A hydrogen generation module for a hydrogen-rich water dispenser

Abstract

This application relates to the field of hydrogen production technology, specifically disclosing a hydrogen production module for a hydrogen-rich water dispenser. The module includes a housing and a base plate connected to the housing. An inlet pipe and an outlet pipe are connected to the housing. A fan blade is rotatably mounted inside the housing, comprising a hub and multiple blades fixed to the periphery of the hub. The water-facing surface of the blades has a fish-scale-like structure. The fan blades serve as cathodes, connected to the negative terminal of an external power source. An anode is fixedly mounted on the side of the base plate facing the fan blades, connected to the positive terminal of the external power source. This application uses water flow to drive the fan blades to rotate, with the fan blades acting as cathodes, forming an electrolysis system with the anode fixed to the base plate. Hydrogen gas is released on the surface of the blades. The fish-scale-like structure synergistically induces turbulence, increases surface area, and reduces resistance. Turbulence promotes bubble detachment and dissolution, increasing surface area enhances hydrogen production activity, and the drag-reducing design prevents electrode cavitation.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This application relates to the field of hydrogen production technology, and in particular to a hydrogen production module for a hydrogen-rich water dispenser. Background Technology

[0002] Hydrogen-rich water refers to water containing a suitable amount of dissolved hydrogen molecules.

[0003] Currently, the main technologies for preparing hydrogen-rich water include two types: electrolysis and chemical reaction. Electrolysis-based hydrogen-rich water machines produce hydrogen and oxygen by electrolyzing water molecules on the electrode surface, causing the hydrogen to dissolve in the water. Chemical reaction-based hydrogen-rich water machines utilize reactive metal materials such as magnesium filled in the tank; when water flows through, a displacement reaction occurs, producing hydrogen and thus hydrogen-rich water.

[0004] Both of the aforementioned technologies have certain limitations in application. For chemical reaction-based electrolysis, metals such as magnesium are gradually consumed during the reaction, requiring regular filter replacement. The hydrogen production concentration decreases as materials are consumed, resulting in high long-term operating costs. For electrolysis-based electrolyzers, those using ion-exchange membrane structures have high requirements for electrode materials and membrane modules, leading to relatively expensive equipment. Furthermore, they are sensitive to the quality of the influent water and typically require the use of purified water. While conventional membrane-free electrolysis technology has lower costs, it faces the following technical bottlenecks in miniaturized applications: First, existing small-scale electrolysis modules often fail to adequately consider the uniformity of water flow distribution. Within the limited space of a water dispenser, water flow through the electrolysis cell is prone to deviation or uneven velocity, resulting in some water flowing out without sufficient electrolysis, thus limiting overall hydrogen production efficiency. Second, if bubbles generated on the electrode surface during electrolysis cannot detach in time, they will occupy active reaction sites, creating a shielding effect and hindering continuous contact between the water and the electrodes, thereby inhibiting the continued progress of the electrolysis reaction. Furthermore, conventional designs lack effective structures to promote gas-liquid mixing. The hydrogen bubbles generated during electrolysis are relatively large and difficult to fully dissolve in the water within the limited contact time, affecting the hydrogen concentration in the output water.

[0005] To address the aforementioned issues, it is necessary to develop a hydrogen production module that is spatially adaptable, has high electrolysis efficiency, can promote bubble refinement and dissolution, and is suitable for integrated installation in everyday water dispensers. Summary of the Invention

[0006] In order to improve the problems of low electrolysis efficiency and hydrogen dissolution efficiency in existing technologies, this application provides a hydrogen generation module for hydrogen-rich water dispensers.

[0007] The hydrogen generation module for a hydrogen-rich water dispenser provided in this application adopts the following technical solution: A hydrogen generation module for a hydrogen-rich water dispenser includes a housing and a base plate connected to the housing; The shell is connected to an inlet pipe and an outlet pipe; A fan blade is rotatably mounted inside the housing. The fan blade includes a hub and multiple blades fixed to the periphery of the hub. The fan blade is driven to rotate by the water flow in the housing. The water-facing surface of the blade is provided with a fish scale-like structure. The fan blade serves as a cathode and is connected to the negative terminal of an external power source. An anode is fixedly installed on the side of the base plate facing the fan blade, and the anode is connected to the positive terminal of an external power source.

