Hydrogen production system by magnetic treatment of saline water

Abstract

To solve the problems associated with hydrogen energy systems among energy systems recently devised for realizing a green society, different from conventional ones, that CO2 is discharged when producing hydrogen by reforming fossil fuel; the amount of hydrogen is limited when producing hydrogen from byproduct hydrogen; a hydrogen production cost is high when producing hydrogen by water electrolysis using electricity; and abundant seawater which is 97% of water covering 71% of the surface of the earth, is not effectively used for producing hydrogen.SOLUTION: The amount of hydrogen produced by electrolyzing saline water, can be effectively increased at a low cost, using a hydrogen production system comprising a saline water supply unit, a magnetic processing unit and an electrolysis unit, to subject saline water such as seawater, i.e., a natural resource, to magnetic processing and to subsequently electrolyze the saline water.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a method for producing hydrogen by magnetic treatment of brine and electrolysis.

Background Art

[0002] These days, we are in an era where decarbonization is being called for, and different energy systems from the conventional ones have been devised. Hydrogen energy is one of them, and hydrogen stations and the like are becoming more widespread in society.

[0003] As a method for producing hydrogen, there is fossil fuel reforming. This method has already been widely put into practical use, especially introduced in oil refineries and the like. However, there is a problem that CO2 is emitted in the production process. Also, as another method for producing hydrogen, there is by-product hydrogen, but there is a problem that the amount of by-product hydrogen is limited.

[0004] Furthermore, as another method for producing hydrogen, there is hydrogen production by water electrolysis. However, since electricity is used for hydrogen production, there is a problem that the production cost of hydrogen becomes high.

[0005] Also, a solution has begun to be provided to increase the amount of hydrogen produced by applying a magnetic field by a superconducting magnet to the area of electrolysis of an aqueous solution. However, when using a superconducting magnet, there is a problem that the equipment cost becomes high.

[0006] And on the earth, about 71% of it is water, and about 97% of that water is seawater. There is also a problem that this abundant seawater has not been effectively utilized for hydrogen production.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0007]

Patent Document 1

Patent Document 2

[0008] In the above Patent Document 1, the electrolysis of brine is described, which includes a paramagnetic material in the cathode and a diamagnetic material in the anode. However, there is a problem that an AC power supply is required, and furthermore, the magnetic treatment of brine before electrolysis is not mentioned.

[0009] The present invention provides a method for improving the efficiency of hydrogen production by electrolyzing brine such as seawater. [Means for Solving the Problems]

[0010] The present invention has a brine supply unit, a magnetic treatment unit, and an electrolysis unit. Brine is supplied from the brine supply unit to the magnetic treatment unit, the brine is magnetically treated in the magnetic treatment unit, the magnetically treated brine is supplied to the electrolysis unit, and in the electrolysis unit, hydrogen can be produced more effectively than brine that has not been magnetically treated. [Advantages of the Invention]

[0011] An object of the present invention is to provide a method for improving the hydrogen production efficiency in electrolysis by magnetically treating brine such as seawater before electrolysis.

[0012] For the above object, the present invention has a brine supply unit, a magnetic treatment unit, and an electrolysis unit. The brine is supplied from the brine supply unit to the magnetic treatment unit, the brine is magnetically treated in the magnetic treatment unit, the magnetically treated brine is supplied to the electrolysis unit, and in the electrolysis unit, hydrogen can be produced more effectively than the brine that has not been magnetically treated.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0013]

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Modes for Carrying Out the Invention

[0014] Hereinafter, embodiments will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0015] In the description of the drawings, the same reference numerals are used for the same elements, and redundant descriptions are omitted. Also, the drawings are for the purpose of understanding, and the actual dimensional ratios do not necessarily match the actual ones.

[0016] Figure 1 is a configuration diagram in one embodiment of the present invention. Brine is supplied from the brine supply unit to the magnetic treatment unit, the brine is magnetically treated in the magnetic treatment unit, the magnetically treated brine is supplied to the electrolysis unit, and the magnetically treated brine is electrolyzed in the electrolysis unit to produce hydrogen.

[0017] First, the magnetic treatment of brine will be described. In this evaluation, as a comparative sample, 100 cc of water at 20°C without magnetic treatment is used as a solvent, and 20 g of sodium chloride is used as a solute to produce brine, that is, an aqueous sodium chloride solution.

[0018] On the other hand, regarding the brine, that is, the aqueous sodium chloride solution produced by using 100 cc of water at 20°C without magnetic treatment as a solvent and 20 g of sodium chloride as a solute, which was described as a comparative sample just now, the means of performing magnetic treatment will be described with examples.

