Well, these are indeed interesting things. However, do you have any idea of the power consumed to create aluminum from bauxite in the first place? No way these things are anything near "Renewable Energy". Mostly a novelty. I have no idea on the actual power that goes into creating a pound of aluminum but I am pretty certain you cannot get back even a tiny % of what went into that process.

T

The Truth is the Truth, even if no one believes it; and a lie is a lie even if everyone believes it

Finsayer... i got thinking along the EV line too... huge weight saver.

With a bit more research, i think i can come up with a suitable test to help understand the energy storage value of alu... i already have most of the equipment needed.

Do you care how much power went into making the paper wrapper for your fast food hamburger when you throw it in the trash to fill the dump, or that broken TV set you just tossed out when you buy a new one??
 Of course not, no-one does, and that's half the problem also.

Anyway the point is when you hit a curb and bust that beautiful aluminum wheel, should you trash it at the recyclers for a buck or use it to feul your car instead of gasoline? Or maybe make electric to charge your batteries instead of running a gas or desiel gennie when the sun ain't shining and wind ain't blowing.
 If your using trash (old cans, kitchen foils, junk car parts, etc..) you got nearly free feul. It is not free to melt that down and make it into a new product. That takes power/feul. First to take it to the recycler, then they ship it somewhere, then to melt it, then to ship to a manufactorer, then to make the new product.
 Recycling takes fuel/power also!
 If the process works and people used it, the only problem I really see is instead of thieves stealing your gasoline they will be stealing your wheels and other parts.

As I see it, the electric to make aluminum is not really that important as a feul really. Set up plants in remote areas where there is tons of wind, lots of sun, or large running water sources. Use free/RE resources to make the power to make the aluminum. You can't ship electric all over the world by truck or ship, but you can aluminum! You can't dig electric out of the trash dumpster, but you can aluminum!
 Using electric does not keep our roads clean, but using aluminum cans will help!
 35 cents a pound and I still see cans scattered around people just toss out as they drive. As a fuel they would toss them in the tank instead!

Pretty simple really, set the plants up where the population is low and nateraul resources are high. Collect the ore at a recycler (after its's been used) ship to plant, process back into aluminum, ship back to be used as feul again. If we can ship oil from Iran, Iraq, etc.. then why can't we ship aluminum instead, right?

If the rain stops so I can work outside with this stuff this weekend I will try a couple quick things. Like I have some 55gal barrels with removable lids that seal tight. So maybe I will "Safely" dump 5gal water, 1 bottle lye, 1 lb aluminum into one and see what happens. Or I may use 35gal plastic barrels I have if I can find one with both caps.

My main interest is the hydrogen for feul, but if I can also make electric I will try that later also.

Basically, water, lye? (sodium hydroxide), aluminum, should create pure hydrogen gas and the oxygen part of the water is absorbed into the aluminum creating an oxide. Basically as I understand it your turning the aluminum back into raw ore again.
 I haven't really found anything about the Lye being used up in anyway. It is a catalyst to create the reaction between the water and aluminum. Is it used up or does it remain? Since only oxygen and hydrogen seem to be active and removed when they are broken from the water then it would seem that the Lye should remain. Add powered lye to water, remove water and you have the powdered lye back? Adding aluminum to the mix is the way to remove the water. So what I beleave you will end up with is a dry powered aluminum ore covered in powered lye if you allough it to totally dry. Then if you rinse the ore with water you will have the water lye solution again. Of course you would seldom actually dry the ore, more like a slushy slurry maybe that you could rinse and filter to seperate the ore and the lye/water.
 Then use the rinse water with fresh aluminum. The only by product should be the ore/oxide which can then by refined back into aluminum again later.

Also I am a firm beleaver that Hydrogen is perfectly safe, at least compared to other things like gasoline. Hydrogen only burns in the presence of oxygen, since the oxygen is aborbed none is present with this type system. As demonstrated by the HiNDINBURG disaster many years ago, Hydrogen does not explode violiently in the absence of oxygen, and when exposed to oxygen a large ball of hydrogen gas burns slowly as the oxygen is consumed in the fire. Hindenburg was a large blimp/derigable, just a gaint baloon full of hydrogen gas. a static electric spark started a Hydrogen fire, NOT explosion!
The outer layer of hydrogen was exposed to oxygen and burned, the inner ball of gas still floated the blimp as it burned. As the outer layer of hydrogen burned off the inner layers got oxygen and burned. People jumped to their deaths in a panic and maybe to get away from the heat. It was not a massive explosion.
 However just like gasoline fumes, get a Hydrogen/oxygen mix and it ingnites in a large poof. Put either in a small space where it can build pressure and both will explode. But we carry 12-25 gallons of gasoline all the time and keep some in the garage or storage sheds for the mowers too right.
 Batteries will explode because there is an Oxygen/Hydrogen mix to ignite, and it is also confined in a small space in the battery where it will build a pressure.
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nothing to lose

Aluminum-air batteries were used to power experimental cars at
one point.  You had to shovel out the bauxite every few hundred
miles and replace the electrodes every few thousand.

I have no idea why nothing ever came of that experiment - though
the usual answer to a "why didn't this car tech become prevalent"
is "it wasn't cost-competitive with a gasoline engine solution".

Aluminum is pretty toxic stuff, though, and aluminum oxides are
a great way to become exposed and acquire a "burden".  Symptoms
of aluminum poisoning are much like Alzheimers and do NOT go away.

As far as poisioning yourself with aluminum, use all the normal saftey precautions of course. Really I don't like using aluminum cookware myself, but we do, most people do, so it must not be quite as bad as lead :)

Water, lye, aluminum does produce heat and hydrogen. Also I got a little white fog/smoke like you see in the mad scientists lab in the movies.

I'll post my pics in a new post along with basic info I did last night and a little today. If you try doing this play safe! It gives fumes, heat, hydrogen, steam, and can boil over also. Lye itself can cause severe damage, it can be used as paint remover,  it causes blindness in the eyes, burns on skin, piosion if drank, ect..
 But perfectly safe like anything else when used properly.
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nothing to lose