[0008] This application uses the fan blade itself as the cathode, forming an electrolysis system with the anode fixed to the base plate, where hydrogen is generated on the blade surface. When the water flow drives the fan blade to rotate, the fish-scale-like structure on the blade surface plays multiple roles: Firstly, the fish-scale-like structure induces turbulence around the blade, which washes over the blade surface, promoting the detachment of hydrogen bubbles and preventing bubbles from occupying reaction sites, thus ensuring continuous contact between the electrode surface and water. At the same time, the turbulence helps to break large bubbles into small, uniform microbubbles, significantly increasing the gas-liquid contact area and facilitating efficient hydrogen dissolution. Secondly, the fish-scale-like structure forms a microscale three-dimensional morphology on the blade surface, increasing the contact area between the cathode and water, thereby increasing the hydrogen production rate per unit blade area. In addition, the drag-reducing effect of the fish-scale-like structure reduces the resistance of bubbles sliding across the blade surface, helping to prevent cavitation damage to the electrode material surface caused by bubble rupture.

[0009] Furthermore, the fish-scale-like structure includes multiple scale units, which are distributed in a hexagonal, tightly arrayed pattern on the blade surface, and the scale units are integrally formed with the blade.

[0010] The hexagonal close array structure has high geometric filling efficiency, enabling maximum coverage of the blade surface and ensuring a continuous and uniform turbulent field when water flows through it. As water flows through, stable micro-vortices are generated in the groove regions between the scale units. These micro-vortices form a "rolling" fluid layer near the wall, converting the sliding friction between the solid and liquid into rolling friction within the vortex. This significantly reduces the viscous shear stress on the blade surface caused by the water flow, resulting in drag reduction.

[0011] Furthermore, the scale unit is set at an angle of 10°-30°, with its higher side being arc-shaped.

[0012] Furthermore, the tilt direction of the scale unit is consistent with the tilt direction of the water-facing surface of the blade, both facing the water flow.

[0013] An inclination angle of 10°-30° can generate a good turbulence effect when the blades rotate, allowing the water flow to impact the surface of the scale unit at a suitable angle, thereby maximizing the generation of turbulence with low energy consumption; if the inclination angle is too small, the turbulence effect will be insufficient and it will be difficult to form effective turbulence; if the inclination angle is too large, it may increase the water flow resistance and affect the blade rotation efficiency.

[0014] Furthermore, the surface of the scale unit is provided with multiple parallel micron-sized arc-shaped stripes.

[0015] Furthermore, the surface of the scale unit is provided with multiple micron-level groove structures, which extend radially along the scale unit.

[0016] Parallel-arranged arc-shaped stripes can induce the formation of stable and ordered secondary micro-vortices, thereby reducing drag. At the same time, the arc-shaped stripes generate continuous and uniform micro-disturbances when water flows through them, making the turbulence intensity distribution on the cathode surface more uniform. On the one hand, this enhances the scouring effect on hydrogen bubbles, allowing them to detach from the cathode surface more quickly after generation. On the other hand, the arc-shaped stripes exert multi-directional shearing action on the bubbles, effectively breaking large bubbles into micro-bubbles.

[0017] The radially extending groove structure provides directional confinement for the fluid near the wall. The radial grooves are matched with the rotation direction of the fan blades, providing a guiding path for the hydrogen bubbles to move outward in a radial direction and accelerating the bubble detachment.

[0018] The arc-shaped stripes and groove structure create a composite multi-scale morphology on the blade surface, achieving complementary functions: the arc-shaped stripes reduce drag and create micro-turbulence through micro-vortices, while the groove structure achieves flow control and bubble guidance through directional flow guidance; the two work together to optimize fluid dynamics performance and electrochemical reaction efficiency.

[0019] Furthermore, the anode includes a plurality of coaxially arranged concentric annular electrodes.

[0020] Furthermore, the anode is a spiral electrode, and the spiral direction is the same as the water flow direction.

[0021] The spiral or annular anode structure forms a good spatial match with the rotating fan-blade cathode. When water flows through the anode, the water flow forms a regular cyclical flow path due to the guidance of the spiral channel or the annular channel between the concentric annular electrodes. This, combined with the rotation direction of the fan blade, prolongs the residence time of the water in the electrolysis zone, making the electrolysis reaction more complete. At the same time, the combination of the spiral or annular anode structure and the rotating fan blade (cathode) can make the electric field distribution more uniform, avoiding excessively high or low local current density.

[0022] Furthermore, the axes of the inlet and outlet pipes do not intersect with the axis of the fan blades.

[0023] This staggered layout design allows water to enter the shell chamber tangentially or eccentrically, thereby generating a rotational torque to drive the fan blades to rotate continuously. Compared with the central water inlet method, the staggered layout can more efficiently convert the water flow energy into the mechanical rotational energy of the fan blades, ensuring that the water has sufficient residence time in the chamber to fully contact the electrodes, thus improving the overall electrolysis efficiency.

[0024] This application also provides a hydrogen-rich water dispenser, including the hydrogen generation module for the aforementioned hydrogen-rich water dispenser.

