DIY Homemade Hydrogen (Aluminum + Water + Lye)

[@BlueprintScience]

If you want to read a technical document about this, including the chemistry theory and vessel designs from various patents over the years, you can read about it here: www1.eere.energy.gov/hydrogenandfuelcells/pdfs/aluminium_water_hydrogen.pdf

[@PeterPete]

although the paper is called "Reaction of Aluminum with Water to Produce Hydrogen" the paper contradicts itself on pg 6 and states that aluminium does not react with water by stating "However, in practice a piece of aluminum dropped into water will not react under room temperature conditions, or even with boiling water." One has to add something to water in order to decompose aluminium metal rapidly to produce hydrogen such as a hydroxide promoter eg sodium hydroxide (NaOH). And as you guess sodium hydroxide actually contains hydrogen! It's my view hydrogen does not originate from water but comes from the aluminium/hydroxide!

[@christophercrane548]

Ppp++]]pjp

[@wateristhefuelnotfossil]

For most efficient (no waste) reaction, what’s the weight ratio for aluminum, water, lye?

[@BlueprintScience]

Hey everybody! Here is a reaction so uncommon that I could only find a few references to it on the internet. I hope you like it. P.S. If I sound more "bleh" than usual, its because I'm recording this in the middle of the night... sorry.

[@sligovolts]

Thank you for making these videos!

[@mumi009]

I made hydrogen gas from aluminum, lye and water when I was 13 (now 66). I read about it in a science article. My friends and I filled balloons and blew things up. My mother was not amused. We went on to building rockets with homemade engines powered by sugar and potassium nitrate. Again, my mother was not amused. We bought underwater fuse from companies advertising in the back of Popular Science. Today, agents of Homeland Security would come knocking if you tried to do that. We went outdoors. We built glider go-carts out of scrap wood and baby buggy wheels and drove them hell bent down hills without helmets - or brakes. We built forts in the woods from scrap wood and old, rusty bent nails that we straightened out. Never worried about tetanus. We got scrapes, bruises, broken limbs and and an occasional concussion. We left the house in the morning and didn't return until dinner time. Our parents had no idea where we were. We learned how to use tools and that too much electricity can hurt. We used our knowledge of mathematics, physics and chemistry in practical applications building things, experimenting and having loads of fun.

[@paysectionkpm2197]

At last when did your mother got amused???

[@terencefredrick9726]

excellent btw tetanus ONLY. exists when you step or scrape yourself from a nail that has animal sung on it... NEVER get a tennis vaccine again nonexistent unless you live on a farm and the nail is covered in S#!t! lol -all true..was in medical field for quite a while

[@robertszymanski717]

I did the very same thing you did as a kid! I did all those dangerous things 😳! I too was a teen back in the late 60's 😅! Rockets and bombs outta matchheads, popular science mag advertising " science " stuff where to get fuse, chemicals, etc..

[@notyouraveragegoldenpotato]

It was lord of the flies growing up. Parents just -gone- all the time😂 we got up to some shenanigans. It blows my mind the total lack of self reliance kids that are 3x as old as I was back then. Funny thing is- the best way to interest them in those things is to DO all the fun crazy exciting things we did as kids.

[@skybot9998]

I also remember mother's calling for their children. I miss that.

[@FerintoshStar]

I learned of how to do this as a kid. Lye and Aluminum. The largest set up used a 5 gallon jerry can as a reaction chamber that was cooled in a large water basin (kiddie pool) and bubbled through a column of water to cool the gas. We then rigged up a manifold system so that we could fill 6 balloons at the same time or in sequence or less but faster, etc.. The water bath really helps to regulate the output and the water column takes the steam out of the gas so that it's actually pure Hydrogen.

[@riley1c218]

You can also remove the oxide layer with gallium.

[@kamenoscsdas]

You have such a cool proffessor !!!

[@nobrizzle]

Do you or your instructor think there is a way to prevent the runaway reaction where you can introduce lie at a metered rate into the water bath with the aluminum to produce a steady stream of H2?

[@leeboy8689]

Man you are incredibly smart good job

[@Elarpachuau]

How long "less than few second" is? 😮

[@electricerger]

Thanks Dayton

[@RascheTheRabbit]

Helpful! I'm trying to remove aluminum that has built up on my end mills due to operator (me) error. This method is helping, though the percent of lye in this cleaner is low so it's taking awhile. Thanks BP!

[@PeterPete]

increase the amount of NaOH in the solution gradually. And be sure to clean off any residue of the NaOH from the Aluminum. Be careful too NaOH is very caustic!

