Patent ID: 8685224

Claim:
A method of generating hydrogen gas, said method comprising: providing a reactor vessel having at least one cathode plate and at least one anode plate and containing a volume of water in which the cathode plate and the anode plate are at least partially submerged; providing a buffer tank containing a volume of liquid and having a gas inlet submerged in the volume of liquid and a gas outlet positioned above the volume of liquid; providing a chemical energy conversion device, a fluid conduit coupled between the reactor vessel, the buffer tank, and the chemical energy conversion device, and first and second electrical current sources, wherein the buffer tank is positioned between and in fluid communication with the reactor vessel and the chemical energy conversion device; energizing at least one of the cathode plate and the anode plate with electrical current supplied by the first electrical current source; generating hydrogen and oxygen via electrolysis in the reactor vessel; sensing a fluid pressure of the hydrogen and the oxygen; measuring an elapsed time of said energizing of at least one of the cathode plate and the anode plate with the first electrical current source; if the elapsed time of said energizing exceeds a predetermined amount of time, de-energizing the at least one of the cathode plate and the anode plate with the first electrical current source and re-energizing the at least one of the cathode plate and the anode plate with the second electrical current source; after the fluid pressure of the hydrogen and the oxygen reaches a predetermined threshold pressure, activating the chemical energy conversion device to chemically react the hydrogen with the oxygen to produce electrical current; and supplying the electrical current from the chemical energy conversion device to at least one of the first and second electrical current sources and at least one of the cathode plate and the anode plate.