每贴都侃得有板有眼的。

这是个能源论坛，最有可能造成能源危机的一定是这帮不懂电价平衡物料平衡的家伙。

rickoff
Senior Member
    
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Maine, USA
Posts: 1,832
Reply to Dingus

Hi Dingus,

The MIT article didn't mention the actual formulation they were using, and I didn't see it mentioned in any of several science articles that I looked at before entering my post. There are many cobalt phosphate formulations possible, and some would work better than others. From reading about the experiments, I noticed three factors that lead me to believe they were likely using disodium phosphate rather than potassium phosphate.

1. The compound used is highly water soluble, and that is a particularly strong point for disodium phosphate.

2. The catalyst works in hydrolysis at room temperature, and in water that is neither acidic nor alkaline. I would never have guessed that they might be using potassium phosphate, because potassium is highly alkaline, and produces potassium hydroxide (KOH) when introduced to water. Sodium is also reactive in water, but less reactive than potassium.

3. It was stated that the cobalt phosphate catalyst actually increases Oxygen production, rather than Hydrogen. Potassium can react violently with water to evolve Hydrogen, and is likely to ignite the Hydrogen unless used in very small proportions, as we do in HHO boosters. Another metal (platinum, I believe) was used as the Hydrogen catalyst in the MIT experiments. Platinum, as you know, is wicked expensive, and I doubt that any of us will be using it in our home-built HHO boosters. It's fine for use when you have well endowed research grants like MIT, but us regular folks can only dream about that kind of stuff - unless we are independently wealthy or win a lottery. Platinum sells for about $2,000 per troy ounce!

Now it is possible that they did use potassium in their catalyst compound, but the highly reactive and alkaline nature of potassium would seem to negate their claim of using a safe and environmentally friendly catalyst. As you probably know, potassium hydroxide can burn holes in your clothing and cause skin burns if any splatters on you. Then again, maybe the actual potassium concentration (if any) is a miniscule amount, and it seems it would have to be if MIT's claims are true. So the article you read may be correct if they have some reliable inside information. Are you thinking of doing any experimentation along the lines of the MIT approach, Dingus? If so, you might be able to salvage some platinum from old catalytic converters. I have heard that CC theft is on the increase, and with the price of platinum being what it is, I guess that makes sense.

Incidentally, the MIT idea of using solar cells to power hydrolyzers, and storing the Hydrogen for later use, is not by any means a new idea. You need metal hydride storage tanks to do that safely, though, and these too are relatively expensive.

Best regards to you Dingus,

Rick