Hydrogen Peroxide and Lithium Aluminum Hydride....

[FlashBang]

I need to either become a Chemist or Chemical Engineer or find one....

I have got to come up to speed on few things.

Namely... I have been taking a look at Hydrogen peroxide as a ready and rapid source of very high temperature and pressure steam, to drive a steam turbine to produce electricity. This process requires a catalyst and typically also includes additional water and ethanol... but I am thinking of substituting for Ispropyl Alcohol.... The catalyst however, is typically a SILVER SCREEN very fine and pretty dense. Also used is a Manganese powder.

Neither of which ranks high for me... so I was looking for something a little more reactive for my need and I came up with Lithium Alimunium Hydride. This stuff seems relatively inexpensive and is pretty available... and is suppose to have a "violent reaction" with water. I suspect a similar reaction with H2O2 but I am a little concerned that H2O2 is pretty explosive itself in high concentrations (above 70%).

Has anyone found or experimented in this area? I have seen where both components are used in a hybrid fuel cell... and there is a patent on FreeOnlinePatents... but that is a slightly different application... as they are not putting the H2O2 into contact with the Lithium Aluminum Hydride.

So if you have any information or links to good info in this area... it would be greatly appreciated, I do not want to BLOW MYSELF up.

FlashBang!

[SeaMonkey]

Questions regarding Energetic Materials such as those you are wondering about are a topic of discussion on several forums.

one.

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[SeaMonkey]

Some of the Noobs that frequent the forum of definitely...

The older folks, many of them very competent professional chemists, just share an interest in things that make smoke and fire. And noise. Always advocating safety and sensibility.

One of the Noobs a few years back got too carried away with his "experiments" and refused to listen to those who tried to caution him. Sadly, he lost his life in his arrogance and stupidity.

[SeaMonkey]

Forgot to mention, although you may have already discovered, that the forum is rather demanding of Noobs. Asking a question without first searching the forum can result in a permanent ban.

They try hard to "filter out" those with mischief in mind and those who need to be spoon fed. A very mature and disciplined group.

Hope you get some good responses!

Word your question very carefully and reveal any research clues you've been able to find; it'll assure that you are taken seriously.

[FlashBang]

Yeah... I made sure to read the "Perm Ban" Thread... about 3 years of permbans...

Some of it Funny stuff... but I agree... they are pretty harsh on noobs... BUT.. given the topic and the very sensitive nature of wording, spelling, punctuation and necessity for precision... I absolutely agree.

I am still waiting to be granted permission to post... in the Water Cooler section.

Also... I did the site search for Lithium Aluminum Hydride and found ZIP....

FlashBang!

[SeaMonkey]

Yes, the Lithium Aluminum Hydride is particularly reactive with water and releases Hydrogen very rapidly. Hazardous stuff.

Calcium Hydride is generally considered much safer and is used to generate Hydrogen quickly and in fairly large quantity for inflating weather research balloons.

[FlashBang]

[SeaMonkey]

Use search engine to search "Lithium Aluminum Hydride" to find a wealth of information.

Scroogle will automatically filter out the "paid advertisements" and greatly help to narrow the search.

I generally select "50" for the "number of results" to get a good field then work through them clicking on the likely prospects.

The Wikipedia article is reasonably good, and there are others too.

The "other forum" will eventually get around to noticing your query and offer some opinions. Takes a little time.

[FlashBang]

The more I read on LAH and H2O2.... the more I think that "FLASHBANG" might very well be appropriate.

In high concentrations H2O2 is prone to explode if it becomes pressurized or too hot.

I just read that LAH is a pyrophoric substance in its PURE form and will ignite spontaneously; that is, its autoignition temperature is below room temperature. It is shipped in moisture resistant plastic packaging since it is prone to reaction with atmospheric water. And there are repeated warnings "DO NOT USE WITH WATER".... "Reacts VIOLENTLY with water"...so perhaps this is not the "Holy Grail" of instant steam generation that I was hoping for. Maybe I should be looking for a much lower reducing agent.

In any case, it looks like IF is use LAH... it will be used up in the process and will leave me with several byproducts of the reaction and I have no idea what I will do with them.

Also.. found this..

LAH violently reacts with water, including atmospheric moisture. The reaction proceeds according the following idealized equation:

LiAlH4 + 4 H2O → LiOH + Al(OH)3 + 4 ↑H2

Now... this is both scary and quite exciting BECAUSE the results are Lithium Hydroxide and Aluminum Hydroxide and Hydrogen... plus quite a bit of heat.

Lithium hydroxide is used in breathing gas purification systems for spacecraft (Lithium hydroxide canisters in the LEM were lifelines for the Apollo 13 astronauts), submarines, and rebreathers to remove carbon dioxide from exhaled gas by producing lithium carbonate and water:[1]

2 LiOH·H2O + CO2 → Li2CO3 + 3 H2O
Or,

2LiOH + CO2 → Li2CO3 + H2O
The later, anhydrous hydroxide is preferred for its lower mass and lesser water production for respirator systems in spacecraft. 1 gram of anhydrous lithium hydroxide can remove 450 cm3 of carbon dioxide gas. Which means that one of the byproducts of this system could be used to convert some of our carbon footprint into Lithium Carbonate and Water... and Lithium Carbonate is used to treat people with Bi-Polar Syndrome, used in the making of Fireworks, and production of Lithium Ion Batteries. And the water can be reused in the system.

Aluminum Hydroxide has a number of valuable uses including its use in the production of Hydrogen Peroxide. Another is that it is the same chemical substance as Sapphires and Rubies... but it lacks certain impurities (which I am guessing could be added to create "artificial" or man-made precious gems). How is that for a byproduct?!?!?!?

That is just what you get when you put Lithium Aluminum Hydride in water. The reaction might be a bit different with H2O2... but I imagine the chemical results would be generally pretty close. Maybe I can find a way to get some plain O2 out to go with the Hydrogen to make some Hydroxy as well...

FlashBang!

[FlashBang]

I must really credit Wikipedia for ALL of the information in the previous post. It was pulled from lots of links, so it was not all in one place... but what an amazing resource.

FlashBang!

[FlashBang]