Experimental data on sodium borohydride in pure water and seawater, underlying the publication: Spill Behaviour of Hydrogen Carriers as Alternative Fuels for Ships.

Sodium borohydride (SB) was tested for its reaction with seawater. A pneumatic through is used to measure the hydrogen production from SB when reacting with seawater. The resulting substance from the SB reaction , NaBO2, will dissociate in water, resulting in Na+ and B(OH)4--ions. These strongly alkaline ions can result in a strongly alkaline solution. To avoid forming a very strongly alkaline solution, which would mimic the conditions of open seawater, and due to safety limitations in the test setup, a total of 0.15g of SB was added to a large excess of 600mL of water. In the case of complete conversion of all SB, this is predicted to result in a pH of 10.52, regardless of whether salt is added. Experiments involved placing 0.15g of SB in an airtight Erlenmeyer flask filled with seawater. This flask is connected via a tube to a pneumatic trough, allowing us to measure the volume of hydrogen gas generated by the reaction. Temperature conditions were adjusted using a heating plate when necessary.

contributor: TU Delft, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Department of Maritime and Transport Technology, Ship Design, Production and Operations and Department of Process and Energy, Complex Fluid Processing
creator: Erin Van Rheenen
creator: Klaas Visser