PROJECT RELATED TO REUSE AND RECYCLE :-

WATER AS A FUEL
- BY ASIF SHAKEEL SHAIKH

NAME :- ASIF SHAKEEL SHAIKH

E-MAIL :- SKUMAIZASIF@GMAIL.COM
MOB :- 9175849523
COLLEGE NAME :- GOVERNMENT POLYTECHNIC NANDED
BRANCH :- MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
TOPIC NAME :- WATER AS A FUEL
 WATER AS A FUEL

Abstract

The fuel we use today produces massive amount of carbon dioxide and other toxic and
greenhouse gases. This is not only harming us but also our environment .Fossil fuel
release massive amount of CO2 when they burn which adds to greenhouse effect &
increases global warning. Not only this fossil fuels that we use are limited and won’t last
forever we are going to suffer from energy crises so we need the alternative fuel . Two of
the most abundant resources on the surface of the earth are sunlight and water. Recent
researches have shown that water is the best alternative fuel. Water has 2.5 times more
hydrogen then gasoline or diesel. We have abundant water on our world it is renewable
and inexhaustible. Water can be used as a fuel when it is economically split into
hydrogen and oxygen. And this hydrogen serves as the best pollution free fuel.The
method for splitting water so that it can be used as a fuel for future is given in paper . We
are using solar energy for splitting of water.
How to use water as a fuel?

The chemical formula of water is H2O that is it consists of two atom of hydrogen and one
atom of oxygen. We all known that hydrogen burns and oxygen supports burning. So
water can be used as fuel when it is split into its constituent element that is hydrogen and
oxygen. There are two methods to split water by using solar energy and they are

1) Photo thermal method

2) Photoelectric method

How to use solar energy for splitting of water?

For photo thermal water splitting we are using solar concentrator to concentrate the solar
energy so that it will generate high temperature to drive the chemical reaction for water
splitting. Solar concentrator can generate high temperature up to 2000 C.

Figure 3 is a photograph of the solar concentrator at the Paul Scherer Institute, in

Switzerland. This parabolic dish follows the sun as it moves across the sky, and reflects
and concentrates the sun rays to essentially a small circle. The energy impinging on this
small surface is equivalent to the surface seeing 5,000 suns! With this technology one can
easily achieve the very high temperatures required for producing hydrogen from water.
There is various type of solar concentrator such as
Photo thermal water splitting

Solar-zinc process

One possible and certainly very attractive chemical process is the solar production of
hydrogen from water. At high-temperatures, and depending on the pressure, water splits
into hydrogen and oxygen. Although conceptually simple, the direct splitting of water is
impeded by the lack of an effective technique for separating the hydro-gen from the
oxygen while avoiding an explosion. One way to bypass the separation problem is via a
2-step thermo chemical cycle in which hydrogen and oxygen are derived in different
steps. For example, a 2-step cycle based on metal oxide “red-ox” systems (reduction-
oxidation systems) was proposed for splitting water [2]. Figure 4 is a schematic of how
the idea works using the zinc oxide red-ox system. In a sunny region of the world, zinc
oxide can be brought to the focus of a solar concentrator. If it reaches a temperature near
2300 K, it will decompose to metallic zinc. One could collect the oxygen that is liberated
or simply vent it to the atmosphere. In a second step, and without the sun, zinc can be
reacted with water to produce hydrogen. Zinc will again become ZnO, which in turn will
be recycled back to zinc in the solar step. Hydrogen can be further processed to make
other fuels or it can be used directly for producing electricity or other forms of power.
Once the hydrogen is expended, it will convert back to water. In this figure you notice a
cyclic process. No material is consumed. No material is discharged. The only energy that
enters into the process is sunlight. The energy avail-able in the hydrogen used to produce
electricity or power is solar energy in disguise.
The reduction of zinc oxide is one example of an energy-intensive process that proceeds
at high temperatures and which could be conducted using concentrated solar energy. In
fact, many other metal oxides could be thermally reduced using solar process heat. The
products are metals which are usable as fuels for generating either high-temperature heat
via combustion or electricity via fuel cell and batteries, or for producing Figure 3 : The
solar parabolic dish at the Paul Scherer Institute, Switzerland, tracks the sun and
concentrates the sun rays 5,000 times into a small circle at its focus.

Photoelectrical water splitting

When sunlight falls on the surface of the semiconductor it creates electron-hole pairs.
Holes (minority carriers) drift to the surface of the semiconductor (the photo anode)
where they react with water to produce oxygen .Electrons (majority carriers) are
conducted to a metal electrode (typically Pt) where they combine with H + ions in the
water to make H2:

2e- + 2H+ -> H2 (g)

Transport of H+ from the anode to the cathode through the electrolyte completes the
electrochemical circuit. The overall reaction is

Solar energy+ H2O -> H2 (g) + ½ O2 (g)

For photo electric water splitting we are using semiconductor catalyst and sunlight to
generate hydrogen from water. There are various type of semiconductor catalyst and one
of them which is effective is indium tin oxide
4
CONCLUSION :

Thus by splitting water by using solar energy into hydrogen asnd oxygen we can use it as
fuel for future thus we have got alternative fuel for future from two abundantly availabe
resource on earth that is water and solar energy.Thus the idea the most of us will be
driving non polluting cars is no longer a flight of fantasy.

REFERENCES

1. Dostoevsky I., Scientific America n, pp. 50-66, Dec. 1991.

2. Seinfeld A., Kuhn P., Realer A., Palumbo R., Murray J., Tamara Y.,

International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, Vol. 23, pp. 767-774, 1998.

3. Seinfeld A., Brack M., Meier A., Weidenkaff A., Wuillemin D., Energy -The
International Journal, Vol. 23, pp. 803-814, 1998

4 Daily science magazine

5. www.technologyreview.com

6.https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/photocatalytic