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Thread: How Do I Separate Hydrogen from Oxygen?

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  1. #1
    volomike Guest

    How Do I Separate Hydrogen from Oxygen?

    Now that many of us are producing ignitable HHO, I thought it might be worth our while to figure out how to separate the Hydrogen from the Oxygen, and then feed in just a dim amount of Oxygen back into the mix. This produces HHO again, but a far more powerful HHO. Comprende?

    Anyone got an idea on how to do this efficiently, cheaply, and as safe as possible? Sure, nothing is ever safe, but as safe as we can be here.

    For instance, and I'm going out on a limb here with probably the wrong assumption, but if you use a reverse osmosis filter membrane in the top of a box, and you shoot HHO into it at the bottom, I'm guessing here that perhaps the hydrogen will force its way through the filter into the top of the box, while the oxygen would be held back somewhat. And why? Well, hydrogen wants to shoot upwards, but oxygen is heavier. Sure, some oxygen might bleed through the membrane, but hydrogen will force its way through much harder. So, this might, and again I'm going out on a limb here, produce a richer HHO above the Dupont reverse osmosis membrane, often called an RO membrane. If this is true, then perhaps this is viable because these membranes are not that expensive.

    [EDIT: After doing some research, I found I'm not too far off my rocker here with RO membranes. RO membranes fall under the category of "polymeric membranes" and this European Union paper, published by researchers in the Netherlands, reflects on how effective they are. In the end, they said that polymeric membranes will work, but they suffer from swelling (and bursting) under extreme pressure, and that the hydrogen separation worked but was somewhat weak. The paper said that ceramic membranes were the best filters of hydrogen out of HHO gas.]

  2. #2
    Join Date
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    Back in the first half of the 20th century, they were using an asbestos membrane. Not sure you will be able to find one today though. Whatever you use would have to be transparent to electricity yet not allow the hydrogen to pass through.
    --
    Some days I get the sinking feeling that Orwell was an optimist!

  3. #3
    Smith03Jetta Guest
    I think that Oxygen/Hydrogen separation is so difficult that no one on this forum is willing to try it. I'm working on some ideas right now but I have not made any breakthroughs. I would like to build a hydrogen/oxygen separator cell that would double as a recombination fuel cell for creating electricity.

    Here's my idea.

    Build a system that would use solar power to separate water into Hydrogen and Oxygen (In different tanks). Put the separate gas cylinders in a motor vehicle. Recombine the Hydrogen/Oxygen in a fuel cell to produce electricity to power the vehicle.

    I've been thinking about converting an old motorcycle to electric. The main problem is the amount of time the battery array will run on a charge. Using lead acid batteries I can build a powerful motorcycle that will run for 25 minutes at highway speeds. Top Speed of around 100 mph. Using Lithium batteries I can power one for 50 minutes to an hour. I want to get around the battery "Glass Ceiling". One solution would be Hydrogen Fuel Cell.

  4. #4
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    I dont see a point in seperatng the gases when being used in engines.

    It not hard to do but efficeincy is not very good.

  5. #5
    volomike Guest
    Quote Originally Posted by Roland Jacques View Post
    I dont see a point in seperatng the gases when being used in engines.

    It not hard to do but efficeincy is not very good.
    Yeah, that's another factor. I mean, if hydrogen is held back because it has to bleed through a filter, then that's a huge explosion risk if not managed properly.

    Maybe this isn't even worth trying. I mean, after all, I'm getting good results so far.

  6. #6
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    Just think, No oxygen, No map, No maf, No efie. I'm just guessing.

  7. #7
    dennis13030 Guest
    Quote Originally Posted by volomike View Post
    Now that many of us are producing ignitable HHO, I thought it might be worth our while to figure out how to separate the Hydrogen from the Oxygen, and then feed in just a dim amount of Oxygen back into the mix. This produces HHO again, but a far more powerful HHO. Comprende?

    Anyone got an idea on how to do this efficiently, cheaply, and as safe as possible? Sure, nothing is ever safe, but as safe as we can be here.

    For instance, and I'm going out on a limb here with probably the wrong assumption, but if you use a reverse osmosis filter membrane in the top of a box, and you shoot HHO into it at the bottom, I'm guessing here that perhaps the hydrogen will force its way through the filter into the top of the box, while the oxygen would be held back somewhat. And why? Well, hydrogen wants to shoot upwards, but oxygen is heavier. Sure, some oxygen might bleed through the membrane, but hydrogen will force its way through much harder. So, this might, and again I'm going out on a limb here, produce a richer HHO above the Dupont reverse osmosis membrane, often called an RO membrane. If this is true, then perhaps this is viable because these membranes are not that expensive.

    [EDIT: After doing some research, I found I'm not too far off my rocker here with RO membranes. RO membranes fall under the category of "polymeric membranes" and this European Union paper, published by researchers in the Netherlands, reflects on how effective they are. In the end, they said that polymeric membranes will work, but they suffer from swelling (and bursting) under extreme pressure, and that the hydrogen separation worked but was somewhat weak. The paper said that ceramic membranes were the best filters of hydrogen out of HHO gas.]
    See the image below. Its cheap like HHO. This shows the basic idea. However, if you only use the Oxygen part, you need to safely dispose of the Hydrogen part.

  8. #8
    countryboy18 Guest
    Quote Originally Posted by dennis13030 View Post
    See the image below. Its cheap like HHO. This shows the basic idea. However, if you only use the Oxygen part, you need to safely dispose of the Hydrogen part.
    if you use this cell you have to have alot of electrolyte so that the current can pass from + to the -. i had one in chenistry class it took forever to have alot of H and O. it had a very weak solution.

  9. #9
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    Quote Originally Posted by volomike View Post
    I thought it might be worth our while to figure out how to separate the Hydrogen from the Oxygen
    Here's a hypothetical idea:

    We know that the hydrogen is attracted to the negative electrode and the oxygen to the positive. Therefore, after the traditional HHO generation process, perhaps we can use this in some way out of the electrolyte bath to guide the H2 and O2 to separate venting tubes? What would happen if a positive terminal were placed in one vent exit and a negative in another? Would the attraction work outside of electrolyte or does it need to occur within a conductive medium? Perhaps a modified bubbler could be used to achieve this?
    2006 Dodge Ram 4.7L - 16.5 mpg stock
    My thread Painless Experiment in HHO

  10. #10
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    Someone was talking on another forum, He said his company serviced/operated very large boilers. They dispersed o2 out of boiler systems to prevent rust. Sodium sulfate was added to the water to absorb o2. I don't know the particulars but might have merit. Someone with chemical background might know.

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