Adam Patton
Age 17 | Kamloops, British Columbia
Canada-Wide Science Fair 2019 Excellence Award: Best Intermediate Project | Cariboo Mainline Regional Science Fair 2019 Best Intermediate Project & Best Physical Science Project | Michael Crooks BC Physics Award | Young Innovator Scholarship | Vancouver RASC Martha Pearse Provincial Award
INTRODUCTION
This project comes as part two of a study into hydrogen energy. The pressing need for alternative energy sources to power humans is necessary, so I decided to look into this more deeply. I found that hydrogen has the potential to be 100% clean energy. There are many limiting factors when it comes to hydrogen production, one of which is using the clean process of electrolysis to generate hydrogen fuel because of cost. Alternatively, hydrogen manufacturers use steam reforming, a process that uses hydrocarbons and steam to produce hydrogen fuel. This process is cheaper than electrolysis because electrolysis uses expensive platinum electrodes and requires vast amounts of electricity whereas steam reforming uses cheaper sources of energy and uses economical and readily available catalysts. The issue with steam reforming is that it releases many greenhouse gasses, making the hydrogen fuel produced unclean due to the process that made it. The goal of this project was to find cheaper and more readily available specialty electrode alloys than platinum for the use in electrolysis that have high efficiencies. These can then be used in place of platinum in electrolysis for the production of hydrogen fuel. Using alternative metal than platinum would make electrolysis cost less, meaning it could be used in place of steam reforming, yielding truly clean, renewable hydrogen fuel. Production rates, costs/availabilities, and deterioration rates were all used as analysing methods. 6 different voltages were also used to better see the performance of different metals at varying voltages.
HYPOTHESIS
If alternative metal/metal electrode combinations under different voltages are tested, and their production of hydrogen and their deterioration per test are measured, then we can make cheaper specialty metal electrode alloys that have high efficiencies, low deterioration rates, and are more readily available than platinum for the production of renewable hydrogen fuel.
PROCEDURE
1. Make the required amount of a distilled water solution (DWS) for 1 test (eg. 2 litres) using the ratio of 3.69 cubic centimeters (CCs) of sodium bicarbonate per litre of distilled water.
2. Drill a hole in each metal electrode being used in the experiment (with the dimension of 1.9 centimeters by 12.7 centimeters by 0.102 centimeters) that is 1 centimeter from both the bottom edge and each vertical edge of each metal using a 5/32-inch (0.396 centimeter) cobalt drill bit. Screw in a sheet metal screw to each hole in each piece of metal and then remove. Using a 100-gram scale, weigh each electrode for each metal type and record in grams for deterioration data purposes. Label each electrode of each metal type “electrode 1” and “electrode 2”.
3. Cut 2-3 CC syringes at the “1” line to make them have a volume of only 1 CC. Cut 2-60 CC syringes at the “60” line. Drill the tip out of the 60 CC syringes, leaving behind the threaded luer lock tips. Using plastic strips and plastic cement to make gas collectors, make a bracket like apparatus that attaches the 3 CC syringes overtop of the 60 CC syringes, leaving 0.5 centimeters of room in between. Place any metal/metal electrode combination in a 2 liter, 25-centimeter tall container, threading the screws of each metal back into each hole. Attach an alligator clip wire to each metal using the screw. Place the gas collectors made earlier around each metal. Pour the DWS into the container until the tips of the collectors are covered, sealing with luer lock caps.
4. Using a pulse width modulator (PWM) to control the voltage used in the experiments, alligator clips, a switch, and batteries, make the electrical circuit for this project. The hydrogen electrode will become attached to the negative PWM outlet port while the oxygen electrode will become attached to the positive PWM outlet port. When ready, start the process of electrolysis using the switch. Record the amount of time it takes to generate 1 CC of hydrogen in seconds, and then take the amount of gas made and divide it by the time it took to make it for each electrode combination and multiply it by 60 to get cubic centimeters of hydrogen per minute (CCPM) and record. Weigh the electrodes after each voltage and divide the difference in weight from the starting weight by the number of times each metal was used as an anode to find deterioration per test (measured in grams). Record. Repeat steps 1-4 for each electrode test. Find alloys that take desired properties of metals found in part one of the project and test using the procedure above.
