Hello everyone, this time we will conduct an interesting experiment on the conversion of aluminum into fuel, which is hydrogen. If you watched the second part of the film “Back to the Future,” then there was one interesting moment when Dr. Emmett Brown “seasoned” Delorean.
In the future, appliances have long been working on household waste, converting all trash into electricity. Such a transformer in the film is an installation called "Mr. Fusion." Doc pours the remainder of the drink into the apparatus, and then throws an aluminum can there too. Most likely there was Coca-Cola as a drink.
But how, scientifically, can one get energy from such waste? One author decided to repeat this experiment, and he did it quite well. What is hidden behind all this? Everything is actually very simple, we will receive energy from aluminum, extracting hydrogen from it. You can do this in various ways, aluminum is quite a non-resistant metal, if you destroy its oxide film. In this case, it begins to liberate hydrogen, simply by contacting with air. Acids and other substances can be used to destroy the oxide film. For example, you can just scratch aluminum with a needle under a drop of mercury and at that point the oxide film will be destroyed.
Why, during the experiment, Coca-Cola will be needed, you will learn from the article;)
Materials and tools used by the author:
Material List:
- hoses;
- boards;
- plastic bottles;
- two stroke engine;
- 12V DC motor;
- 12V battery;
- (optional);
- plastic canister;
- pressure gauge;
- metal clamps;
- a piece of metal tube;
- cold welding;
- Activated carbon;
- water;
- thin sheet steel;
- self-tapping screws.
For the chemical reaction: aluminum, Coca-Cola, sodium hydroxide.
Tool List:
- scissors;
- screwdriver;
- a hacksaw;
- ;
- keys, screwdrivers and other little things.
Getting to the assembly of the device:
Step one. Theory
The bottom line is, take Coca-Cola and add sodium hydroxide to it. Coca-Cola has phosphoric acid, when it interacts with sodium hydroxide, the substance is sodium orthophosphate, as well as water. So, if you add aluminum to sodium orthophosphate, you get a violent reaction with the release of hydrogen, which we need.
All that remains for us is to adapt the tank for the reaction, as well as install filters and a hydrogen consumer, which is the internal combustion engine.
Step Two Install the "reactor"
As a basis, you will need a piece of the board, we fasten the bars to it to hold the canister. Our canister works as a reactor. Wrap a rubber hose around the canister, it will work as a condenser so that water vapor does not enter the engine.
At the top of the canister, we install a pressure gauge, as well as a fitting for connecting the gas exhaust hose.
We connect the hose from the canister to the heat exchanger, and a piece of hose with a tee is also connected to the outlet of the heat exchanger. One outlet of the tee is used to connect the burner, which is a piece of metal tube. There must always be a faucet in front of the burner, since then you will not be able to supply gas to the engine.
The author attaches the crane to hot glue, forming a seat for it. Secure the hoses using makeshift clamps and screws.
Step Three Setting filters
The filter system consists of two filters. The first is a bottle with water poured in, into which the hose from the heat exchanger falls. This filter is designed to collect large drops of moisture generated in the heat exchanger. Also, using this filter, you can visually observe how actively the gas enters the engine. To fix the bottle, cut the bottom from another bottle and fix it with self-tapping screws on the base. Now insert the filter into this bracket.
As for the second filter, the finer cleaning is already taking place here. Pour activated carbon into the bottle as a filter element. Hoses start through holes that are drilled in the caps of the bottles. For sealing, you can use hot glue or cold welding, as the author.
Step Four Install the engine
We will use hydrogen as a two-stroke internal combustion engine. A motor from a chainsaw, chainsaw or other similar equipment will do. We fasten the engine to the bar, which is installed on the base.
The engine must be prepared for gas operation. For this we need a small plastic bottle. We cut out the screw holes in the lid and make an inlet hole for the carburetor. We attach the cover to the carburetor. Cut off the bottom of the bottle, and instead put on a sponge or something similar that fits the role of a filter.
Make a hole in the bottle at the carburetor inlet and install a gas supply hose.
A very important point for the operation of a two-stroke engine is the lubrication system. Then the author found a very interesting solution, the oil is supplied to the carburetor, that is, instead of gasoline. If you wish, you can always adjust the right amount of oil, which will come during the operation of the engine. It is possible to determine whether a lot of oil is pouring or a little by the amount of smoke, also the first time is to ensure that the engine does not overheat. Establish a rack, fix on it a container with oil and connect a hose to the carburetor.
At the end, install the engine on 12V, connect it to the ICE shaft. As a result, we get two in one, this is the starter with which we will start the engine, and this starter will also work as an electricity generator! The author originally planned to connect a 110-volt lamp to the generator through an inverter, but the inverter turned out to be faulty.
The shafts of the generator and engine are connected using a piece of rubber hose. For reliability, you can insert a thinner hose into a thicker one. We fix this whole thing with the help of metal clamps.
After that, you can try to start the engine. Spray liquid on the air filter to start the engine and apply voltage to the engine to spin the engine.Do not forget about ignition and direction of rotation.
Step Five Let's start testing the installation!
First you need to refuel Mr. Fusion, fill the can of Coca-Cola, the author took 7 cans. Then add sodium hydroxide to the cola and mix everything. It remains to add aluminum. We cut aluminum cans from cola into small pieces and fall asleep in a canister. A powerful reaction will immediately begin with the release of a large amount of heat and hydrogen. Close the roof and wait until the desired pressure is formed. It must be at least 2PSI (0.13 Atmospheres) so that the gas can be used. But avoid high pressure, as gas can easily detonate!
During the reaction, so much heat is released that the water begins to boil. To avoid this, the author pours the canister with cold water.
When the desired pressure is reached, you can try to ignite the gas on the burner. Well, then we connect the engine. You may need to experiment with the right amount of gas to run the engine. The device generates electricity quite successfully, the author connects an incandescent lamp and an electric motor to it for demonstration. That's all, I hope you liked the project. Good luck and take care!
