Design And Production Of A Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell For The Production Of Brown’s Gas

ABSTRACT

The use of petroleum products (fossil fuels) has raised a lot of environmental concerns over

the past years. This is due to the fact that most of the machines and devices manufactured

are engineered to use these conventional fuels which include petrol, diesel and natural gas.

However, these fuels substances pollute and deteriorate the quality of the environment.

Some of these pollutants include sulphur oxides, nitrogen oxides, particulate matter, and

ozone.

These gases are called greenhouse gases because they contribute to the greenhouse effect.

These gases also cause depletion of the ozone layer. In the search for alternative fuels,

researchers have used improved technologies such as steam reforming, partial oxidation,

and electrolysis among many to produce hydrogen gas. Hydrogen gas is used in modern

times for varied applications in industries and is now been considered as a viable primary

fuel for the future.

Meanwhile, all these methods produce impure hydrogen except electrolysis of water.

Electrolysis of water produces hydrogen and oxygen as products gases. A collection of

these gases through a common outlet gives rise to a unique type of gas called Brown’s or

oxyhydrogen gas. Brown’s gas is a mixture of oxygen and hydrogen bonded magnetically

in a ratio of 1:2. In the automobile industry, Brown’s gas is used as a fuel supplement to

gasoline in internal combustion engines (ICEs), as well as welding and cutting of iron

plates in the fabrication sector.

In this project, a fabricated oxyhydrogen generator was used to produce Brown’s gas from

distilled water using three selected catalyst namely caustic soda (KOH), sodium hydroxide

(NaOH) and sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO3). Parameters that influence the yield of

oxyhydrogen gas were further studied. It was observed that increasing in the number of

v

electrodes, catalyst concentration, voltage and time increased the yield of oxyhydrogen gas

production.

With the rapid increase in consumption of fossil fuels and its high contribution to

environmental pollution, this project also sought to improve emissions of internal

combustion engines characteristics. This was performed by using oxyhydrogen gas

produced in the laboratory. The results showed a drastic reduction in the concentration of

CO, NOx, Total Hydrocarbon (THCs) and SO2 and a subsequent increase in engine

performance and efficiency.

The application of oxyhydrogen gas as a fuel supplement for Spark and Compression

Internal Engines was considered to be one of the most desirable methods to ensuring green

environment. Oxyhydrogen gas has many excellent combustion properties that can be used

to improve hydrocarbon combustion and emission performance of automobile engines.