[@science0074]

Nice video mate❤️

[@ahmedmonjid5696]

you are awesome mate

[@abdeljalilpr2033]

Nice video ..what about electric cells?? What is the best way to extract hydrogen from watter using this methode

[@BlueprintScience]

Electrolysis? It uses a voltage to break up water molecules into Hydrogen and Oxygen and they can be separated afterward. I think that electrolysis is the most common way of synthesizing H2 industrially. And thanks BTW

[@sihemberrahal4499]

thank you but does the concentration of the sodium hydroxide matter ? or it doesnt

[@BlueprintScience]

Not necessarily; there just needs to be an excess amount.

[@skylersmall6322]

Can you put a layer of oil on top of the water to prevent co2 in the air from contaminating the solution?

[@ArnoldClarke]

Can you mix hydrogen and oxygen to make water? Would solve a lot of problems in drought areas. Although my teachers told me water was an element. Which kinda contradicts itself.

[@polishnope5609]

What? You know that when they explode it it creates water?

[@ArnoldClarke]

@@polishnope5609 Then why is there drought?

[@recyclebills]

What are the by products?

[@qmax44]

Aluminum is used to produce heating radiators among other things. There is some debate about water pH and hydrogen production or corrosion of the radiators. It's clear that there is a vigorous reaction either in acidic or basic mediums. But how does the reaction kinetics behave with pH changes? Is it quantifiable?

[@brainentrainmentlibrarychannel]

Great vid!

[@terencefredrick9726]

great video

[@kushalsehgal]

I hear that inhaling H2 gas makes your voice sexier... can you confirm?

[@BlueprintScience]

Can confirm: much sexier... but still not enough. You don't want to inhale this H2 though, I'm sure a high enough concentration of caustic NaOH made it into the final stage to make it dangerous.

[@cortez3001]

Sulfur hexafluoride or helium also can make our voice sexier... That is, depending on the criteria for sexiness...

[@davidprock904]

Run the gas through a few different bubblers to filter out any KOH or NaOh, And the gas is absolutely wonderful for your health... not kidding, research Hydrogen For Health!

[@virtualtools_3021]

@@davidprock904 It is a decent anti-oxidant, but the lungs are quite terrible at absorbing it. How do you plan to get the lungs to absorb it well enough to matter?

[@selfawareness333]

@@davidprock904 💯 correct. Also look into Browns Gas aka HHO by George Wiseman. He has reversed a lot of disease faster than pure H2.

[@krishgurung2210]

Hydrogen is also produce by electrolysis of salty water???

[@phonotical]

The salt helps

[@BlueprintScience]

Yep. One day I'll make a decent electrolysis setup to generate H2, but they are a little complicated...

[@phonotical]

@@BlueprintScience lies, all lies

[@SianaGearz]

@@BlueprintScience Uh good luck with your two emitted gases recombining and wasting all the energy you put into generating them? Also good luck with gases sticking to electrodes and making the setup not work at all. Electrolysis is unfortunately shit, which is why i was so excited for a chemical method this simple.

[@DonPedroSan]

@@SianaGearz you just get out% .. but good enough for storage, and better idea than to power windmills with your solar panels in times you can't induce (sell) it to the power grid. and for fucking sake, build hydrogen fueled machines no matter ifs green. or grey manufactured hydrogen. it will pay off, and the day you are using 100% green hydrogen you dont even notice. you are ready.

[@EarlGray_kd7sjt]

Although I found this enjoyable to watch, I'm too afraid of "Explosive" gasses to replicate in my shop. I'm more of an Electronics and Energy (Batteries and Capacitors) kind of guy. I'm a Ham Radio guy too. Not sure if you are or not, but I figured I would throw that in there. I do love to watch your videos though. Just please be safe. Want to have you around to make more videos for years to come :)

[@virtualtools_3021]

definitly do it outside rather than inside :D

[@davidprock904]

What if you make a small firebrick furnace using two carbon electrodes to melt an aluminum can, scrape off the slag, reheat it if it cooled down while getting the slag off, and while it's molten pour it into water, will you get the hydrogen then? Or if not, what if once solid you scratch it under the water?

[@user-qn6kb7gr1d]

There's oxygen in water as well. Don't expect the reaction to just go without stopping. You'll get the oxide layer anyway.

[@davidprock904]

@@user-qn6kb7gr1d degas (vacuum) the water 💧?

[@user-qn6kb7gr1d]

@@davidprock904 not sure if that helps tbh. I looked it up and the process of degasing the water looks complicated. It's not the same as just pulling a vacuum.

[@MagnusDangerMagnus]

You had me at "delicious sandwich".

