ELECTROLYSIS OF SEA WATER.

Abstract

In implementation of the hydrogen economy, the electrolysis of sea water as the source of hydrogen is discussed. Two options exist for performance of this electrolysis. The first option is to subject the water to total desalinization to remove all impurities and produce essentially distilled water. This distilled water can then be subjected to electrolysis in conventional, alkaline electrolyte, electrolysis cells. The second option is to design electrolyzer systems capable of utilizing natural sea water to perform the electrolysis. Preliminary data indicates that low current densities are insufficient to prevent deposits and chlorine formation and that while hydrogen can be produced at reasonable efficiency (89 percent), the overall process may not be environmentally acceptable for very large-scale applications.