United States Patent Application: 0120285823
We've presented you with a number of reports concerning Japan's Panasonic Corporation, who were once very well-known in the United States, and their development of technologies focused on the recycling of Carbon Dioxide. That is, the efficient conversion of Carbon Dioxide into such seemingly-desired substances as Methane, which we now, as seen in:
West Virginia Coal Association | Penn State: Marcellus Frack Fluids Bring Ancient Radium to the Surface | Research & Developme; concerning, in part, the report from Penn State University: "'Analysis of Marcellus flowback finds high levels of ancient brines'; University Park, PA; Brine water that flows back from gas wells in the Marcellus Shale region after hydraulic fracturing is many times more salty than seawater, with high contents of various elements, including radium";
seem so desperate to get some of, that, we're willing to countenance and encourage bringing some pretty nasty substances up from the abyss into our world along with that Methane and associated hydrocarbons, substances that are so grotesquely toxic and so wildly hazardous it beggars belief that sane men and women could actually debate the wisdom of exploiting such a resource, much less tolerate it's being promoted with enthusiasm by innocently misguided, or, as can be intimated from:
Exclusive: How the Sierra Club Took Millions From the Natural Gas Industry—and Why It Stopped | TIME.com; "TIME has learned that between 2007 and 2010 the Sierra Club accepted over $25 million in donations from the gas industry, mostly from Aubrey McClendon, CEO of Chesapeake Energy - one of the biggest gas drilling companies in the U.S. and a firm heavily involved in fracking - to help fund the Club’s Beyond Coal campaign";
malignantly corrupted, groups of environmental activists.
In any case, if it is Methane, and related other light hydrocarbons, i.e., "natural gas", we want, then, as has been explained to us by Panasonic Corporation, as seen for a few examples in our reports of:
West Virginia Coal Association | Japan Solar Energy Converts More CO2 into Methane | Research & Development; concerning: "United States Patent Application 20120234691 - Method for Reducing Carbon Dioxide; September 20, 2012; Panasonic Corporation; Abstract: The method for reducing carbon dioxide of the present disclosure includes ... an electrochemical cell (wherein the) electrolytic solution contains carbon dioxide (and which comprises) applying a negative voltage and a positive voltage to the working electrode and the counter electrode, respectively, to reduce the carbon dioxide (and thereby form) at least one compound selected from the group consisting of methane, ethylene, ethane and formic acid"; and:
West Virginia Coal Association | Japan Converts CO2 into Lower-Cost Methane | Research & Development; concerning: "United States Patent Application 20120018311 - Carbon Dioxide Reduction Method; January 26, 2012; Panasonic Corporation; Abstract: The carbon dioxide reduction method of the present invention is a method including steps of: bringing an electrode (as specified) into contact with an electrolytic solution; and introducing carbon dioxide into the electrolytic solution to reduce the introduced carbon dioxide by the electrode. (The) method and the device of the present invention achieve reduction of carbon dioxide to carbon monoxide, formic acid, methane, etc. and provide these substances with less energy and at lower cost. The present embodiment can also be applied to more environmentally-friendly methods and devices. For example, it can be applied to the use of a solar cell as an external power supply, and to a catalyst for solar energy reduction by combination with a photocatalyst (and) can provide carbon monoxide, formic acid, methane, etc. obtained by reducing carbon dioxide with less energy and at lower cost";
we can synthesize that Methane, using environmental "solar cell" energy, "at lower cost", from CO2.
The other products, "carbon monoxide, formic acid", etc., co-produced with the Methane have value, as well, as we've separately documented and as we will document further, which value could further reduce the effective cost of producing the Methane.
Note, too, that, as in the Disclosure of "United States Patent Application 20120234691 - Method for Reducing Carbon Dioxide", we can also convert CO2, by virtually the same technique, into "ethylene"; and, we remind you of our discussion in:
West Virginia Coal Association | Ethane Cracker Realities | Research & Development; concerning, primarily, the article: "'Wanted: Ethane Cracker'; The Intelligencer/Wheeling News-Register"; and, which article contains the somewhat inaccurate statement: "most of what would come out of the ethane cracker would be ethylene, the basis for the plastics industry".
But, even though not really "the basis for the plastics industry", "ethylene" is, indeed, still a valuable commodity; and, we can make it, too, from Carbon Dioxide.