[0019] Figure 8 shows the neodymium magnet used for magnetic treatment of brine in this case. The physical dimensions are 50 mm and 10 mm respectively from the long side, and the thickness is 3 mm, and it is made of N40 material.

[0020] Since the brine will pass through the surface of this neodymium magnet, in order to prevent contamination of the neodymium magnet surface, it is also possible to prevent direct surface contamination of the neodymium magnet by covering the surface of the neodymium magnet with a thin film that allows magnetic flux to pass through easily.

[0021] As shown in Figure 9, four of these neodymium magnets are arranged in the direction in which they are attracted by magnetic force in the direction of the surface composed of the 10 - mm side and the 3 - mm side, and the four neodymium magnets are adsorbed by magnetic force.

[0022] Furthermore, prepare a plastic spacer for preventing adsorption between magnets as shown in Fig. 10. The physical dimensions of this plastic spacer are 40 mm and 5 mm respectively from the long side, and the thickness is 1 mm.

[0023] Next, place two plastic spacers of Fig. 10 on the surfaces of the four adsorbed neodymium magnets of Fig. 9. At this time, the long sides of the two plastic spacers and the long sides of each of the four neodymium magnets are oriented at right angles. Furthermore, the two plastic spacers are placed at both ends of the four neodymium magnets and mounted in a crossbeam-like state, which is shown in Fig. 11.

[0024] Furthermore, prepare four adsorbed neodymium magnets in the same state as Fig. 9.

[0025] Place the four newly prepared neodymium magnets adsorbed on the surfaces of the two plastic spacers of Fig. 11 in the Z-axis direction where the adsorption is strongest with the four adsorbed neodymium magnets at the bottom. Also, mount the long sides of the four neodymium magnets at the bottom and the long sides of the four neodymium magnets at the top in parallel. At this time, the two plastic spacers are located at both ends of the four neodymium magnets at the bottom and the four neodymium magnets at the top. Fig. 12 shows a mounting example of eight neodymium magnets used for magnetic treatment of salt water in this state.

[0026] Furthermore, Fig. 13 shows a state diagram with 16 neodymium magnets mounted in the same method as described so far. In the state with these 16 neodymium magnets mounted, 6 plastic spacers are used, and there are 3 pairs of opposing plastic spacers at the same height position in the Z direction. There are a total of 3 spaces 12 between the 3 pairs of plastic spacers and neodymium magnets.

[0027] Here, an example of performing magnetization treatment of salt water will be further explained.

[0028] The three spaces 12 between these plastic spacers are considered to have an equal flow rate of saline solution. Considering this, 100 cc of water at 20°C that has not been magnetically treated, which was described earlier as a comparison sample, is used as the solvent, and 20 g of sodium chloride is used as the solute to produce saline solution, that is, an aqueous sodium chloride solution, which is passed through over 60 seconds, and the saline solution is collected.

[0029] The collected saline solution is again passed through the three spaces 12 between the plastic spacers in the same manner, considering an equal flow rate of saline solution, and passed through over 60 seconds and collected again.

[0030] By repeating this same method a total of 10 times, magnetic treatment of the saline solution is carried out, and magnetically treated saline solution can be obtained.

[0031] Also, by strengthening the magnetic force of this neodymium magnet, or by methods such as increasing the amount of neodymium magnets, it is also possible to relax the conditions for the passage of the saline solution.

[0032] For example, by arranging 10 of the 16 neodymium magnets described in FIG. 13 in series, it is also possible to relax the number of times the saline solution passes to 1 / 10.

[0033] As described with reference to FIG. 1 here, it is possible to supply the magnetically treated saline solution generated in the magnetic treatment section to the electrolysis section in FIG. 1 and carry out electrolysis in the electrolysis section.

[0034] There are two types of saline solution described above. First, electrolysis is carried out using the saline solution that has not been magnetically treated and, second, the magnetically treated saline solution, and the amount of hydrogen produced is compared.

[0035] In the electrolysis, a platinum electrode was used as the electrode, and a voltage of 6 V was applied.

[0036] As a result, it has been experimentally confirmed that the amount of hydrogen produced by electrolysis using magnetically treated saline water is 7.5% to 10% more than the amount of hydrogen produced by electrolysis using non-magnetically treated saline water in an environment of 20°C.

[0037] In addition, in another experimental method, a plurality of neodymium magnets were installed in the electrolysis section, and electrolysis was carried out using non-magnetically treated saline water. When the neodymium magnets were installed in the electrolysis section, no obvious superiority was found in the amount of hydrogen produced by electrolysis compared to when the neodymium magnets were not installed in the electrolysis section.

