Hydrogen generation method and iron material for hydrogen generation

Abstract

To provide a hydrogen generation method and an iron material for hydrogen generation capable of generating hydrogen stably at low cost using simple equipment.SOLUTION: A hydrogen generation method comprises generating hydrogen by storing an iron material 10 which is produced by adding a nanocarbon material containing fullerene to molten iron, and an aqueous solution 20 having a pH of 2 or lower, in a tank 1.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a method for generating hydrogen that generates hydrogen inexpensively and easily, and an iron material for generating hydrogen. [Background technology]

[0002] Hydrogen, which does not produce carbon dioxide when used, is expected to be the next generation energy source. This hydrogen is mainly produced by reforming fossil fuels and by recovering and refining hydrogen generated as a by-product at chemical plants. Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0003] The method of producing hydrogen by decomposing and reforming fossil fuels such as coal and natural gas at high temperatures has the problem of generating carbon dioxide during production.

[0004] Hydrogen can also be produced using renewable energy, but renewable energy has the drawback of being expensive and unstable in supply.

[0005] Therefore, the present invention provides a method for generating hydrogen that allows hydrogen to be generated stably at low cost using simple equipment, and an iron material for hydrogen generation. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides a method for producing hydrogen by adding a powdered carbon material to molten iron to produce iron material, and then adding an aqueous solution with a pH of 2 or less to the iron material to produce hydrogen.

[0007] In the method for producing hydrogen of the present invention, the carbon material is a nanocarbon material.

[0008] In the method for producing hydrogen of the present invention, the nanocarbon material contains fullerene.

[0009] In addition, the method for generating hydrogen of the present invention is a method in which the nanocarbon material is added to the molten iron in a proportion of 0.3 to 0.8% by weight.

[0010] In the method for generating hydrogen of the present invention, the aqueous solution contains strongly acidic water and / or dilute sulfuric acid and has a pH of 0.5 to 1.5.

[0011] The present invention also provides an iron material for hydrogen generation that generates hydrogen by reacting with an aqueous solution of pH 2 or less, and that is generated by adding a nanocarbon material containing fullerene to molten iron.

[0012] The iron material for hydrogen generation of the present invention is obtained by adding the nanocarbon material to molten iron at a ratio of 0.3 to 0.8% by weight, and casting the mixture into a predetermined shape. [Effects of the Invention]

[0013] The method for generating hydrogen of the present invention has a configuration in which iron material is generated by adding powdered carbon material to molten iron, and then an aqueous solution with a pH of 2 or less is added to the generated iron material to generate hydrogen.This has the effect of making it possible to continuously generate high-purity hydrogen at low cost by using a simple method of reacting iron material with an aqueous solution at room temperature.

[0014] Furthermore, in the method for producing hydrogen of the present invention, since the carbon material is a nanocarbon material, the reaction between the iron material and the aqueous solution can be promoted, thereby increasing the amount of hydrogen produced.

[0015] Furthermore, in the hydrogen production method of the present invention, since the nanocarbon material contains fullerene, it is possible to reduce foreign matter such as sulfur, and it is possible to stably produce high-purity hydrogen that can be used in fuel cells.

[0016] Furthermore, the method for producing hydrogen of the present invention has the effect of producing highly pure hydrogen at low cost by adding the nanocarbon material to the molten iron in a proportion of 0.3 to 0.8% by weight.

[0017] Furthermore, in the hydrogen generation method of the present invention, the aqueous solution contains strongly acidic water and / or dilute sulfuric acid and has a pH of 0.5 to 1.5, which has the effect of speeding up the reaction between the iron material and the aqueous solution and increasing the amount of hydrogen generated, and also of adjusting the amount of hydrogen generated by adjusting the pH value.

[0018] Furthermore, the iron material for hydrogen generation of the present invention generates hydrogen by reacting with an aqueous solution of pH 2 or less, and is produced by adding a nanocarbon material containing fullerene to molten iron. This allows for the simple means of reacting with the aqueous solution at room temperature to reduce foreign matter such as sulfur, and has the effect of enabling the stable generation of high-purity hydrogen that can be used in fuel cells.

[0019] In addition, the iron material for hydrogen generation of the present invention is made by adding the nanocarbon material to molten iron at a ratio of 0.3 to 0.8% by weight and casting it into a predetermined shape, which has the effect of enabling the generation of highly pure hydrogen at low cost. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0020] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing an example of equipment used in the hydrogen production method of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0021] The method for producing hydrogen of the present invention comprises adding a powdered carbon material to molten iron to produce iron material, and then adding an aqueous solution with a pH of 2 or less to the iron material to produce hydrogen.

[0022] The iron material for hydrogen generation of the present invention has a configuration produced by adding a nanocarbon material containing fullerene to molten iron.

[0023] Carbon dioxide (CO2) is considered to be a cause of global warming, but methanation technology, which synthesizes methane (CH4) from carbon dioxide and hydrogen (H2), can utilize carbon dioxide as an energy resource and is expected to contribute to carbon neutrality. In order to utilize methanation technology, a technology for stably and inexpensively producing hydrogen gas is required. The inventors of this application have developed a technology for stably and inexpensively producing hydrogen gas by utilizing nanocarbon technology.

