This project goes over the build of a Homemade 19 Plate HHO Dry Cell Generator. The HHO generator works by the principle of electrolysis. Water is made from two types of atoms hydrogen and oxygen. Electrolysis is a method for splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen. Pure water isn’t electrically conductive, so we add either sodium hydroxide or potassium hydroxide to it to make it conductive.
STEP 1 : MATERIALS REQUIRED
To make the electrolyzer, we need electrode plates, neutral plates, gaskets, and front and back plates with some metal reinforcements. The electrode plates and the neutral plates are made of 304 stainless steel sheets, and the gaskets are made from one eighth-inch neoprene rubber sheet. The neutral plates are stacked in between the positive and the negative plates.The empty spaces are filled with neoprene gaskets. Water comes into the electrolyzer through the input tube and goes out as hydrogen and oxygen through the output tube.
When electricity is applied to the electrodes, a chemical reaction occurs, which causes the hydrogen from the water to go to one plate and the oxygen to the other plate where there they form bubbles of gas. Now the electricity wants to jump from the negative plate to the positive plate but since we have neutral plates between them, they divide the original voltage. This helps in efficient HHO gas generation.
STEP 2 : ASSEMBLING THE PLATES
The plates are made of 12 X 12 .24ga 304 stainless steel sheets that are cut into four 6-inch pieces using tin snips. The plates are stacked together and holes are cut top and bottom for where the gas and the water come in and leave. To hold the plates together use seven-inch cutting boards with metal support frames at both ends.
To differentiate between neutral plates and the electrode plates, we cut both corners of the neutral plates and only one corner of the electrode plates. So this way we can run a bolt from the positive to the other positive and negative to another negative end.
To assemble the cell, we place it onto the base cutting board, the positive electrode plate, stack the neutral plates and the gaskets on them one by one and enclose them on the negative electrode plate and the baseboard . Secure them with bolts on four corners. The electrode plates are then connected to each other with a thin gauge wire.
STEP 3 : ADDING A WATER RESERVOIR AND A POWER SUPPLY
The next component for the build is some sort of a water reservoir. The reservoir is nothing more than a bottle that’s going to hold your electrolyte, which is distilled water and sodium hydroxide.
The water reservoir is connected to the cell using two three-eighth-inch tubes, one going into the cell and the other coming out. The other component that you’re going to need to build this HHO generator is some kind of a power supply that can generate 12V 30amps. This can be a car battery hooked up to a trickle charger, an old computer UPS supply, or a 12V battery used for solar panels. The electrode cells are then secured on a wooden frame along with the power supply and the water bottle reservoir for easy portability.
STEP 4 : DIFFUSION USING A BUBBLER
Next, you need a bubbler. This takes the HHO gas coming into it and diffuses them and gets broken into smaller bubbles. As those bubbles travel up the column of water inside the bubbler, it helps to filter out the sodium hydroxide or potassium hydroxide vapors. If your bubbler is set up correctly, then after being diffused and traveling up that column of water, it tends to get rid of most if not all those vapors.
To add a safety feature, we drill the top of the bottle, remove the lid and cover it up with a plastic foil pressure membrane. If the pressure inside the bubbler increases in case of a flashback, instead of the jar exploding, the pressure is able to escape through the membrane.
Image Credits : Neally |