[0038] However, in this experiment, although the experimental evaluation was carried out with the neodymium magnets installed, the possibility remains that the amount of hydrogen produced can be increased by applying a larger magnetic field.

[0039] On the other hand, although solutions such as providing a very expensive superconducting magnet in the electrolysis section to increase the amount of hydrogen produced are also seen at the paper level, introducing a superconducting magnet has major problems such as requiring a large amount of electricity consumption for magnetic force generation and a huge cost.

[0040] Therefore, the hydrogen production system that uses commercially available level magnets to magnetically treat saline water at low cost, as described in the present invention so far, can increase the amount of hydrogen produced and also has great cost advantages.

[0041] Next, FIG. 2 will be described. FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of one embodiment having a connecting portion of the present invention.

[0042] There is a connecting portion between the saline water supply section and the magnetic treatment section. The connecting portion can be composed of a rubber tube or the like, and further, an adjustment mechanism such as an adjustment valve can be provided in the connecting portion.

[0043] This connection part enables the smooth supply of brine from the brine supply part to the magnetic treatment part. Furthermore, it is possible to adjust the supply amount of the magnetic treatment liquid from the brine supply part to the magnetic treatment part by using an adjustment valve or the like provided in the connection part.

[0044] In this case, this connection part is installed between the brine supply part and the magnetic treatment part. However, it can be applied to the connection part where brine is supplied in other cases of the present invention.

[0045] Also, FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram of one embodiment having a storage part of the present invention.

[0046] It is possible to temporarily store the brine from the brine supply part in the storage part and then supply it to the magnetic treatment part.

[0047] In this case, this storage part is installed between the brine supply part and the magnetic treatment part. However, it can be applied to the connection part where brine is supplied in other cases of the present invention.

[0048] Next, FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram of one embodiment having a filter part of the present invention.

[0049] The present invention assumes the use of seawater as brine. Therefore, in this case, a filter part for removing substances unnecessary for electrolysis contained in seawater or the like is provided in the brine supply part and the magnetic treatment part.

[0050] This filter part enables the removal of substances unnecessary for electrolysis contained in brine such as seawater when supplying the brine from the brine supply part to the magnetic treatment part.

[0051] It is desirable to provide this filter part upstream of the magnetic treatment part. The reason is that if substances that inhibit magnetic treatment are contained in seawater or the like, there is a risk of impairing the effect of magnetic treatment by the magnetic treatment part.

[0052] Next, FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram of one embodiment having a pure water production apparatus of the present invention.

[0053] In an electrolysis section, in a system designed to use pure water, since pure water is required for electrolysis, a pure water production apparatus is necessary.

[0054] By providing the pure water production apparatus between the brine supply section and the magnetic treatment section, the brine supplied from the brine supply section can be converted into pure water by the pure water production apparatus, and the pure water can be supplied from the pure water production apparatus to the magnetic treatment section.

[0055] Furthermore, FIG. 6 is a configuration diagram of one embodiment having a warming section of the present invention.

[0056] From the magnetic treatment section, the magnetically treated brine is supplied to the warming section, in the warming section, the magnetically treated brine is heated, and the heated magnetically treated brine is supplied from the warming section to the electrolysis section to perform electrolysis and produce hydrogen.

[0057] Here, as an example of the warming section, heating by a heater or the like is also possible. Also, when using seawater as the brine, a configuration of the warming section by natural sunlight during the day is also possible. When heating by sunlight, electricity charges for heaters or the like are not required, and an inexpensive system can be constructed.

[0058] The production situation of hydrogen due to the difference in temperature in the magnetically treated brine was confirmed. Here, an example will be described in which the production amount of hydrogen by electrolysis was experimentally evaluated when the magnetically treated brine was at 30°C and when the magnetically treated brine was at 40°C.

[0059] In electrolysis, a platinum electrode was used as the electrode, and a voltage of 6V was applied.

[0060] As a result, it was confirmed that when the magnetically treated brine was at 30°C, the amount of hydrogen produced by electrolysis was about 50% more than that produced by electrolysis using magnetically treated brine at room temperature of 20°C.

[0061] Also, it was confirmed that when the magnetically treated brine was at 40°C, the amount of hydrogen produced by electrolysis was about 80% more than that produced by electrolysis using magnetically treated brine at room temperature of 20°C.

[0062] From the above, by heating the magnetically treated brine, it becomes possible to increase the amount of hydrogen produced by electrolysis. In this case, a heating mechanism is employed to raise the temperature from 20°C to 30°C or 40°C. Depending on the situation, it is also possible to incorporate not only heating but also other temperature adjustment mechanisms such as different temperature changes.