RESULTS
Figure 1. The 6 top normal metal combination production rates and the 5 top specialty metal combination production rates with platinum comparison.
Figure 2. Electrode deterioration per test (per cubic centimeter of hydrogen produced) for each metal tested in this project.
DISCUSSION
The testing of commonly used metals/alloys found that more active metals (less noble) have low times of electrolysis and less active metals (more noble) have low deterioration rates. Aluminum and nickel took an average of 270 seconds to electrolyse one cubic centimetre of hydrogen (OCCH) at 6 volts and an average of 36 seconds at 36 volts, making it the most efficient normal electrode tested in this project, as compared to platinum which took an average of 70 seconds at 6 volts and an average of 23 seconds at 36 volts. Nickel K500, aluminum 2024, aluminum 7075, aluminum bronze, and nickel silver were all tested as alternative electrodes for hydrogen production using electrolysis because of their properties. The part two specialty alloy tests found that nonpaired electrodes had times below 350 seconds for most 6-volt tests, comparable to most 12-volt times for the normal metals. Nickel K500 was the most efficient alternative electrode tested in this project. It electrolysed OCCH in an average of 207 seconds at 6 volts and an average of 28 seconds at 36 volts. Nickel K500 deteriorated 1.6 milligrams per test at 36 volts, meaning it has a balance between a high production rate and a low deterioration rate. It was found that an increase in voltage generates lower times of electrolysis and higher production rates, along with an increase in deterioration at higher voltages. Testing discovered that perforations can increase hydrogen production by 16.89% at 6 volts and 20.67% at 36 volts.
CONCLUSION
In conclusion, this project found that data collected from observing normal metals is able to be used to find specialty metal electrode alloys that have high production rates, low deterioration rates, and are cheaper than the current electrode used in electrolysis. It was found that more active metals (less noble) have low times of electrolysis and less active metals (more noble) have low deterioration rates. Aluminum 2024, aluminum 7075, aluminum bronze, nickel K500, and nickel silver were all selected as specialty alloys due to the results of the normal metal tests in part one of this project. Nickel K500, being an aluminum-nickel alloy, was the best alternative electrode than platinum tested in this project. It has a high production rate, a low deterioration rate, and a low cost, along with a high efficiency at 24 volts. Nickel K500 produced 21.17% less hydrogen than platinum at 24 volts and 21.17% less hydrogen than platinum at 36 volts. The lower efficiency of this metal is balanced by the lower cost and higher availability of this alloy as compared to platinum, meaning it could be effectively used to replace the platinum electrodes used in electrolysis which would yield truly clean hydrogen fuel for global energy consumption. It was also found that perforations on an electrode can increase hydrogen production by 27.55% at 24 volts and 20.67% at 36 volts. This experiment had an average percent deviation of 0.67%. The analysis of the error in this project found that the error was statistically insignificant and was time-based, caused by small deficiencies in the controlling of the voltage using the PWM. The hypothesis made was found to be true and the method used worked well with little to no error from test to test.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to thank my parents (Jenipher and John Patton) for the financial backing during this project as well as my teacher, Katie Smylie, for the support I received from her.
REFERENCES
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ADAM PATTON
Adam Patton is a grade 10 student in Kamloops, BC, where he attends St. Ann’s Academy. He enjoys downhill skiing and playing golf. Renewable energy and the potential of hydrogen fuel has always interested Adam. His inspiration for this project came out of extensive research into hydrogen energy. Adam’s goal for this year was to find alternative electrodes for hydrogen production using electrolysis, creating clean hydrogen fuel. He wishes to pursue a career in a STEM-related field, hopefully relating to renewable energy. Although his project was successful in finding alternative electrodes for hydrogen production using electrolysis, Adam will continue his research regarding alternative renewable energies to further advocate the use of hydrogen fuel.