Recombination, of hydrogen and oxygen

The electrolysis of water proceeds without any side reactions and also the current losses which are caused by dissipation and by the recombination of hydrogen and oxygen dissolved in water are low. The current efficiency at normal pressure is, therefore, very good, reaching about 99 per cent. If electrolysis is carried out at a higher pressure the current efficiency is somewhat lower, as more gas is dissolved in the electrolyte which causes an increased quantity of the recombined hydrogen and oxygen. 

Grove was quick to recognize the elegant symmetry of the processes of electrolysis and recombination of hydrogen and oxygen, but he soon abandoned work on a gaseous voltaic battery because his device was not able to produce enough power. 

Recombination of Hydrogen and Oxygen into Water Using Catalytic Plugs... 

For a full recombination of hydrogen and oxygen by the chemical reaction (14.1), the two gases should be evolved in a stoichiometric proportion in the cell (2 1). This ratio is sustained in the... 

Recombination of Hydrogen and Oxygen to Water on Auxiliary Catalytic Electrodes... 

Tests of high-capacity stationary cells with auxiliary catalytic electrodes were conducted at a number of battery plants, but on grounds of certain technical and economical considerations, this method of recombination of hydrogen and oxygen has not found wide practical application in the battery industry. 

The electrolytic process was also used by the Manhattan District, at Morgantown, West Virginia, and at Trail, British Columbia [M8], to refine crude heavy water from a primary plant where some process other than electrolysis was employed. These electrolytic plants were operated batchwise. The cells had no diaphragm, so the product was a mixture of hydrogen and oxygen. The gases were recombined in a burner, and the water was recycled to the primary plant when its deuterium content was leaner than primary-plant product or to the next batch of the electrolytic plant when its deuterium content was richer than primary-plant product,... 

Figure 14.5 shows that after reaching full charge, the currents (i o2)wci ( H2)wc2 very low, which indicates that the total amount of hydrogen and oxygen has recombined on the WCl and WC2 electrodes. 

As noted earlier, a gel cell is a recombinant battery. This means that the oxygen that is normally produced on the positive plates in all batteries recombines with the hydrogen given off by the negative plates. The combination of hydrogen and oxygen produces water, which replaces the moisture lost in wet-cell batteries. Therefore, the battery is maintenance free, because it never needs water to be added. 

Certain solutes, notably copper salts, have been shown to act as homogeneous catalysts [39] in the thermal combination of hydrogen and oxygen in aqueous uranium solutions. This provides a convenient method for recombining the radiolytic hydrogen and oxygen gases. 

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