For you pro welders. Water based welding

[Redneck in training]

When I was young (way younger) I was helping installing large open cell lead acid batteries. (In example for telephone switches) The battery came disassembled (there was about 12 metric ton of lead in each battery, each plate was about 45 lb.) and had to be hand carried plate by plate to its location. When all plates were placed in the battery cells the lead bridges connecting the individual cells were welded by a hydrogen torch. I don't know exactly why but it had something to do with safety when new battery was installed in a place where another battery was already in operation and thus hydrogen gas could be present.

 

[k0ua]

For those of you that did not know what "being in the limelight" means, Limelight was a lighting method used on stages over 150 years ago by directing a oxy-hydrogen flame at a piece of Calcium Oxide (made from limestone) to make it glow brightly. This was discovered back in the 1820's. Here is a diagram.

 

[stuckmotor]

Whenever oil shortage or gas crisis comes up in a conversation I always wondered why someone didn't figure out a way to separate oxy/hydrogen from water to make a fuel to power our cars, trucks and homes

I would love to see this technology expand...thanx for the link Woodlandfarms..:thumbsup:

Just do a web search for " hydrogen booster for car". I'm not making any claim about whether they work or don't work.

 

[wdchyd]

Now come on... why do you think we just don't start cracking water and getting all this wonderful fuel?. After all this is 200 year old technology. Every year or two one of these articles comes up. There is no such a thing as a free lunch. While the hydrogen water torch can be s useful tool especially for jewlers. This technology is sure not going to solve our energy problems.

Hey, it's fun to dream right..??

Just look around at all the high tech stuff that surrounds us today in everyday life.....a hundred years ago there were many naysayers about undiscovered new technologies that didn't exist except in the minds of very smart adventurous people

maybe we need the flux-capacitor from Back to the Future....:thumbsup:

 

[k0ua]

Hey, it's fun to dream right..??

Just look around at all the high tech stuff that surrounds us today in everyday life.....a hundred years ago there were many naysayers about undiscovered new technologies that didn't exist except in the minds of very smart adventurous people

maybe we need the flux-capacitor from Back to the Future....:thumbsup:

1.2 Gigawatts. Now that is some power.

 

[bubbacuse77]

Now come on... why do you think we just don't start cracking water and getting all this wonderful fuel?. After all this is 200 year old technology. Every year or two one of these articles comes up. There is no such a thing as a free lunch. While the hydrogen water torch can be s useful tool especially for jewlers. This technology is sure not going to solve our energy problems.

my understanding is that it is not only a matter of technology like others have suggested. The biggest issue is safety. Ruptured fuel cells in accidents end like the Hindenburg and storage of hydrogen is tricky since it really likes to expand if heated such as parking a car in the sun.
I also understand that it isn't necessarily as efficient as one would think. The platinum that is used in the fuel cells is extremely expensive and the fuel cells are currently only 50-70% efficient. Hard to justify if you are getting your power from the grid. People using solar or wind at home for electrolysis would be worth it I think. Maybe someday hydrogen powered tractors that produce the hydrogen as it goes form solar power panels on the tractor so one wouldn't have to store the hydrogen. Of course you could only work on sunny days.

 

[BukitCase]

"Of course you could only work on sunny days."

I have clay soil - so that wouldn't be a change for me...

 

[muddstopper]

I had a buddy that tried the water to gas deal. He spent months working and testing his project, Finally got his riding mower to work off it. He could produce just enought Hydrogen to mow his postage size yard, one time. Then it was charge up the mower battery. Little alternator couldnt produce enough electricity to make the needed hydrogen and keep the battery charged at the same time. Since my buddy is sort of into all this tech stuff, he built hisself a solar panel to charge the mower battery,that way he wasnt adding to his electric bill, Great, now he had a true free way to mow his grass. Spent a fortune getting it to work. Made it thru about half the summer, then the mower blew up. I forget exactly what happend, but the motor actually shattered the block and piston. Well he at least proved to himself that the water to gas deal would work, so he rigged it up to his little ford ranger. Spent another fortune getting that to work, but he still had to run a mix of gasoline to get anywhere. He did this for a while, made big claims of increased gas mileage, probably true, I guess. Then he started having mechanical problems with the truck. It wasnt long until he ditched the whole water to gas ideal, took it off his truck and hasnt fooled with it since.

Now my buddy is a little bit of a nerd, and he has came up with several ways to heat and cool his house that does save him a lot of money. Him giving up on the water to gas ideal sort of leads me to believe that even tho it could get it to work to a certain extent, that it just isnt practicle when it comes to actually saving any money. Hydrogen does funny things to metal, it is very corrosive and there is no practicle way to store any excess gas you might make. The hydrogen molecule is so small, it will leak thru any kind of metal or plastic tank that can be used to store it. Making the material extremely brittle and likely to break like glass. It is also extremely explosive, meaning a leak could also lead to a very dangerous situation. Very flammable and easily set off with a static spark. The government and car companies have spent billions of $$$ trying to build a hydrogen fuel cell automobile, and they havent got it figured out yet. Maybe one day, but for now, i think i will just save my money and not mess with any of those water to gas ideals being sold all over the internet.

 

[Redneck in training]

Producing energy by wind or solar is already more or less mainstream. The problem is storage especially on small scale. Batteries are expensive and have relatively short life. If the small scale energy storage better than batteries become available then distributed systems such as home solar will take off. But there is a light on the end of the tunnel. It is called ultra-capacitor. It is based on carbon nano tubes. The advantage of capacitor is that it can be discharged to zero, can deliver large instantaneous power and its life doesn't depend on charge/discharge cycling. If you have source big enough it can be (theoretically) fully charged in a fraction of second. The disadvantage is that the power density/mass or volume is still way less than batteries. That is a problem for cars and lesser problem for stationary such home energy storage. The prediction is that such devices will be commercially available in about three years. TESLA car company is betting on it.
NREL: Energy Storage - Ultracapacitors
A novel ultracapacitor - MIT News Office

 

[jamtuc]

Funny I just ran across a site by accident 2 days ago. Its called multi plaz.....they say it like " plaaze"... anywho Multiplaz. Welding, Cutting, Soldering, Brazing.... It is also on you tube. I thought it was pretty cool but not 2000 dollars cool.