[@hairybeekeeper5491]

If you were giving her the balloon, she'd be happy! Looks like you're taking it away. 😄

[@marx875]

Bike fuel?

[@m.t-thoughts8919]

The oxygen was in the ballon because it wasn't good sealed or why it was in the end product H2? 🤔

[@zolatanaffa87]

Nice project ... But it's not enough to power a car ..... it will mean that I will try to make myself an airship ... a model of airship! bye

[@semhouben6300]

You still alive? Or already killed by the government??

[@satalajmore]

Ha ha that neighbour dog 😊

[@jvon3885]

What about magnesium and hydrochloric acid

[@helpfulmkll1876]

Thats too hard for a private person to get their hands on

[@chase_modugno]

If water was sprinkled over molten aluminum in a furnace that's keeping the aluminum in its molten state, would that produce any hydrogen at all?

[@alaamyousef4920]

U have agreat doctor 👍👍

[@cortez3001]

Dayton, one suggestion for another video: how can we split hydrogen and oxygen from water electrolysis at home, in a diy fashion, and capture both gases separately? Will the oxygen be pure and breathable the same way the one at hospital O2 lines? How could we make oxygen this way in enough volume to be used, for example, to fill diving cylinders and be able to control the amount to make heliox or trimix, instead of filling with just air?

[@jeffspaulding9834]

I used to do this as a kid. It's pretty easy. Get a large open top container full of water and a couple containers that can fit upside down so that their openings are completely submerged (I used milk jugs in a big Tupperware thing). Fill the jugs with water and cap them. Place the jugs upside down into the water and remove the caps so the water in the jugs can mix with the water in the large container. Get a couple electrodes (carbon's best, but I just wrapped aluminum foil around the ends of wires) and stick them up into the jugs. Connect those to a DC power source. Wait a while, as it's pretty slow. And by slow I mean days. Little bubbles will form on the electrodes and then float up to the top of the jugs. If you're using aluminum foil electrodes you'll have to replace them every day or two. One of the jugs (the negative, I believe) will fill faster than the other. That's the hydrogen. The oxygen one fills slower (there's twice as many H2 molecules in the hydrogen one). Once a jug is full, cap it while the opening is still underwater. Don't store the hydrogen for long - it can diffuse through most thin solids over time. Take it outside, hold it upside down, remove the cap, and put a lit splint into the opening. The jug will shoot high into the air and come down nearly spherical. Good way to impress your friends when you're 12, lemme tell you. I just used tap water, which in my home town is conductive enough for this to work. If your water doesn't have enough electrolytes in it, you'll have to add some. You can look up the right ones to use. Just don't use table salt - you'll get chlorine instead of oxygen, and nobody wants that. Anyway, the method shown in this video is much, much faster and probably cheaper considering the cost of the electricity. There's a good reason there aren't hydrolysis plants all over the place producing hydrogen. Unless you have a spare nuclear plant idling away, it's not really cost effective.

[@cortez3001]

@@jeffspaulding9834 Man, you had a childhood! 😀 Thanks for sharing! 😉

[@victoryfirst2878]

I did this same experiment when I was in Science class. Look forward to do the same soon. Will try to scare the dogs.

[@brandonsihvonen8555]

Do you need electricety?

[@davidsomerville7868]

Aluminum powder used for 3D printing allows only a very thin oxide layer that doesn't inhibit the reaction. Our lab found out by accident.

[@user-qn6kb7gr1d]

Sounds extremely unlikely to be true. When you have bigger surface area, you have more oxide. Also you have faster reaction, but the Al oxide does not help with getting any more of the product. Unless your wanted product is some complex salt Na[Al(OH)4].

[@SianaGearz]

Formula timestamps: 1:00 1:50

[@e.h.lipton73]

Merry Christmas

[@BlueprintScience]

"We wish you a Merry Christmas We wish you a Merry Christmas We wish you a Merry Christmas And a happy new year Good tidings we bring to you and your kin Good tidings for Christmas And a happy new year"

[@e.h.lipton73]

Blueprint thank you and your family

[@naitikshailendrakumaryadav2824]

Can we run motorbike on hydrogen?

[@BlueprintScience]

Hydrogen powered transportation is feasible. Still, it is not as efficient as fossil fuels. Also most people aren't interested in carrying pressurized flammable gas around if they can help it.

[@user-sk9hl7si7l]

@@BlueprintScience what do you mean is not as efficient.could you elaborate on scrap aluminum as fuel,it is like $1 per kg here and i can have it unlimited.gallium is $300 per kg not bad either.am i missing something? it supposed to give double mpg compared to gasoline

[@BlueprintScience]

purist thundewrath, Maybe efficient isn’t the right word. Gasoline is more energy-dense than hydrogen and more manageable too. Hydrogen requires more additional steps to use. For now, gasoline is still the economical choice.