[0063] Also, the warm water treatment section can be provided in the electrolysis section or in the magnetic treatment section.

[0064] Furthermore, regarding the heating temperature, although the experimental results at 30°C and 40°C are shown here, heating to other temperatures is also possible in terms of the mechanism.

[0065] Next, FIG. 7 is a configuration diagram of an embodiment having a solution stirring section of the present invention.

[0066] Magnetically treated brine is supplied from the magnetic treatment section to the solution stirring section. In this solution stirring section, as an example, stirring is performed by propeller-type automatic stirring to equalize the concentration and temperature of the solution. Then, the stirred magnetically treated brine is supplied from the solution stirring section to the electrolysis section, and the magnetically treated brine is electrolyzed in the electrolysis section to produce hydrogen.

[0067] It is also possible to incorporate a solution stirring section in the magnetic treatment section or the electrolysis section.

[0068] As described above, in the hydrogen production system by magnetic treatment of salt water of the present invention, by the mechanism of magnetic treatment of salt water such as seawater, it is possible to effectively increase the production amount of hydrogen by electrolysis of salt water such as seawater at low cost, and it is possible to produce abundant hydrogen using abundant seawater as a raw material. Also, there is an advantage that CO2 is not emitted even in the production process, and it is a technology that can contribute to the development of a green energy society and a hydrogen society for the future.

Industrial Applicability

[0069] In the hydrogen production system by magnetic treatment of salt water of the present invention, by the mechanism of magnetic treatment of salt water such as seawater, it is possible to effectively increase the production amount of hydrogen by electrolysis of salt water such as seawater at low cost, and it is possible to produce abundant hydrogen using abundant seawater as a raw material. Also, there is an advantage that CO2 is not emitted even in the production process, and it is a technology that can contribute to the development of a green energy society and a hydrogen society for the future.

Explanation of Reference Numerals

[0070] 1 ··· Salt water supply section 2 ··· Magnetic treatment section 3 ··· Electrolysis section 4 ··· Connection section 5 ··· Storage section 6 ··· Filter section 7 ··· Pure water production device 8 ··· Warm water treatment section 9 ··· Solution stirring section 10 ··· Neodymium magnet 11 ··· Plastic spacer 12 ··· Three spaces

Claims

1. A hydrogen production apparatus for generating hydrogen by electrolyzing brine, comprising: a brine supply unit for taking brine from the outside into the apparatus; a magnetic treatment unit for magnetically treating the brine; and an electrolysis unit connected to the magnetic treatment unit for electrolyzing the magnetically treated brine. The magnetic treatment unit includes an upper magnet and a lower magnet arranged to face each other in a first direction, and a first spacer disposed between the upper magnet and the lower magnet for providing a space through which the brine passes. The upper magnet has a plate-shaped first magnet extending in a second direction intersecting the first direction, which is directly adsorbed in a third direction intersecting the first and second directions and extends in the third direction to form a planar shape. The lower magnet has a plate-shaped second magnet extending in the second direction, which is directly adsorbed in the third direction and extends in the third direction to form a planar shape. By laminating the upper magnet, the lower magnet, and the first spacer in a crossbeam shape, the space for passing the brine is formed by a space surrounded by the lower surface of the upper magnet, the inner surface of the first spacer, and the upper surface of the lower magnet. The hydrogen production apparatus is characterized in that in the space, between the upper magnet and the lower magnet, the adsorbed force of the magnets is generated in the first direction to magnetically treat the brine passing through the space.

2. A hydrogen production method for generating hydrogen by passing brine through a space provided in a magnetic treatment unit for magnetic treatment and electrolyzing the magnetically treated brine, comprising: The magnetic treatment unit includes a plate-shaped upper magnet and a lower magnet arranged to face each other in a first direction, and a first spacer disposed between the upper magnet and the lower magnet for providing a space through which the brine passes. The upper magnet has a plate-shaped first magnet extending in a second direction intersecting the first direction, which is directly adsorbed in a third direction intersecting the first and second directions and extends in the third direction to form a planar shape. The lower magnet has a plate-shaped second magnet extending in the second direction, which is directly adsorbed in the third direction and extends in the third direction to form a planar shape. By laminating the upper magnet, the lower magnet, and the first spacer in a grid shape with respect to each other, the space for allowing salt water to pass through is formed by a space surrounded by the lower surface of the upper magnet, the inner surface of the first spacer, and the upper surface of the lower magnet. A hydrogen production method characterized in that in the space, between the upper magnet and the lower magnet, the salt water passing through the space is magnetically treated by generating an adsorption force by a magnet in the first direction.

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