Hey guys! Week 1 of Senior Research Projects is already over
and I’ve been doing some pretty interesting things. This week I got to meet up
with my on-site advisor, Dr. Meng Tao, for the first time since SRPs started
and talk about my project.
First thing we did was tour the Engineering Research Center
here at ASU Tempe, and I got to see the inside of my professor’s lab for the
first time. He showed me some of the undergraduate and graduate students’
workspaces and where everything is. Afterwards we sat down in his office and
got to discussing the device I’m going to create.
As mentioned in an earlier post, my device is designed to
generate usable energy using solar power. I plan on using everyday items to
build the device so that it can be used at home and for educational purposes to
teach about renewable energy. The solar cells in the panel would capture energy
from the sun and transfer it through the wiring to the electrodes. The
splitting of water happens through an oxidation-reduction reaction so at the
positively charged anode the following half reaction would take place
generating oxygen gas:
And at the negatively charged cathode, hydrogen gas is
generated:
The reaction can also be balanced using the basic method in
which
Cathode (reduction): 2 H2O(l) + 2e− → H2(g) + 2 OH−(aq)
Anode (oxidation): 4 OH−(aq) → O2(g) + 2 H2O(l) + 4 e−
In either case combining the half reaction pair yields the
same overall reaction:
Overall reaction: 2 H2O(l) → 2 H2(g) + O2(g)
Under ideal conditions the hydrogen gas would be produced at
twice the volume of the oxygen gas. Electrolysis of pure water occurs very
slowly or not at all, so to speed up the process, we would add a salt
electrolyte to increase the electrical conductivity. A tube would then collect
the gas from the container then it would be ascertained whether or not the gas
would combust. If it ignites, there exists hydrogen, a usable fuel source. We
would also make sure to seal the device properly so that there is minimal
leakage of gas or there may not be enough hydrogen gas exiting the tube to
combust.
Above is the anticipated design of the device.
Hi Afra!
ReplyDeleteYour project seems to be revolutionary especially in the context of global warming and the need of sustainable alternatives to preexisting methods of producing energy.
I just had a couple questions though.
What salt are you planning to use? What are the different conditions you are looking for in your salt for it to be the most effective?
Thanks!
Hey Siva, thanks for reading! For my salt to be most effective, I would be looking to find a salt with a high solubility product constant, Ksp, value because we are looking to maximize the conductivity of the solution. We also don't want to use a salt that may release unwanted gases (eg. using NaCl may cause the release of Cl2 gas). Taking both of these considerations into account I’ve chosen to use Na2SO4 which has a relatively high Ksp value and has not been shown to produce any noxious gases so should not interfere with my experiment.
DeleteAfra,
ReplyDeleteThis looks good so far. I'm wondering what variables you will be testing with your device to see how they affect the electrolysis, such as cell orientation, cell size, time of day etc.
Hi Mr. Ray,
DeleteSome of the variables I hope to test with my device are the effect of salt concentration on the electrolysis process and the effect of different voltages on production. The variables you mentioned are also good ones to test (although I'm not 100% sure I will be able to test cell size) and I will look into testing those as well! I plan on testing these after finishing the first objective of producing a working device as my mentor had a similar device that showed the signs of electrolysis but did not produce enough gas flow through the collection tube to be ignited. I hope to improve upon his methods and create a new device that will produce a reliable fuel source. Thank you for reading!