It seems that the students of the National Polytechnic Institute (IPN) are among the people most concerned about using water to convert it into fuel. Recently, some students proposed a cell that generates energy from the most abundant material in the world: hydrogen present in water. This hydrogen generator prototype developed by CECyT7 students is capable of transforming water into a cheap, accessible and sustainable fuel to power stoves, welders and electric motors. Its main idea is electrolysis, a process that consists of breaking the bond of hydrogen and oxygen molecules using an electrical charge to obtain fuel in a gaseous state. Alejandro Cortez Ayala, Gerardo Aarón Cabañas Reyes and Alejandro Cercas de la Rosa considered the possibility of “making fire out of water” and began working on Hydrogenfire, which could replace the gas tank in stoves, oxyacetylene welding and even function as a feeder.
Clean fuel with contaminated water
From a fuel battery, used in electrical and electronic devices, such as bicycles or drones. This device is made up of two acrylics that protect the cell, a tank with water, eight stainless steel plates and a bubbler whose function is to clean the fuel that has been generated. The bubbler also works as protection in case the flame returns through the tube, because hydrogen is a highly volatile element, the students explained. “The only thing we would have to do is fill a small tank with water, to generate hydrogen and with oxygen from the environment, they would begin to generate electricity without having to wait for the battery to recharge. Air pollutants not only hurt children’s lungs, but can also permanently damage their developing brains. Clean fuel with contaminated water Two other IPN students carried out studies on the use of sewage to produce clean fuel.
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Jeimmie Gabriela Espino Ramírez and Lisset Dayanira Neri Pérez, made a prototype consisting of a purifier and an electrolyzer in order to take advantage of the effluents of sewage and contaminated rivers. Said mechanism can be portable and fixed and would be used in highly marginalized areas of the country. This is Gimfi, which means “dirty water” in Otomi; it has a filter with layers of cotton, sand, charcoal, marble, gravel and tezontle. Its main function is to retain large solids and organic particles. According to the students, to generate hydrogen through electrolysis they use electrical energy, however they will make the necessary renovations so that the energy is obtained through solar cells and thus convert the project into a sustainable and low-cost prototype. It is worth mentioning that this entire process is positive for the electrolysis carried out by the students to produce hydrogen, since its conductivity increases.