Practical Guige to Free Energy Devices

2. Resistance to flow between the electrode and the electrolyte is an entirely different matter, and major advances
can be made in this area. After extensive testing, Bob discovered that a major improvement can be made if a
catalytic layer is developed on the active plate surface. Details of how this is done are provided below.
3. Resistance to flow through the electrolyte itself can be minimised by using the best catalyst at its optimum
concentration, and controlling the current flow by using an electronic circuit. The options here are the use of a
Pulse-Width Modulator (or “PWM”) circuit or a Constant-current Circuit. A PWM circuit switches the current off
for any chosen percentage of the time. This reduces the average current flowing through the electrolyte and
so controls the gas output rate. This circuit is manually set and adjusted as necessary. The Constant-current
circuit maintains any chosen current through the electrolyte automatically. Another factor is the distance which
the current has to flow through the electrolyte - the greater the distance, the greater the resistance. Reducing
the inter-plate gap to a minimum improves the efficiency. However, practical factors come into play here as
bubbles have to have sufficient space to escape between the plates, and in a compact series-connected
electrolyser, the electrolyte volume between successive plates is severely restricted if the plates are over close
to each other. Bob’s chosen compromise spacing is 3 mm. or one eighth of an inch.
These factors allow a doubling of Faraday’s results, or to put it another way, give Faraday’s gas output for less
than half the current which he found it necessary to use. The best catalyst known at this time is potassium
hydroxide or KOH. This is 20% more efficient in use than the next most suitable catalyse sodium hydroxide or
NaOH. It is quite possible that a better catalyst may be discovered in the future, which would lower the current
requirement further for any required gas output rate. The plate area is important for long electrode life and a plate
area of at least 4 square inches per amp of current will give extended plate life. There is an advantage in having
the plates wider than they are tall as this provides more electrolyte surface area
The creation of the very important catalyst layer on the working faces of the electrode plates is as follows:
The first step is to treat both surfaces of every plate to encourage gas bubbles to break away from the surface of
the plate. This could be done by grit blasting, but if that method is chosen, great care must be taken that the grit
used does not contaminate the plates. Stainless steel plates are not cheap and if you get grit blasting wrong, then
the plates will be useless as far as electrolysis is concerned. A safe method which Bob much prefers is to score
the plate surface with coarse sandpaper. This is done in two different directions to produce a cross-hatch pattern.
This produces microscopic sharp peaks and valleys on the surface of the plate and those sharp points and ridges
are ideal for helping bubbles to form and break free of the plate.
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