[0024] Furthermore, the method for generating hydrogen of the present invention can stably supply highly pure hydrogen with little impurities such as sulfur, and therefore can be combined with a fuel cell to stably supply electricity. [Example]

[0025] 1 is a block diagram showing an example of equipment used in the method for producing hydrogen of the present invention. An embodiment of the present invention will be described based on the illustrated examples.

[0026] In Figure 1, 1 denotes a tank that contains iron material 10 for hydrogen generation and aqueous solution 20 with a pH of 2 or less, and generates hydrogen (H2) by reacting iron material 10 with aqueous solution 20. 2 denotes a fuel cell that generates electricity by reacting the hydrogen (H2) generated in tank 1 with oxygen (O2) in the air. Because the hydrogen generated by the hydrogen generation method of the present invention has a high hydrogen concentration of 99.999%, a general fuel cell can be used for fuel cell 2. 3 denotes a DC / AC inverter that can supply AC power to homes and factories.

[0027] In this embodiment, the iron material 10 for hydrogen generation is made by adding 0.3 to 0.8% by weight of a nanocarbon material containing fullerene to molten iron and casting it into a spherical shape. Fullerene is a C atom with a truncated icosahedron (soccer ball-shaped) structure consisting of 60 carbon atoms. 60 In addition to fullerenes, there are also rugby ball-shaped C molecules consisting of 70 carbon atoms and 25 hexagons and 12 pentagons. 70 It is preferred to use fullerenes.

[0028] In this embodiment, the iron material 10 is preferably spheroidal graphite cast iron that has been subjected to a graphite spheroidizing treatment, and more preferably spheroidal graphite cast iron equivalent to FCD450 specified in Japanese Industrial Standard JIS G 5502. In the embodiment shown in Fig. 1, the iron material 10 is formed by adding 0.5 wt% of the fullerene-containing nanocarbon material to molten iron for spheroidal graphite cast iron and casting it into a sphere with a diameter of 4 cm. Forming the iron material 10 into a sphere makes it easier to put it into the tank 1, but it may also be formed into other shapes, such as a disk.

[0029] In this example, the aqueous solution 20 is prepared by adding strong acidic water to dilute sulfuric acid (H2SO4) to adjust the pH to 0.5 to 1.5. The hydrogen generation method of the present invention can adjust the amount of hydrogen generated by adjusting the pH value and temperature of the aqueous solution 20. The aqueous solution 20 can increase the amount of hydrogen generated by using dilute sulfuric acid. Furthermore, by adding strong acidic water to the aqueous solution 20, the waste liquid contains iron chloride, which makes it possible to reuse the waste liquid as a flocculant.

[0030] The method for generating hydrogen of the present invention involves adding iron material 10 to aqueous solution 20 in tank 1 and causing the iron material 10 to react with aqueous solution 20 to generate hydrogen. The method for generating hydrogen of the present invention does not require energy such as heat or electricity, and can generate hydrogen simply by the reaction between iron material 10 and aqueous solution 20. Because iron material 10 contains a nanocarbon material containing fullerene, the reaction with aqueous solution 20 is promoted and the generation of foreign matter such as sulfur is reduced.

[0031] The aqueous solution 20 in the tank 1 is replaced periodically (for example, once a day). On the other hand, the iron material 10 in the tank 1 can be used continuously for a long period of time (for example, six months) by replenishing the iron material 10 that has dissolved in the aqueous solution 20 and is lost.

[0032] In the hydrogen generation method of the present invention, when 28 kg of iron material 10 and 40 L of aqueous solution are placed in a tank 1 and reacted, hydrogen gas can be generated at a maximum rate of 5 m per hour. 3The amount of hydrogen gas generated can be freely adjusted depending on the size of the tank 1.

[0033] The hydrogen production method of the present invention is not limited to using the produced hydrogen gas in fuel cells as in the examples, but can also be used to synthesize methane from the produced hydrogen gas and carbon dioxide using methanation technology. The hydrogen production method and methanation technology of the present invention make it possible to supply carbon-neutral synthetic methane inexpensively and stably. [Explanation of symbols]

[0034] 1 tank 2 fuel cell 3 DC / AC inverter 10 Iron 20 Aqueous solution

Claims

1. A method for generating hydrogen by adding powdered carbon material to molten iron to generate iron material, and then adding an aqueous solution with a pH of 2 or less to the iron material to generate hydrogen.

2. The method for producing hydrogen according to claim 1 , wherein the carbon material is a nanocarbon material.

3. The method for generating hydrogen according to claim 2 , wherein the nanocarbon material includes fullerene.

4. The method for generating hydrogen according to claim 3, wherein the nanocarbon material is added to the molten iron in a proportion of 0.3 to 0.8% by weight.

5. 5. The method for generating hydrogen according to claim 1, wherein the aqueous solution contains strongly acidic water or / and dilute sulfuric acid and has a pH of 0.5 to 1.

5.

6. An iron material for hydrogen generation that reacts with an aqueous solution having a pH of 2 or less to generate hydrogen, Iron material for hydrogen generation created by adding nanocarbon material containing fullerene to molten iron.

7. 7. The iron material for hydrogen generation according to claim 6, wherein the nanocarbon material is added to molten iron in a proportion of 0.3 to 0.8% by weight, and the mixture is cast into a predetermined shape.

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