[@SianaGearz]

Neither stealing nor giving, teasing. Pretending like you'll give her the balloon but keeping it for yourself.

[@BlueprintScience]

Well, I did blow it up. So... yeah.

[@ApocalypticIdol]

clearly the balloon between him and the girl appeared through a portal and they equally grabbed for its' glory.

[@henryraymond8676]

It is kewl and yes hydrogen is a fuel. A very powerful fuel. However doesn't hydrogen also, because of the amazingly small size of the atom, cause any metal that is used to house it hydrogen embrittlement of the metal itself. Also, hydrogen and oxygen mixed together and combusted produces water vapor which I would think would produce rather rapid oxidation of any metal in an internal combustion engine.

[@empathicallyyours4937]

Make sure the ingredients are pure and your water is pure distilled and not containing fluoride, the toxic carcinogen that is added to drinking water so generously by the government we all love and trust 💕

[@user-qn6kb7gr1d]

You can do it with a single test tube and a balloon actually, without using preheated water or heating it additionally. The process you showed in this video is complicated, but better in terms of purity of hydrogen you get. Would not recommend a random glassware instead of a test tube btw. Especially from your kitchen. When it heats up, it's kinda scary, and the difference in temperatures may crack your glassware.

[@richardlighthouse5328]

Isn't water electrolysis easier method? No chemicals needed.

[@jeffspaulding9834]

It's way, way slower than this method. I used to run an electrolysis rig as a kid and it took a week or so to make a gallon of hydrogen.

[@richardlighthouse5328]

@@jeffspaulding9834 Your power supply didn't have enough amps.

[@phonotical]

Find a way to pressurise the gas and you got yourself a deal

[@noelomaolchraoibhe3911]

I know this is an ancient video but wow....hydrogen filled rubber balloons inside the family room/kitchen in winter when humidity is low and static electricity accumulates.....and with the kids around too....but hey, who needs eardrums anyway?

[@DarrenTarmey]

You don't need to cool the gases that come out with ice you can just run in to water which will also extract other un wanted chemicals, also try and filer out chlorine in water as this is poisonous when burned

[@starpilot101]

Drano bomb? That's how I got here.

[@phonotical]

Salt water and electricity? If you are after gas, I'd go with beans!

[@BlueprintScience]

I love how your comments are right on the verge of making sense. Care to explain what "I'd go with beans" even means?

[@phonotical]

@@BlueprintScience.. Beans, beans, the musical fruit... No?

[@sweetwithneem]

Wowww!! The way you narrated😂

[@nathansterner418]

Hey, perhaps this could replace gasoline…

[@SerratedAMG]

This is how you get suicided by the CIA.

[@A3Kr0n]

I did that back in 1972 when I was 11.

[@BlueprintScience]

Do you want to trade parents? Mine are boring. Nah, just kidding. Or am I?

[@AtlasReburdened]

If only there were some sort of enormous container made of thermite coated cloth that we could store it in...

[@BlueprintScience]

Man, why do you put these ideas in my head. Now I HAVE to do it. Thanks a lot.

[@judgeomega]

oh the humanity

[@chance1986]

You guys definitely need supervision. Thank goodness there's a young woman present.

[@BlueprintScience]

Supervision? SUPERVISION? I'm an adult... and we ALL need supervision! :)

[@raerae4752]

25 to life

[@marx875]

Sodium hydroxide is expensive

[@jayasriram5448]

Ok

[@Aj-wx3qq]

I just used electrolysis

[@PeterPete]

so funny - the guy says he'll get the gas when water reacts with aluminium and yet states the aluminium doesn't start reacting when it gets wet!! The guy doesn't know what he's on about. So to remedy the situation he adds an electrolyte ie NaOH. An aluminium reaction with NaOH is very caustic and the NaOH essentially dissolves aluiminium metal producing hydrogen gas! So all the guy is doing to produce hydrogen is reacting aluminium foil with NaOH. No hydrogen from water!!

[@BlueprintScience]

Yea, you know that older guy in the video who explains what we’re doing… he’s a university chemistry/materials professor.

