bradfordboonstra's posterous

Recent Developments

The Anodes and Cathodes have been perforated with many small holes,  this will aid in the bubbles being tracked through the anodes and cathodes.  One larger hole was put through the center of the metal wafers.  The central post was put through the metal wafers, and they were fastened onto the post with industrial waterproof adhesive.  Each metal wafer was spaced about an centimeter apart.
The central post made of plastic and is hollow through the center so that air could be passed through to the bottom and bubble through the metal wafers.  Two additional holes were drilled through the top so that water may be put into the cell, and hydrogen enriched air can be collected.  A plastic piece with lip was attached to one of the holes so that a balloon (or other receptacle) can be stretched around it and collect the hydrogen enriched air. 
Recently I purchased a small manual air pump (the same kind that are used for blood pressure tourniquets) to push the air through the surgical tubing and central post.  I also met with Mr. Hoekstra to determine the correct voltage for the Electrolyte I was using.  I will be using batteries, two in a series, and three in parallel to increase current.  The Electrolyte will be a sulfur (sulfuric bicarbonate?). 

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Stainless Steel

On Friday May 15 I went to Harbor Steel to retrieve the stainless steel I need for the Cathodes and Anodes of the Electrolytic Cell.  Also on Friday I attempted to cut the steel.  My first attempt was to use a drill and a drill bit designed to make large holes.  It was unsuccessful.  What happened was that the drill bit cut through a portion of the steel first, and that portion, when large enough, bent up into the hollow portion of the drill bit and caused the drill to seize up.  To my chagrin, I had to think of another method to cut the steel.

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Top for Electrolytic Cell

The top is made of a hard plastic.  The wider side of the hard plastic top is slightly over 11 cm.  Notice that the cap is cut with a 45 degree angle so that it sits in the top of the beaker. The 45 degree angle was sanded down to a curve so that is sits in the beaker with more ease.  It will be sealed on the top of the beaker by an airtight caulk or epoxy.

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Rough Draft Procedure

    I took a close look at the Archie Blue Patent (attached) and made a list of the materials I needed.  Here is the list that I compiled
  • Sheet Metal (for the cathodes and anodes)
  • Wire
  • Hard plastic tubing, radius 5mm, length TBD. 
  • Hard plastic sheet
  • Air tight container
  • Possibly using a beaker and plastic on top, cut to fit, with the necessary holes then fill the cracks with calk or epoxy
  • soft plastic tubing
  • Hand pump (for entering air flow through the central post)
  • Receptacle for exiting air.
  • Power source
  • Insulating material. 

    I talked to the shop teacher Mr. Homkes and he said there was an account for Holland Christian at Harbor Steel that I could use in order to attain the stainless steel sheet metal I needed.  He said he was also willing to work with me on the cutting and the forming of the stainless steel sheet metal. 
    The procedure I intend to follow (a rough draft) is first to gain a hold of a beaker.  Depending on that beaker's size I will cut the hard plastic tubing (for the central post) to the necessary length.  I will then cut the stainless steel sheet metal into circular pieces so that they may fit around the central post and inside the beaker, with each metal disc spaced approximately 1 cm apart.  I will then fit the metal discs onto the hollow central post, insulating them with the insulating material, and exposing every other disc to a red wire, and the alternating discs to a black wire.  This should finish up the central post assembly.
    On the top of the beaker there will be hard plastic, with four holes: one for the entering air, one for the exiting air, one for electrolyte replenishment, and one for the wires to the anodes and cathodes (the metal discs, cathodes: negative charge, anodes: positive charge).  Each hole will be airtight.  A hand pump will be connected with soft plastic tubing to the central post for entering air.  Hard plastic tubing will allow for the exiting air to escape into a connected receptacle.  The wires will be connected to a power source, and the hole for replenishment of the electrolyte will be sealed.  Once these holes are fitted, the hard plastic top will be sealed onto the top of the beaker, forming an airtight casing.