Hydrogen production by plasma electrolysis reactor of KOH-ethanol solution

Abstract

Plasma electrolysis has great potential in industrial hydrogen production, chlor-alkali production, and waste water treatment. Plasma electrolysis produces more hydrogen with less energy consumption than hydrocarbon or Faraday electrolysis. This paper investigated the hydrogen production by plasma electrolysis of KOH-ethanol solution at 80 °C and 1 atm. The effects of voltage, KOH solution, ethanol addition, and cathode deep on plasma electrolysis performance were studied. The hydrogen production was analyzed using bubble flow meter and hydrogen analyzer. The electrical energy consumption was measured by a digital multimeter. The effectiveness of plasma electrolysis in terms of hydrogen production was evaluated by comparing it with Faraday Electrolysis. The results showed that hydrogen produced by plasma electrolysis is 149 times higher than the hydrogen produced by Faraday electrolysis. The optimum hydrogen production was 50.71 mmol/min, obtained at 700 V with 0.03 M KOH, 10% vol ethanol and 6.6 cm cathode deep, with energy consumption 1.49 kJ/mmol. The result demonstrates a promising path for hydrogen production by utilizing plasma electrolysis reactor.