector
Cups ( 19) on a Belt ( 18) instead of a turbine blade assembly.
It is virtually indifferent for the functioning of the VCEB unit how the
buoyant force of the
released gas is captured, as long as it produces rotational motion to drive
the Electric Generator
(10).
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The advantage of utilizing Collector Caps ( 19) can be that the input gas
stays in the caps as it
travels the length of the Belt (18), therefore several gas filled caps produce
torque on the V-Belt
Disk (15) and the Rotating Axle (16). At the Turbine Blade (7) configuration -
as shown in
Figure 1, once the gas hits the blade surface it escapes upward. Therefore
several blades above
each other would generate larger torque because the escaped gas from the first
blade doesn't loose
its energy. The gas will get its buoyant force again after leaving the area of
the first blade; this
force then can be harvested on the second blade and so forth.
The efficacy of the means of capturing the buoyant force doesn't influence
much the efficacy of
the VCEB unit. A less efficient capturing method will increase the time needed
for the VCEB
unit, but the VCEB unit will achieve its full capacity to produce additional
gas volume even with
a less efficient capturing method.
The idea and the purpose of developing the current invention originally were
to boost water
electrolyses gas production. But it is evident that the VCEB unit will work on
any kind of gas
input. We can achieve the same working of the VCEB unit by connecting it to
any gas source as
input gas to the VCEB unit, not only to a water electrolyses.
For example, using a simple air compressor as the gas input device to the VCEB
unit would make
the VCEB unit work as well, and produce electric energy. The secondary
electrolyses would still
produce hydrogen and oxygen gases separately. The oxygen gas then can be
reloaded to the gas
input pipe on one VCEB unit, while the hydrogen gas could be loaded into a
separate VCEB unit.
This way again we can generate hydrogen gas in a pure form.
The above description of the VCEB unit is concentrating on one VCEB unit. In
real life two units
are necessary working parallel with each other, one to handle the oxygen gas,
and the other to
handle the hydrogen gas separately. The two VCEB units would have probably two
independent
electric generators. The output electricity of these two generators than can
be combined as input
energy on one secondary electrolyses.
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