Fred is a "gold mine" of information these days...
The larger question for consideration of MTP (medium test
peroxide, ~ 35%) as an alternative fuel is: what is the lowest
possible "energy cost" for producing HOOH from ozone?
Fred provided this reference:
"The theoretical yield is 1200 grams O3 per kilowatt-Hour,
commercial units show 5%efficiency in air and 15% in O2".
Electrical Engineer's Handbook (Electric Power)
Pender, Dell Mar eighth printing 1967
Since 1200 grams of O3 will theoretically convert one kg of H2O to
1.4 kg of HOOH, which is one liter, mas o menos, we have some
round numbers to work with.
To get a liter of 35% HOOH for ten cents of grid power, we need to
achieve an efficiency of about 35%. Is that doable?
Maybe.
The low efficiency of commercial units is due primarily to using
UV light, and the losses are mostly related to the other radiation
in the visible and IR spectra - from the light source, which are
not useful for making ozone.
Commercial units (for hot tubs and pools, etc) are concerned
mainly with simplicity, reliability and NOT the lowest energy
costs, since ozone is an incredibly potent for use as a
disinfection product - ergo, no one will quibble over a few cents
worth of grid power. Plus that data is 40 years old now.
However, if one wanted to fuel an automobile with 35% HOOH,
knowing to will take 250 liters to replace 11 gallons of gasoline,
then ... in order to save the $10 and make the process arguably
attractive, using an energy cost of 10 cents per liter, then it
would seem that this goal is potentially doable (with a massive
engineering effort).
If Detroit put a fair fraction of its R&D budget into this, we
could possibly have a viable cheap alternative fuel made from air
and water in the short term...
Jones