[0025] In summary, this application includes at least one of the following beneficial technical effects: 1. In this application, the fan blade itself is set as the cathode, forming an electrolysis system with the anode fixed to the base plate. Hydrogen gas is generated on the surface of the blade. When the water flow drives the fan blade to rotate, the fish scale-like structure induces turbulence around the blade. This turbulent field has a continuous scouring effect on the cathode surface, forcing the hydrogen gas bubbles generated by electrolysis to detach from the blade surface in the early stage of generation, avoiding the bubbles from occupying the reaction sites, thereby ensuring that the electrode surface is in continuous contact with water to maintain electrolysis efficiency. On the other hand, turbulence helps to break large bubbles into small and uniform microbubbles, significantly increasing the gas-liquid contact area, which is beneficial to the efficient dissolution of hydrogen gas. 2. The fish-scale-like structure forms a three-dimensional morphology at the microscale on the blade surface, increasing the actual contact area between the cathode and water. Compared with a smooth blade surface, the fish-scale-like structure provides more active sites for the hydrogen evolution reaction at the cathode, thereby increasing the hydrogen production rate per unit blade area. 3. The fish-scale-like structure can effectively reduce the flow resistance of water flowing along the blade surface, making the blade rotate more smoothly under the drive of water flow; more importantly, the drag reduction effect of the fish-scale-like structure reduces the resistance of air bubbles sliding across the blade surface, which helps to prevent air bubbles from bursting on the electrode surface and causing cavitation damage to the electrode surface, thereby extending the service life of the electrode. 4. This application fully considers the actual use scenario of small internal space in daily water dispensers, and integrates the fan blades and electrodes into the housing cavity, resulting in a compact overall structure and small size; the module uses water flow to drive the fan blades to rotate, eliminating the need for additional power components, thus reducing overall manufacturing costs, energy consumption and failure rate; the modular design facilitates installation, disassembly and maintenance in the core area of ​​the water dispenser, and has strong practicality and adaptability. Attached Figure Description

[0026] Figure 1 This is an exploded structural diagram of a hydrogen generation module for a hydrogen-rich water dispenser according to an embodiment of this application; Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of the outer shell structure in an embodiment of this application; Figure 3This is a schematic diagram of the structure of the base plate and the anode (concentric ring) in the embodiments of this application; Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of the base plate and the anode (spiral shape) in the embodiments of this application; Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram of the fan blade structure in an embodiment of this application; Figure 6 This is a schematic diagram of the scale unit in an embodiment of this application.

[0027] Reference numerals: 1. Shell; 2. Base plate; 3. Inlet pipe; 4. Outlet pipe; 5. Hub; 6. Blade; 7. Fixed shaft; 8. Fish scale structure; 9. Isolation layer; 10. Anode. Detailed Implementation

[0028] The following is in conjunction with the appendix Figure 1-6 This application will be described in further detail.

[0029] This application discloses a hydrogen generation module for a hydrogen-rich water dispenser. (Refer to...) Figure 1 and Figure 2 The hydrogen generation module used in the hydrogen-rich water dispenser includes a housing 1 and a base plate 2 connected to the housing 1. The housing 1 is a hollow cylinder closed at one end, and the base plate 2 is circular. The two are connected by screws to form a chamber. An isolation layer 9 is provided in the housing 1 to ensure the airtightness between the housing 1 and the base plate 2.

[0030] Reference Figure 1 The housing 1 contains a rotating fan blade, which includes a hub 5 and multiple inclined blades 6 fixed to the periphery of the hub 5. A fixed shaft 7 is fixed to the center of the housing 1, and the hub 5 is rotatably sleeved onto the fixed shaft 7 via bearings. The fan blades, which serve as the cathode, are made of materials such as stainless steel or nickel alloy and are connected to the negative terminal of an external power source.

[0031] Reference Figure 1 and Figure 3 An anode 10 is fixedly installed on the side of the base plate 2 facing the fan blades, and the anode 10 is connected to the positive terminal of an external power source. The anode 10 and the fan blades, which serve as cathodes, form an electrolytic system. When energized, oxygen is released from the anode 10, and hydrogen is released from the surface of the blades 6. In this embodiment, as shown... Figure 3 As shown, the anode 10 includes a plurality of coaxially arranged concentric annular electrodes; in another feasible embodiment, such as Figure 4 As shown, the anode 10 is a spiral electrode, and the spiral direction is the same as the water flow direction. When water flows through the anode, due to the guidance of the annular channels between the concentric annular electrodes, or due to the guidance of the spiral channels, the water flow forms a regular cyclical flow path, which matches the rotation direction of the fan blades, prolonging the residence time of the water in the electrolysis zone and making the electrolysis reaction more complete.

[0032] Reference Figure 1 and Figure 2 The housing 1 is connected to an inlet pipe 3 and an outlet pipe 4. The axes of the inlet pipe 3 and the outlet pipe 4 do not intersect with the axis of the fan blades, and the axes of the inlet pipe 3 and the outlet pipe 4 are perpendicular to each other. The housing 1, the base plate 2, the inlet pipe 3 and the outlet pipe 4 are all made of insulating materials such as plastic.