As one necessary component of the Panasonic processes for converting CO2 into stuff like Methane and Ethylene, Hydrogen needs to be made available for the specified reactions; and, as in the Disclosures of both "United States Patent Application 20120234691 - Method for Reducing Carbon Dioxide" and "United States Patent Application 20120018311 - Carbon Dioxide Reduction Method", it's seen that the needed Hydrogen is to be extracted, as an integral part of those processes, from Water, H2O.
We've previously documented one of Panasonic's technical routes for such Hydrogen extraction, in:
West Virginia Coal Association | Japan Hydrogen from Water and Sunlight | Research & Development; concerning: "United States Patent 7,909,979 - Water Photolysis System and Process; 2011; Panasonic Corporation; Abstract: The present invention provides a water photolysis system (using) sunlight (wherein Water) vapor is decomposed into hydrogen and oxygen by the (specified) photocatalyst particles, which are excited by the sunlight. Claims: A process for photolyzing water ... into hydrogen and oxygen by the photocatalyst, which is excited by the incident light".
And, herein, we see that Panasonic has made improvements on that technology, wherein Water can be broken down into Hydrogen and Oxygen not just by "sunlight", but, by artificial light in combination with a very small amount of electricity; a combination of energies that maximizes the productivity and reduces the amount of either energy form, and thus the total amount of energy, required.
In fact, although we won't repeat it in our full excerpts, if you're patient enough to wade through the full Disclosure, to item "0094" of the Preferred Embodiments section of the patent application we enclose herein, you will discover that Hydrogen can be generated, from Water, using only a 100 Watt full-spectrum Xenon light bulb in combination with only 0.5 volts and 1.6 milliamps of electricity applied to the solution containing the Carbon Dioxide.
You can generate that much juice by petting your grandma's cat on a cold, dry day. More, if you've got enough motivation to get up off your can and shuffle a few feet across the carpet in rubber-soled shoes.
It'd take a bit more juice to power the 100W light bulb, which we should still be able to find some way to scrounge up.
Additional comment follows excerpts from the initial link in this dispatch to:
"United States Patent Application 20120285823 - Hydrogen Generation Device
Patent US20120285823 - Hydrogen generation device - Google Patents
HYDROGEN GENERATION DEVICE - PANASONIC CORPORATION
Date: November 15, 2012
Inventor: Takahiro Suzuki, et. al., Japan
Assignee: Panasonic Corporation, Osaka
Abstract: A hydrogen generation device of the present invention includes: a transparent substrate; a photocatalytic electrode formed of a transparent conductive layer and a photocatalytic layer disposed on the transparent substrate; a counter electrode connected electrically to the transparent conductive layer; a water-containing electrolyte solution layer provided between the photocatalytic electrode and the counter electrode; a separator that separates the electrolyte solution layer into a first electrolyte solution layer in contact with the photocatalytic electrode and a second electrolyte solution layer in contact with the counter electrode; a first gas outlet for discharging a gas generated in the first electrolyte solution layer; and a second gas outlet for discharging a gas generated in the second electrolyte solution layer. The photocatalytic electrode and the counter electrode are arranged so that a surface of the photocatalytic layer and a surface of the counter electrode face each other. The separator allows an electrolyte in the electrolyte solution layer to pass therethrough and prevents hydrogen gas and oxygen gas in the electrolyte solution layer from passing therethrough.
(Complicated as the dickens, we know. But, it is a lot clearer when it's drawn out. Schematics are a part of the full Patent Application file; and, though not easily accessible on the US Patent and Trademark Office site, you should be able to get to the full app, with schematics, via:
HYDROGEN GENERATION DEVICE; or:
http://www.freepatentsonline.com/20120285823.pdf.
Further, the formal "Claims" section comprises a rather complicated verbal description of the device itself; so complicated that trying to summarize or condense that description would be tedious in the extreme; and/or lead to inaccuracies. Imagine a fresh, college-boy mine engineer trying to explain in words to you how to build a swing set, as opposed to just drawing a picture, and you'll get the idea of what we mean. Look at the schematics via the above supplementary links, and the following summaries will be a lot clearer.)
Background and Field: The present invention relates to a hydrogen generation device designed to obtain hydrogen gas by using light to decompose water into hydrogen and oxygen.
As a conventional method of utilizing a semiconductor material that acts as a photocatalyst, there is known a technique for obtaining hydrogen through water decomposition or for obtaining electrical energy by irradiating the semiconductor material with light.
