Phase II Final Report - NASA's Institute for Advanced Concepts

Chapter 3.0 Vehicle Design
3.5 Fuel Storage and Production
ing membrane. Oxygen introduced through a gas-diffusion layer combines with the hydrogen
ion in a cathodic catalyst layer to produce hydrogen peroxide. The reactions that take place at
this point are given in Equations 3-59 and 3-60. The hydrogen peroxide and excess water are
then released. This process is shown in Figure 3-162.
3H 2 O (l) → 6H + + 6e - + O 3 (g) Equation 3-58
O 2 (g)+ 4H + + 4e - → 2H 2 0(l) Equation 3-59
O 2 (g)+ 2H + + 2e - → H 2 O 2 (l) Equation 3-60
This reactor for making hydrogen peroxide is in the development stage; its performance, therefore,
is not what would be expected from a production unit. Presently, this unit, operating at 120
W, can produce 9 g of H 2 O 2 per day [193]. This rate should scale with power and unit size and
improve as further development on the reactor takes place. Because this device operates in a
fashion similar to a fuel cell and contains very similar components, its mass can be estimated
using state-of-the-art projections for fuel cells. Presently, the near term goal for fuel cell development
is 1 kW/kg. Therefore, if this unit is operating at 500 W, an estimate of its mass would
be 0.5 kg. The overall hydrogen peroxide reactor mass is then estimated at approximately 2.0 kg,
which includes the storage tanks, lines, and other miscellaneous components.
Figure 3-162: Hydrogen Peroxide Generation Method
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