[0033] Reference Figure 5 The water-facing surface of blade 6 is integrally formed with a fish-scale-like structure 8, which includes multiple scale units arranged in a closely spaced hexagonal array. The scale units are tilted at an angle of 10°-30°, with the higher side being arc-shaped. Furthermore, the tilt direction of the scale units is aligned with the water flow direction on the blade 6 surface; that is, the tilt direction of the scale units is consistent with the tilt direction of the water-facing surface of blade 6, both facing the water flow. This facilitates a good turbulence effect when the blade rotates.

[0034] Furthermore, refer to Figure 6 The surface of the scale unit is provided with micron-scale arc-shaped stripes and groove structures. These micron-scale arc-shaped stripes and groove structures, together with the scale unit array, form a multi-scale morphology that coordinates macro and micro dimensions. Multiple arc-shaped stripes are arranged in parallel, with gaps between adjacent arc-shaped stripes. The curvature of the arc-shaped stripes is the same as the curvature of the arc-shaped edge of the scale unit. The groove structure extends radially along the scale unit. As an example, the arc-shaped stripes are 50 μm high, and the groove structure is 50 μm deep and 100 μm wide.

[0035] The implementation principle of a hydrogen production module for a hydrogen-rich water dispenser according to an embodiment of this application is as follows: Water enters the housing 1 through the inlet pipe 3, driving the fan blades to rotate continuously. The water flow is evenly distributed throughout the cavity of the housing 1 under the stirring action of the fan blades. The water comes into contact with the electrode surface and undergoes an electrolytic reaction. Oxygen is released at the anode 10, and hydrogen is released on the surface of the blades 6. When the fan blades rotate, the fish-scale-like structure 8 on the surface of the blades 6 transforms the surrounding water flow into a highly turbulent state. The turbulence washes over the surface of the blades 6, which helps the bubbles on the surface of the blades 6 to detach quickly, thereby improving the electrolysis efficiency. At the same time, the turbulence can promote the refinement and dissolution of bubbles. The water containing dissolved hydrogen flows out from the outlet pipe 4, completing the preparation of hydrogen-rich water.

[0036] The above are all preferred embodiments of this application, and are not intended to limit the scope of protection of this application. Therefore, all equivalent changes made in accordance with the structure, shape and principle of this application should be covered within the scope of protection of this application.

Claims

1. A hydrogen generation module for a hydrogen-rich water dispenser, characterized in that: Includes a housing and a base plate connected to the housing; The shell is connected to an inlet pipe and an outlet pipe; A fan blade is rotatably mounted inside the housing. The fan blade includes a hub and multiple blades fixed to the periphery of the hub. The fan blade is driven to rotate by the water flow in the housing. The water-facing surface of the blade is provided with a fish scale-like structure. The fan blade serves as a cathode and is connected to the negative terminal of an external power source. An anode is fixedly installed on the side of the base plate facing the fan blade, and the anode is connected to the positive terminal of an external power source.

2. The hydrogen generation module for a hydrogen-rich water dispenser according to claim 1, characterized in that: The fish-scale-like structure includes multiple scale units, which are arranged in a hexagonal, tightly arrayed pattern on the blade surface. The scale units are integrally formed with the blade.

3. The hydrogen generation module for a hydrogen-rich water dispenser according to claim 2, characterized in that: The scale units are arranged at an angle of 10°-30°, with the higher side being arc-shaped.

4. The hydrogen generation module for a hydrogen-rich water dispenser according to claim 3, characterized in that: The tilt direction of the scale unit is consistent with the tilt direction of the water-facing surface of the blade, both facing the water flow.

5. The hydrogen generation module for a hydrogen-rich water dispenser according to claim 4, characterized in that: The surface of the scale unit is provided with multiple parallel micron-sized arc-shaped stripes.

6. The hydrogen generation module for a hydrogen-rich water dispenser according to claim 5, characterized in that: The surface of the scale unit is provided with multiple micron-level groove structures, which extend radially along the scale unit.

7. The hydrogen generation module for a hydrogen-rich water dispenser according to claim 1, characterized in that: The anode comprises a plurality of coaxially arranged concentric annular electrodes.

8. The hydrogen generation module for a hydrogen-rich water dispenser according to claim 1, characterized in that: The anode is a spiral electrode, and the spiral direction is the same as the water flow direction.

9. A hydrogen generation module for a hydrogen-rich water dispenser according to claim 1, characterized in that: The axes of the inlet and outlet pipes do not intersect with the axis of the fan blades.

10. A hydrogen-rich water dispenser, characterized in that: Includes a hydrogen generation module for a hydrogen-rich water dispenser as described in any one of claims 1-9.

Images