H S 1NSTIT1UID TE1CNEOLAIOCHTA BHA1LE ATHA CLIATH MMW / DUBLIN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY ^tí^ l4 Upper Mount Street. Dublin 2. Telephone: 01 -611133. Fax: 01 - 762608. INDUSTRIEL LIAISON OFFICE Industrial Liaison Officer: Rea O'Neill. m.a„. M.Sc. M.lmt.P
The electrolysis process is not dependent on energy. From Arrhenius theory, molecules in solution dissociate into ions and the ions are collected at the electrode. No energy is required for ionic dissociation and electrolysis processes are so efficient that they are used to measure current e.g. silver coulometer. When we apply this to the dissociation with water, the key requirement to produce .008 gm of hydrogen is that 1 Faraday of electricity flows*. (1 Faraday equals *5,749,296,494? confirm* coulombs). We assume that this is produced by passing 2 amps of current for 96,494 sees, at V* volt, then the energy needed is Vixlx 96,494 joules or 96,494 joules i!e. 96.494 KJ of energy. The same mole of Fb is capable of releasing 285 KJ of energy on combustion with oxygen.
The process of producing H2 from water usually requires an electrolyte to produce it in quantities. It suffers from polarisation at the electrodes with hydrogen collecting there. A number of methods are known for improving the efficiency of the process. In theory the process can be made energy efficient without a breach of any of the laws of thermodynamics.Meyer has obviously discovered some method of collecting the hydrogen different from the traditional methods.
From Faraday's Laws 0/Electrolysis Th« Dublin Institute ni Technology was established by the Dublin Institute of Technology Act 1992 and is constituted rr—. Collece oi"Technology. Bulron Street. Collect of Catering. Cathal Brueha Street. College . Collece oi"Technology. Kevin Street. Collect of* Marketing i Desiar.. Mounnov
I visited Columbus Ohio to meet Stan Meyer and discuss Water Fuel Cell Technology from 28th July to 31st July 1993. I was accompanied by Noel Whitney of Quantum Leap and Michael Carberry, Chief Engineer of Avonmore Pic.
During the course of our stay most of our time was spent discussing the underlying principles behind the technology and the details of the electronics circuits etc. On the second day Stanley Allen Meyer demonstrated a version of his water fuel cell technology which was built in 1982. This demonstration clearly indicated to me that Meyer has developed a novel process for producing hydrogen and oxygen together. This process does not utilise the large currents needed for normal electrolysis. Since my return to Ireland I have studied the literature and compared this with the data supplied by Meyer. I have formed the view that Meyer has developed a novel form of electrolysis water and that this form of electrolysis has the potential to make available more heat energy than the energy input needed to stimulate the process. I have explained this process on the accompanying pages. In all the time I had contact with Meyer, I formed a very positive view of his sincerity and his enthusiasm. From the literature supplied, the patents and equipment shown to us it is evident that Meyer has concentrated his development on producing this water fuel cell in a form immediately suitable for retrofitting to the everyday motor vehicle. To complete this development he has to develop his electronics further to produce an integrated chip and this will take some further months.
I am convinced that the technology demonstrated is a novel and exciting technology and will provide an alternative fuel for use in motor vehicles in the not too distant future. It is difficult at this stage to assess whether its performance as a simple burner will exceed the performance of existing technology from heat pumps etc. The substantial gain to be made if this proves to be the case, however, would justify significant investment to move to the proof of concept stage.Signed: S.Rea O'Neill Culle* oí TechnolojY. Bolton ïW. Colle** é Catering. Catha! Bn*ru Street. Colle« X Corr_T.«xe. Mm. College of Tedinolo*. Kevn So«:. Collet of Mark«r.nS i Da.gr.. Mounno» Square. Colle« .1 Mwu. Ajrinà fW
In ordinary water a small amount of the water dissociates to hydrogen and hydroxyl ions. These ions are immediately hydrated. The amount dissociating depends on the purity of the water and in very pure water is equal to 1 part in 10 million. Normally ordinary water is described as non-conducting. The process has never been fully explained. Hydrogen and hydroxyl ions are constantly being created and then decaying back to water; but there is always a balance between the numbers ionised and the numbers in solution. (See Appendix I for details of the ionic process involved) Under normal electrolysis these ions can be swept to electrodes and neutralised with the opposite charge Hydrogen and Oxygen can be produced, With conventional circuits however, the energy used in collecting the hydrogen is greater than the energy that is available from the hydrogen. Meyer has utilised a novel electronic circuit which produces high voltages but prevents currents from flowing. This circuit is similar to a classical forced oscillation circuit where charge q can go to infinity. (See Appendix II).
