DC TO DC CONVERTER HOOKS UP TO THE FUEL CELL
Product Description
High power 12 volt to 4 volt DC/DC converter designed for hydrogen generation.
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This is a buck converter that reduces a nominal 12 volts to a range between 3 and 5 volts with constant current. The output current is nominally 30 amps, but can be varied with a knob on the front panel.
Since it only takes about 1.5 volts to break down water any excess voltage is turned into heat. This is why when you use an electrolytic cell connected directly to the car's alternator it is difficult to manage the heat.
At 1.5 volts there is very little current accepted, so it helps to boost the voltage above that slightly. Our DC converter sets this compromise at about 4 volts, which allows for maximum gas generation with highly efficient use of electrical power and for reasonable electrolyte concentrations.
Another advantage is that this converter will use only about 12 amps of 13.8 volts from the car's alternator to produce 30 amps worth of hydrogen. This advantage comes from using an efficient switchmode DC converter technology and so is much kinder on the car or truck's electrical system and alternator than trying to run the electrochemical cell off of 12 volts.
What counts in electrochemistry is current. Two electrons are needed to separate the two hydrogen atoms from the oxygen atom in a water molecule. Amps are proportional to electrons per second flowing along a wire or through a liquid. The voltage drives the reaction, but increasing the voltage will not increase the hydrogen generation unless there is also an increase in current.
Therefore, this DC/DC converter is designed to run in constant-current mode. Resistance of the electrolytic cell is dependent on electrolyte concentration and temperature, so a constant voltage source will cause the hydrogen generation (and also the heat dissipated) to vary. In fact the the higher the temperature the more current will be driven through it, making the electrolyte even hotter. This makes the cell impossible to control. Therefore this constant-current converter is designed so that no matter what the temperature or concentration of the electrolyte is it will try to put out a constant 30 amps. When the electrolyte's resistance is outside of the converter's operating mode it will let you know by LED ..
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This is a buck converter that reduces a nominal 12 volts to a range between 3 and 5 volts with constant current. The output current is nominally 30 amps, but can be varied with a knob on the front panel.
Since it only takes about 1.5 volts to break down water any excess voltage is turned into heat. This is why when you use an electrolytic cell connected directly to the car's alternator it is difficult to manage the heat.
At 1.5 volts there is very little current accepted, so it helps to boost the voltage above that slightly. Our DC converter sets this compromise at about 4 volts, which allows for maximum gas generation with highly efficient use of electrical power and for reasonable electrolyte concentrations.
Another advantage is that this converter will use only about 12 amps of 13.8 volts from the car's alternator to produce 30 amps worth of hydrogen. This advantage comes from using an efficient switchmode DC converter technology and so is much kinder on the car or truck's electrical system and alternator than trying to run the electrochemical cell off of 12 volts.
What counts in electrochemistry is current. Two electrons are needed to separate the two hydrogen atoms from the oxygen atom in a water molecule. Amps are proportional to electrons per second flowing along a wire or through a liquid. The voltage drives the reaction, but increasing the voltage will not increase the hydrogen generation unless there is also an increase in current.
Therefore, this DC/DC converter is designed to run in constant-current mode. Resistance of the electrolytic cell is dependent on electrolyte concentration and temperature, so a constant voltage source will cause the hydrogen generation (and also the heat dissipated) to vary. In fact the the higher the temperature the more current will be driven through it, making the electrolyte even hotter. This makes the cell impossible to control. Therefore this constant-current converter is designed so that no matter what the temperature or concentration of the electrolyte is it will try to put out a constant 30 amps. When the electrolyte's resistance is outside of the converter's operating mode it will let you know by LED ..
