This invention relates to hydrogen and, in particular, to an apparatus and method for generating and storing hydrogen.
Hydrogen is recognized as an ideal fuel in many respects. Thus, it is abundantly available in nature, clean burning, benign as a reaction product and has a high energy content. It is also capable of direct reaction in fuel cells. However, hydrogen has not found wide acceptance as a fuel primarily due to the difficulty of transporting and storing it in a compact cost effective manner.
Hydrogen is normally produced by the reforming of coal or hydrocarbon fuels, the dissociation of ammonia, as a biproduct of chemical processes and by the electrolysis of water. In water electrolysis, a D.C. current is passed through an electrolytic cell consisting of two gas evolution electrodes, and water is dissociated to simultaneously produce hydrogen and oxygen gas. The water electrolysis reaction is as follows: EQU H.sub.2 O.fwdarw.H2+1/202
Once generated, hydrogen is typically stored in the liquified state below -253 degrees C. or as a compressed gas at pressures up to 5000 psi. More recently, metal hydrides have been considered as a hydrogen storage media. However, all these storage methods are expensive, consume energy, and are hazardous under certain conditions.
It is, therefore, a primary object of the present invention to provide a compact, safe, low cost hydrogen storage and generation technique.