The power to this circuit is coming from an alternator which is across a stainless steel capacitor with water between its plates. The dielectric water itself provides the charge to charge up the capacitor and create the high voltage. This charge comes from the hydrogen and hydroxyl ions. The more charge that flows the more the voltage builds up and the more ions are pulled out of solution. The circuit has a high frequency of the order of five Kilohertz superimposed through the windings of the field coils. In addition the circuit is half-wave rectified to allow the capacitor to discharge.
-r- Figi 6A Fig.2. On the charging up side the ions are pulled out of the dielectric and moved towards the metal electrodes. On the discharging side they may go back into solution. The circuit succeeds in increasing briefly the number of ions which are out of solution. A portion of these ions are able to form hydrogen and oxygen by normal electrolysis type processes. The hydrogen and oxygen bubble to the surface. The circuit is novel in that it is a form of electroylsis but there is no need for any net current to flow. While the voltage applied is 2ero the ionised charges are able to recombine without flowing around the circuit and using energy.
Theoretically there is no reason why the process cannot be totally efficient in producing hydrogen and oxygen. The efficiency depends on the tuning frequency of the LC circuit and having this balanced with the mobility of the ions and the spacing between the plates. There may also be a need to allow a definite relaxation time after
The process is not dissimilar to the vapourisation of water which takes place naturally.The water forms clouds, then rain. Rivers flow and energy is extracted from the rivers. The différence is that it is possible to carry out the cycle under laboratory type conditions or industrial type conditions and extract the energy in the form of hydrogen. By developing a process to utilise the hydrogen ions directly on formation, a great deal more energy will be available and this is Meyer's intention in terms of adaption of his fuel cell for an ordinary car In addition he utilises laser light to stimulate the transfer between energy levels and increase the efficiency of the process. This process would equally explain the explosions in water performed in the University of Kansas which have been recorded in the literature. Deuterium present in the water will be selected out during the reaction and the water remaining in the condenser will become deuterium rich which will inhibit the process. In the process gases absorbed in water are preferentially desorbed. These amount to 3 per cent approximately of water by weight. It is not clear if they play any significant part in the process. In addition impurities in the water are taken out of the solution.
On the basis of the theory proposed, the process could continue indefinitely, the energy effectively coming from the zero point energy of vibration of the atoms in the molecule. This is probably assisted by infra red radiation from the surroundings so that the whole device will act as an efficient heat pump. The deuterium vibrations will be similar in frequency to the hydrogen vibrations. Resonance affects berween the two vibrations may aiso contribute to the process. If this is a serious contributor to the process then the water produced from the hydrogen and oxygen will be less likely to produce further energy as the deuterium will have largely been selected out in the totalprocess. There is no reason to believe this is the case and in any event the balance willbe restored by nature mixing the water formed with normal water vapour.
APPENDIX T BORN-HABER CYCLE FOR MEYER PROCESS All energies in Kilo Joules per moi. H -OH Dissociation Energy + 494 H"1" Ionization +1310 Hydration of H+ to form H30+ -1075 Election Affinity of OH - 223 (Assumed Affinity is between that of O and CI) Total = 506 In normal water a portion of the ions are dissociated. For pure water this is one in 10 million. Initially H"1, and OH" are formed but are immediately hydrated to HsO"1" and OH". From the above for the H30+ and OH" ions the energy of formation is KJ/mole. This process occurs naturally without any electrical input etc. If these ions are removed more are produced by the water.
This process can be explained by quantum mechanics The atoms in the molecule will have a 'zero point energy' of vibration and therefore there is a finite chance of dissociation With high electric fields this chance would be greatly increased (See Pages 520 and 521 of Fundamental Atomic Physics. Tomlin). The release will also be affected by the presence of other ions which again affect the potential. Once released the full energy of dissociation will be available as energy. The hydronium ions and the hydroxyl ions formed by this process may form gases by the following process H3Cr + Metal -* Metal T + H + H20 H - H -► H2 Release of 436 KJ per mole OH* + Metal -> Metal ■ + OH H2O2 -> H2O + O Release of 49 KJ per mole O + O -► O2 Release 491 KJ per mole. Overall Reaction As it takes 2 H atoms to form H2 only half of the 436 KJ will be involved in the process. As it takes 20H to produce H2O2 only half of the energy of this reaction will beinvolved in the process. For the formation of O2 it will take 4 OH radicals and therefore one quarter of the energy will apply in this case...