[@PeterPete]

@@BlueprintScience I've now watched your entire video and in my opinion it's misleading. You read out the label on the lye and it states to not come into contact with aluminium but it does not state to not come into contact with aluminium and water which supports my initial post that NaOH reacts with aluminium not water. You also state one can tell it's hydrogen burning due to the red hue but hydrogen can burn with different colours depending upon how it was produced. For example the flame in your video was yellow/orange imo. If you obtained hydrogen from electrolysis using solution of LiOH the flame would be red, reminiscent of lithium. Using the 2-stroke pump only pumped air into the balloon and no oxygen. There is no proof in your video oxygen was pumped into balloons. Imo oxygen gas isn't a constituent of air but manufactured by processing air in its entirety. Finally I'm of the view the hydrogen you produced came from the breakdown of the lye and aluminium metal. The flame colour in the centre certainly indicated the presence of sodium as sodium burns with a yellow flame. You might want to tell your professor chum that I even think Aluminium is not an element but a manufactured metal that contains a high proportion of sodium, carbon and hydrogen and other trace materials. The water decomposes the NaOH and Aluminium metal to release the gas products and the hydrogen does not come from water.

[@BlueprintScience]

@@PeterPete I’m not personally a chemist, just as a hobby. But I looked back in this video folder for guidance and can tell you this: There are three possible reactions of Aluminum with water, and they are as follows… 2Al + 6 H2O = 2 Al(OH)3 + 3 H2 2Al + 4 H2O = 2 AlO(OH) + 3 H2 2Al + 3 H2O = Al2O3 + 3 H2 When an aqueous solution of lye NaOH is added, the balanced chemical equation becomes… 2Al + 2 NaOH + 2 H2O = Na2Al2O4 + 3 H2 2Al + 6 NaOH + x H2O = Na6Al2O6 + + x H2O + 3 H2 2Al + 2 NaOH + 6 H2O = 2 Na2Al(OH)4+ 3 H2 2 NaAl(OH)4 = 2 NaOH + 2 Al(OH)3 The result of the reactor vessel is extremely impure - thus not suitable for inhalation - which I believe gives the flame its off-color. Several patents exist pertaining to this and similar vessels as well as a US Dept. of Energy document entitled “Reaction of Aluminum with Water to Produce Hydrogen” subtitled “A Study of Issues Related to the Use of Aluminum for On-Board Vehicular Hydrogen Storage” circa 2008 that I referenced to make this video. Hope that helps!

[@PeterPete]

@@BlueprintScience No it doesn't help at all!! Your equations only serve to make you think water is made of hydrogen and oxygen but you cannot prove water is made of hydrogen and oxygen. The hydrogen is in the Aluminium and the NaOH. What do you think the H stands for in NaOH? Heat? :/. Imo any water breaks down the aluminium and splits the NaOH into sodium, hydrogen and oxygen. If you cared to actually read Reaction of Aluminum with Water to Produce Hydrogen you will find they use NaOH, NaCl and AlO to help break down the aluminium oxide forming on the metal. They even use water to break down molten aluminium alloys which is more effective at producing hydrogen. The paper does not prove one can solely react aluminium metal with water alone to produce hydrogen as you stated in your video. The colour of a hydrogen flame is derived from the chemicals/metal that is used to produce the hydrogen. Like I've stated before, the hydrogen produced from lithium hydroxide used as an electrolyte in an electrolysis set up will burn red. Lithium burns red. Use calcium carbonate as an electrolyte the hydrogen will burn brick red because the source of the hydrogen - the calcium burns brick red! It's very easy to understand and one does not need to be a chemist to understand the simplicity of it all. The hydrogen you produced from sodium hydroxide/aluminium burned yellow in its centre indicating the burning of sodium. Have you ever burnt water to know what colour flame it produces? No you haven't because you can't burn water!!!

[@PeterPete]

@@BlueprintScience Nice piece of text from that White Paper, page 6..... The reaction thermodynamics shown in Table I indicate that aluminum should spontaneously react with water. However, in practice a piece of aluminum dropped into water will not react under room temperature conditions, or even with boiling water. And yet you stated in your video that aluminium does react with water to produce hydrogen!!!

[@phonotical]

Stealing, definitely stealing

[@phonotical]

Watch our for professors who invite you to their house to do "science"

[@robertszymanski717]

I definitely wouldn't make hydrogen this way because Lye is caustic and dangerous to mess with! I rather use electricity and water method Instead...far safer ..

[@edenadam872]

BUT HOW TO USE IT TO A REAL BENEFITS IN OUR LIFE??? HOW ? OR: WHATS THE MAIN POINT OF ALL OF THIS??? HOW CAN WE HARNESS HYDROGEN AND USE TO OUR BENEFITS IN OUR DAILY LIFE????

[@davidprock904]

Giving the balloon, your hand is not appropriately shaped or positioned to be stealing the balloon!

[@innewidya2254]

tukang balon sudah lama alumunium soda api

[@that3dgybee166]

ngl he kinda cute tho