If anybody wants to play with a hydroxy generator, you can make one fairly easy with two panels of aluminum window screen (36"X36" works good) and four sections of fiber glass window screen (40"X40", slightly larger than the Aluminum ones gives extra protection). Place one of the aluminum window screens on a table, then place one of the fiberglass ones directly on top of that one. Next place a second fiberglass screen on top of the first one, offset by about two inches to the right, but still flush on the top and bottom. Now place the remaining aluminum one directly on top of the offset fiberglass one. Finish up by placing the fourth fiberglass one directly on top of the aluminum one you just laid down, and the last fiberglass one shifted back to the left to cover the first aluminum panel again. So it looks like this from the front side or the back side:
Code:
____________________ <-Aluminum #1
____________________ <-Fiberglass #1
____________________ <-Fiberglass #2
____________________ <-Aluminum #2
____________________ <-Fiberglass #3
____________________ <-Fiberglass #4
Now roll up the stack from the front edge, so that the two ends will have one aluminum screen sticking out. Slip a few O-rings over the "scroll" and then use a set of alligator clips and connect one wire to one end (Aluminum screen 1), and another alligator clip to the other one (Aluminum screen 2).
Now, if you have a DMM or continuity tester, check the wires to see that you have an open circuit. If it shows a short, start over, since there is a part of one screen touching the other. The two screens have to be separated and not touching each other (shorting out). Once you have that done, find/make a PVC pipe that is capped at one end, and can have a cap screwed on to the other. Drill two small holes in the screw in cap. Slide the "scroll" into the tube with the wires into the tube, and run both wires through one of the holes in the cap and seal with either silicone RTV sealant or hot glue. Now use either the silicone RTV sealant of the hot glue to attach a small hose (1/4" works fine) to the other hole. Now, attach a basketball inflater "needle" to the other end of that tube. Open the screw top back up, and the unit is ready to be filled.
One of the easiest electrolyte mixes is a 95% water (distilled works best) mixed with 5% battery acid (from an old car battery).
REMEMBER, ALWAYS ADD THE ACID TO THE WATER, NOT THE OTHER WAY AROUND!.
Now screw on the cap, and fill a bucket most of the way up with regular tap water. Now get a clamp to hold the basketball inflater needle so that the tip is no more than 1/4" above the water, and so that the rest of the needle and at least a few inches of hose remains underwater. The reason for this "odd" step is that hydroxy is a stoich mix by itself, when it is ignited, it will burn (recombine, oxidize) and form water and it does NOT need an external source of O2 to do this. So, if the ignition (flame) gets a chance to go back down the tube and into your hydroxyl generator, IT WILL (and it will set off the larger amount in the chamber above the screen wire "scroll") Since the amount of hydroxyl gas generated by the system is not under pressure (
don't add a valve to try to get it to build up pressure or to store it, then things get dangerous), and it is not that large of an amount, it will not explode the PVC, but rather just make a noise inside the pipe (implosion) and the pipe will jump up, scaring the carp out of you. Hydroxyl will ignite at around 180 degrees Fahrenheit. The reason for keeping the metal basketball inflater mostly under water is to keep the tip of the inflater cooler than 180 degrees and preventing the "blowback" of the flame back down the hose and into the chamber.
Now, the unit is ready to hook to power and test out. Attach the two wires to a 12V battery through a 4 amp fuse (or an automobile headlight) (either one in series with the tube and the battery) as a ballast and current limiter. That sized screen with a 5% solution of H2SO4 will draw about 2.1 amps, which equates to about 27 watts of power. If you use the headlight, it should glow at about half brightness, which shows you that the screens aren't shorted, but are working. After a 20-30 seconds, you should hear faint bubbling in the tube. Give it another 3 or 4 minutes to flush out all of the normal air that was in there when you were filling the tube with electrolyte and try (with a match or lighter) to light the hydroxyl that is escaping form the tip of the needle above the water in the bucket. depending on the size of the pipe, and how much extra "air" was in there, it might light, or need another few minutes. Either way, it should be enough escaping to light the end after 10 minutes. Note: The flame is nearly invisible, since what is burning is the pure hydrogen. There is a slight blue tint, but the majority of the flame's output is UV (UltraViolet), so it is best to do this outside at dusk, or later so that you can see the flame. You should be able to get a good two or three inch flame going to experiment with.
Now comes the fun part. If you have one of the non-contact PIR thermometers, check the temperature of the flame. It should read below 300 as long as it is in "free air" and not touching anything. Now take a piece of steel and then a piece of aluminum (one at a time) and hold it so that the tip of the flame is touching the bottom of the plates. That <300 degree flame will easily get the steel plate to above 700, and the aluminum plate close to 1000 (or more, depending on how much hydroxyl it is producing). You will also notice that water droplets are forming on the bottom of the plate, as the "burnt" hydroxyl (water vapor) condenses on the colder plate.
Hydroxyl is very interesting stuff to play with. It has very odd properties, and as long as it is not under pressure as a gas, it will always implode and not explode (converting back to the more dense water that it came from). It has a free air ignition point of around 180 degrees and a combustion point not to much higher than that, but will heat other items many times those temperatures. It has the ability to "weld" very odd combinations of materials together, including a lot of dissimilar metals, and even some metals to glass. It will burn in a vacuum, as well as under water if the source of hydroxyl can create large amounts fast enough to keep the stream of gas big enough so that the water does not cool it past the 180 degree ignition temp (Hydroxyl welders use this trick).
More on the odd info and uses like welding:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydroxy_gas
http://www.metacafe.com/watch/335674/water_fueled_torch/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NFcxm6Ygd8U
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ywx92oj4k6k <---Notice on this one, he has 6 cells at one time needed to generate just the hydroxyl needed to just get the torch going, and that it is taking 72 amps! Now, think about how much more a CAR would need to just idle...
Loup
