Experimental Studies of the Effect of Electrolyte Strength, Voltage and Time on the Production of Brown’s (HHO) Gas Using Oxyhydrogen Generator

Abstract

A great challenge in water electrolysis is how to optimize the major factors that influence the production of hydrogen gas. Over the past years, different methods have been used to produce hydrogen gas from carbon-base fossil fuels but these methods have been proven to be environmentally unfriendly due to the enormous release of greenhouse gases associated with their use. In this work, an experimental study was carried out to evaluate the effect of electrolyte strength, voltage and time on the volume of HHO gas produced using a design built HHO gas generator. The generator was constructed from Stainless Steel 316 L plates made of 3 anodes, 3 cathodes, and 20 neutral plates. During the study, the strengths of KOH, NaOH, and NaHCO 3 was prepared within the range of 0.010 M - 0.030 M. The prepared strengths for each catalyst were then varied across voltage range of 9 V to 13 V for 50 seconds. The experimental results obtained showed that, increasing electrolyte strength, voltage and time proportionally increased the yield of HHO gas. An optimal yield rate of 2.27 cm 3 /s of HHO gas was obtained when the generator was run at 13 V using 0.025 M KOH. In addition, other factors studied including electrode surface morphology, plate’s configuration, and temperature also showed improvement in yield of HHO gas by 41.85%, 69.74%, and 71.96% respectively.