Hydrogen Collector
Electrolysis of water is a fascinating phenomena. Splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen and seeing the gasses bubble off from the electrodes almost looks like magic. I came to know about it when I was a 11 year old, while reading a science book. I knew I had to try it.
Since then I have experimented on may different setups, mostly trying to separate the two gasses and trap the hydrogen. Hydrogen in small amounts can be fun ! For example bubbling it through soap water, you can produce hydrogen bubbles which rise up in the air, since it is so much less dense, and its pops with a sound when lit with a match.
But recently I had started thinking seriously about a hydrogen balloon project. There are two options available for producing hydrogen in-house….either from electrolysis of by acid-metal reactions! The later can be quite exothermic and along with hydrogen lot of water vapor comes off too. While electrolysis can be challenging too, specially for long periods; electrodes corrode, fluids leak and get inside the balloon being inflated someway or the other!
I planned on building a reliable electrolysis contraption, which can sustain steady reactions over long periods of time.
The corroded electrodes (the anode mostly) end up as anode mud and if not cleared out of the electrolyte, can clog the entire setup. To tackle this I build a circulation and filtration system which takes up electrolyte from oxygen chamber and circulates back into the hydrogen chamber after passing through a ‘ ‘sponge’ filter(both chambers are internally connected off-course). A 12V pump is used for the purpose.
The electrolyte I use is generally brine or acidulated water. The cathode is a series of razor blades while the anode is made of strips of AA battery casings.
The anode erodes fast and needs to be replaced from time to time. Fresh electrolyte can be added from the oxygen side by removing the bottle cap!
After electrolysis the oxygen is allowed to escape (the internal pressure of both the chambers remains at 1 atmosphere), while the hydrogen passes through two water towers for cooling and condensing off of any water vapor carried out of the hydrogen chamber along with the hydrogen(the electrolyte gets heated up during the process).
It is to be noted that the pressure of the collected hydrogen can just fill up a balloon which has a fixed surface area, before and after inflation ! That means rubber balloons, which exert back pressure, cannot be used.
The Hydrogen Collector is ready ! Hoping, will start with the high altitude hydrogen balloon experiment soon !
