Novel Hydrogen Generation Study Applying Rebound Tailing Pulse and Wet Electrode Methods

A set of novel pulsed power methods was applied to high resistance water dissociation for the future hydrogen energy generation. The Rebound Tailing Pulse (RTP) method has the two-step liquid dissociation abilities as follows. At the 1^st step, the forward pulse with high voltage rising up ratio (dV/dt) and high electric field shock dissociates the liquid and generates ions and radicals in the vicinity of electrodes. At the 2^nd step, the continuous reverse pulse resynthesizes the dissociated species in the vicinity of the electrode instantly. The Wet Electrode (WE) method consists of the following two-step processes in the liquid dissociation. The 1^st step process is “pulsed power activation of high particle density liquid state at the porous electrode creepage”. The 2^nd step process is “subsequent non-thermal equilibrium plasma reactions of these particles diffusing into the low particle density gas state”. In order to know the faculty of these methods, the deionized water (DIW) dissociation experiments were performed. The RTP method with the forward voltage of 10 kV level and 5 kpps pulse conditions and the WE method were applied. The reactor with a porous-ceramic anode electrode, wetted with water, and a dry fine-ceramic cathode electrode in the atmospheric air was applied. The H₂ generation efficiency, close to the theoretical prediction, was confirmed when “Tanzanite” colored plasma was detected in the reactor. These features may be due to the “RTP” reformation of the high-water particle density liquid state in the wetted porous-electrode creepage and their continuous diffusion into the gas plasma space with the help of “Fick’s law of diffusion” and “pulsed ion wind”.



Naohiro Shimizu

Nagoya University