Summary: The present invention provides a hydrogen generation device including: a transparent substrate; a photocatalytic electrode formed of a transparent conductive layer disposed on the transparent substrate and a photocatalytic layer disposed on the transparent conductive layer; a counter electrode connected electrically to the transparent conductive layer; a water-containing electrolyte solution layer provided between the photocatalytic electrode and the counter electrode; a separator that separates the electrolyte solution layer into a first electrolyte solution layer in contact with the photocatalytic electrode and a second electrolyte solution layer in contact with the counter electrode; a first gas outlet, connected to the first electrolyte solution layer, for discharging oxygen gas or hydrogen gas generated in the first electrolyte solution layer; and a second gas outlet, connected to the second electrolyte solution layer, for discharging hydrogen gas or oxygen gas generated in the second electrolyte solution layer. In this device, the photocatalytic electrode and the counter electrode are arranged so that a surface of the photocatalytic layer and a surface of the counter electrode face each other, and the separator allows an electrolyte in the electrolyte solution layer to pass therethrough and prevents hydrogen gas and oxygen gas in the electrolyte solution layer from passing therethrough.
Advantageous Effects of Invention: According to the hydrogen generation device of the present invention, the distance between the surface of the photocatalytic layer and the surface of the counter electrode is closer over the surfaces. Therefore, protons are sufficiently transferred and diffused to the surface of the photocatalytic layer or the surface of the counter electrode, which is the hydrogen evolution section. As a result, the efficiency of the hydrogen evolution reaction is improved. Furthermore, the electrolyte solution layer is separated into the first electrolyte solution layer in contact with the photocatalytic layer and the second electrolyte solution layer in contact with the counter electrode by the separator that allows the electrolyte in the electrolyte solution layer to pass therethrough but prevents hydrogen gas and oxygen gas generated in the electrolyte solution layer from passing therethrough. Accordingly, oxygen (or hydrogen) generated on the surface of the photocatalytic layer and hydrogen (or oxygen) generated on the surface of the counter electrode can be easily separated, which makes it easier to collect the generated hydrogen.
Since the hydrogen generation device of the present invention can improve the quantum efficiency of hydrogen generation reaction by light irradiation, it can be suitably used as a hydrogen source for fuel cells, or the like."
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By "the present invention can improve the quantum efficiency of hydrogen generation reaction by light irradiation", they mean they've improved the technology, specifically it's energy "efficiency", quite a lot. So much so, that, again, as in our opening comments, it doesn't take a lot of light, 100 Watts, or a lot of electricity, half a Volt and less than two one-thousandths of an Amp, to extract Hydrogen from Water.
Panasonic, obviously, has their own uses in mind for the Hydrogen, as witness our above-cited earlier reports concerning their development of a complete Carbon Dioxide recycling technology.
However, there are other good uses to which we could put such economically-produced Hydrogen, such as, as explained, for one example, in our report of:
West Virginia Coal Association | WVU Hydrogenates Coal Tar | Research & Development; concerning: "Hydrogenation of Naphthalene and Coal Tar Distillate over Ni/Mo/Al2O3 Catalyst; Abhijit Bhagavatula; Thesis submitted to the College of Engineering and Mineral Resources at West Virginia University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Chemical Engineering. John W. Zondlo, Ph.D., Chair; Elliot B. Kennel, M.S; Alfred H. Stiller, Ph.D; Department of Chemical Engineering; Morgantown, West Virginia. 2009. Abstract: The hydrogenation of naphthalene and coal-tar distillates has been carried out in a Trickle Bed Reactor, in which the liquid is allowed to flow through the catalyst bed in the presence of hydrogen. ... The process of converting solid coal to liquid is called liquefaction. Coal is liquefied by reacting with hydrogen. ... Therefore, the process of producing liquid fuels from solid coal necessitates increasing the ratio of hydrogen to carbon. This can be done either by removing carbon or by adding hydrogen. The hydrogenation of coal can be done either directly or indirectly. Direct liquefaction, the direct reaction between coal and hydrogen, involves the conversion of coal to refinable crude hydrocarbons, from which liquid fuels such as gasoline, diesel, kerosene, etc., can be produced";
directly converting some of our abundant United States Coal into such seemingly-needful things as "liquid fuels" like "gasoline, diesel (and) kerosene".