Hydrogen Generation via a Molten Metal-Water Reaction in a Semi-Batch Reactor

摘要

Experimental and equilibrium modeling results are presented for a chemical hydrogen generator in which water is controllably injected into a charge of molten lithium-aluminum fuel. In the defined system, reactant and product concentrations change over the course of operation, an effect that was found to alter reaction chemistry and thus the yield of hydrogen and heat on a water-reacted basis. The use of an alloy fuel containing a high concentration of lithium (92% by mole) affords particularly complex reaction chemistry in that an initial reaction produces lithium hydride (LiH), rather than "free" hydrogen gas. With continued water addition, however, the fuel eventually saturates with LiH, triggering a change in chemistry that generates hydrogen gas at elevated pressure.