Aluminum and KOH reaction

[cpaiin]

Hey guys. Would you know if there is reaction with KOH dissolved in water and aluminum? I have a metal funnel and started noticing some white bubbling. The funnel does have some corrosion from use. Could this be actually cleaning the funnel? Or should I never use it for food again.
Anyway, would any of you know the chemical reaction, specifically the products being made?
I stopped using the funnel right away because I'm not sure if it was making poisonous gasses (only after I added more KOH to see more bubbles of course :)
Thanks for the help!

[Darrell]

The reaction is Hydrogen being made as the KOH disolves Aluminum.

[cpaiin]

hahaha that's great. thinking about it, i might have seen a mythbusters where they made hydrogen from aluminum and a 'secret ingredient.' I guess that ingredient is KOH. Any chance the funnel is still good for contact with food (after a washing with soap) ?
Maybe it's just better to be safe. I dunno for sure, but KOH doesn't sound like a very healthy addition to anyone's diet

[mr.niceguy]

Hi im a total noob and someone correct me if im wrong, but Ive researched a little and found that the Aluminum turns into Aluminum Oxide or ALO3. So wouldnt using this give you pure H into your intake since the O is bonding/ corroding to the surface of the AL?

I understand the cons would be a corrosive muddy mess, but i wouldnt mind cleaning out my container and getting new AL 1x/wk since i have a huge access to AL shavings and chips from work.

Do you guys think an aluminum setup of some sort would last for 10hrs if i used it with a wet setup
and put the shavings in the bottom of the container w/ a very fine screen?

Or is that a really worthless idea for a setup thats only producing 500ml/m?
Might be more apprpriate for a 4-5lpm on a smaller engine setup? again just my thoughts and im probably wrong lol.

[BioFarmer93]

No, it's not a worthless idea, as a matter of fact it was a good enough idea that a gentleman patented a process for making hydrogen on demand for vehicles with a mechanism that fed alum wire from a spool into a bath of caustic for on the fly H2 production several years ago.

[myoldyourgold]

This is of course viable as long as the source of (aluminum)fuel is cheap. Just imagine if a large portion of the world population started using aluminum as a fuel what would happen to the price, even of scrap. I suspect gas would be cheaper. Water is still the cheapest but that to will be come more expensive but a lot easier at the moment to get your hands on. Any water will work as long as it gets desalinated or distilled. Who knows what the future really has in store!!!

[mr.niceguy]

No, it's not a worthless idea, as a matter of fact it was a good enough idea that a gentleman patented a process for making hydrogen on demand for vehicles with a mechanism that fed alum wire from a spool into a bath of caustic for on the fly H2 production several years ago.

huh, had no idea something like that existed.


This is of course viable as long as the source of (aluminum)fuel is cheap. Just imagine if a large portion of the world population started using aluminum as a fuel what would happen to the price, even of scrap. I suspect gas would be cheaper. Water is still the cheapest but that to will be come more expensive but a lot easier at the moment to get your hands on. Any water will work as long as it gets desalinated or distilled. Who knows what the future really has in store!!!

Aluminum shavings are really cheap for me... FREE:D
But even at a scrap yard the price for pure AL is .50/lb its gotten more pricy over the yrs, but you have access to AL fairly cheaply also. Soda cans anyone? Just a little cutting and wa la. Then theres AL foil and disposable AL baking pans @ walmart. This guy made a wet cell out of an AL pan.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_O3-C-19qHE&feature=related

My 1st goal will be to find how long the AL shavings will last, any ideas? ANd then how much the corroded water interfers w/ efficiency. Maybe I can just flush the water 1x and reuse the same shavings. Also since putting an anode or cathode on the shavings wouldnt work. Im curious to see how much or really how long it will react with the solution. At some point ill fab up a multi level screened base for max AL exposure.

[mr.niceguy]

just a little update, the aluminum shavings at the bottom of the container didnt react as id hoped. It did however turn the water into a yellow untransparent liquid w/ in 15min. By 25min I noticed the HHO production was nearly cut in 1/2. This was all done w/ baking soda w/ a charged solution.
I did notice better results w/ AL wire on the - Lead. It could last 1.5hrs before noticeable HHO reduction. I think I will be moving away from the AL. Its just too much maintenance. I just want to turn my car on and drive and mess w/ the refills on the weekends when I have time.If I used AL wire id have to swap out the water 2x a week, then eventually put new wire in, and then reseal everything again.

Another setup I tried is with KOH and AL. This works quite well with the shavings and NO electricity giving pure H.

Currently Im working w/ SS spoons from walmart each pack4 is $0.94 Ive got them setup -nn+nn- w/ very good results. My guestimation is 600ml/min @ only 3.5 Amps Im going to add to the stack and see what happens. Also just bought some SS wall cover pannels to see what I get out of them. Ill post vids on YouTube if I find the end product worth sharing.