Efficiency of Hydrogen

Production Using Electrolysis

Noah Wade, John-Nicholas Furst,
Ekaterina Vasileva, and Michael
Sheng
 Our Project:
• Improving Production of Hydrogen for Fuel
Cells
• Electrolysis
• Changing Voltages
• Consistent Total Energy
 Overview of Electrolysis
• Simple process
• Has not achieved maximum efficiency.
• Place anode & cathode in water
• Run voltage – possibly from renewable sources
like solar energy.
• Splits Hydrogen and Oxygen in water molecules
• Produces Hydrogen
• Hydrogen used for other purposes
 How Electrolysis Works
• Splitting bond between Hydrogen and
Oxygen atoms
• Electric current breaks the bond
• Many electrolysis reactions require
electrodes to be added into the reactions.
• Dihydrogen Monoxide can be subjected to
an electrolysis reactions without any
alterations.
• Water splits and forms H2 O2
 Issues with Electrolysis
• Large amounts of energy required
• Fuel Cells have about 60%-65% efficiency
• Electrolysis has much lower efficiency
• No standard for energy used in
electrolysis
 Fuel Cells
• Alternative to petroleum powered cars
• Produce no harmful bi-products
• The fuel, Hydrogen can be produced in safe
environments.
• Hydrogen is the most abundant element on
Earth
• Problem: No natural source of pure hydrogen
 Issues with Hydrogen
• Most reactive element
• Lowest density
• Impractical to transport
• Gas stations would have to double their
storage tanks to hold all the Hydrogen
• Hydrogen kept under high pressure.
Our Methods