How To Recycle Scrap Metal Into Electricity

1 — JUNK POWER: THE NEW ALTERNATIVE ENERGY

What is it? — 1
Why use it? — 2
Where did it come from? — 3
Junk Power for Fun and Profit — 5

2 — HOW TO MAKE A SIMPLE HOME-MADE BATTERY

Basic Components — 11

3 — HOW POWER CELLS WORK

Uncle Mickey’s Electrochemical Laws — 15
What goes where inside the cell — 17
Calculating Power — 19
Calculating Energy — 20
Georgie Ohm’s law — 20
Conductance — 21
Basic Battery Design — 21
Voltage — 22
Table 1: The Electromotive Series — 23
Current — 24
Shape of the Electrodes — 25
Thickness of the Electrodes — 26
Distance between the Electrodes — 27
Electrolytes — 27
Table 2: Electrolytes — 28

4 — FINDING ENERGY SOURCE METAL

The Negative Electrode — 31
Elements Above Hydrogen — 32
Elements Below Hydrogen — 34
Fuel Sources — 35
Salt Fuels — 37
Recycling “Fuels” From Other Cells — 38

5 — SELECTING JUNK CELL COMPONENTS

Mix and Match Cells — 39
The Positive Electrode — 41
Copper — 41
Carbon — 42
Cell Containers — 44
Super-Cells — 47
Electrolytes — 48

6 — SAFETY FIRST

Things to Always Do — 51
Things to Never Do — 52
Handling Acids — 52
First Aid for Acids and Alkalies — 52
Poisons — 53
Mixing Chemicals and Ventilation — 54
Disposal — 54

7 — THE TEST CELL

The Basic Test Cell — 57
Aluminum/Copper Test w/ Water — 60
Open Circuit Voltage Test — 61
Current Under Test Load — 61
Test Load Resistance — 61
Calculating Cell Power — 62
Internal Cell Resistance — 63
Testing Component Arrangements — 64
Electrode Area — Current Density — 65
Electrolyte Resistance — 66
Ampere-Hours: How Long and How Tough — 67
Testing A New Electrolyte — 68
No Slop Bottles — 68
Sample Test Cells, Table 3 — 69
Test Cell Comparison, Open Circuit Voltages — 70
Using and Making Electrochemical tables — 70
Testing Metal Electrodes — 71
What to Look for When Testing Scrap Metals — 73
Low Cell Resistance — 73
Local Action — 74
Plating — 74
Electrode Changes — 74
Polarization — 74
Changes Over Time — 75
Strange Gasses — 75
Temperature Changes — 75
Testing Cell Configurations — 76
Comparing Test and Commercial Cells — 76
Comparing Test and Backyard Cells — 77
Selecting materials from your test results — 78
Testing Unknown Metals — 79
Cleanliness — 80

8 — BACKYARD BATTERY BUILDING

Cells in a Series — 82
Internal Resistance — 83
The Dry Connection — 83
Ventilation — 86
Saving the Hydrogen — 87
Cleaning — 88
Electrode Separators — 88
Bridges — 89
Electrolyte Shorts — 90
Junk Power Cells from the Past — 90
Bucket of Bolts — 92
Mix and Match Cells — 93
Other Cell Types — 93
Lead Acid…Car Batteries — 95
Edison Cell — 95

9 — DEALING WITH POLARIZATION

Polarization — 97
Catching Hydrogen — 98
Mechanical Hydrogen Removal — 98
Recirculating Electrolyte — 100
Pumps — 101
Whistle Pump — 101
Big Horn Mountain Pump — 101
Percolators — 102
Jet Pumps — 103
Convection Pumps — 103
Electro-chemical Depolarization — 104
Other Depolarizers — 106
Use the Hydrogen — 107
Fuel Cells — 107
The Air Electrode — 109
What’s New — 110

10 — OPERATING YOUR OWN SCRAP METAL POWER UTILITY

Tin Can Power — 111
Frying Pan Cell — 112
Bigger and Better — 114
Recycled Car Batteries — 115
Dry Cell Recycling — 116
Yogurt Cup Power House — 116
Checking Out the Scrap Pile Power Supply — 117
Two Ways To Greater Power — 119
Portable Power — 120
Battery House — 120
Cell Arrangement — 122
Connecting Wires — 123
Operation — 123
Cleaning Parts — 124
How Big? — 125
EPILOGUE — 126

APPENDIX 1: TABLES

Electromotive Series, Table 1 — A1
Electrolytes, Table 2 — A2
Sample Test Cells, Table 3 — A3
Test Cell Comparisons, Open Circuit Voltages, Table 3 — A3
Energy Densities for Various Metals — A4
Resistor Color Code — A4

APPENDIX 2: COMPUTER PROGRAM

Cell Parameter Calculating Program — A5

How To Recycle Scrap Metal Into Electricity
Handbook for the new alternative energy.
By John N. Hait