Hikers reduce pack weight by using dehydrated food. Why not save pack weight with deoxygenated water? If you use electrolysis to split water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen, you can discard the oxygen but keep the hydrogen. A liter of water weighs 1 kilogram, but the hydrogen in that liter only weighs 112 grams. Burning the hydrogen produces water vapor. By condensing the water vapor, you can make drinkable water.
The problems to overcome are storing the hydrogen, burning the hydrogen, and condensing the water vapor. If the hydrogen is stored as a liquid, you need a cryogenic storage dewar. It is not safe to store the hydrogen bottle in your tent or other enclosed space, since a pressure relief valve bleeds off excess hydrogen as heat slowly passes into the dewar and boils some of the hydrogen. The hydrogen gas that is released could displace oxygen and suffocate anyone in an enclosed space. The hydrogen presents an explosion hazard if ignited or if the pressure relief valve becomes blocked. A sudden release of cryogenic hydrogen could destroy human tissue.
So how much weight would you have to carry to safely transport and burn hydrogen and condense the resulting water vapor? Can the necessary components be split between the packs of multiple hikers, and if so, how many? How fast can the water be reproduced?
The problems to overcome are storing the hydrogen, burning the hydrogen, and condensing the water vapor. If the hydrogen is stored as a liquid, you need a cryogenic storage dewar. It is not safe to store the hydrogen bottle in your tent or other enclosed space, since a pressure relief valve bleeds off excess hydrogen as heat slowly passes into the dewar and boils some of the hydrogen. The hydrogen gas that is released could displace oxygen and suffocate anyone in an enclosed space. The hydrogen presents an explosion hazard if ignited or if the pressure relief valve becomes blocked. A sudden release of cryogenic hydrogen could destroy human tissue.
So how much weight would you have to carry to safely transport and burn hydrogen and condense the resulting water vapor? Can the necessary components be split between the packs of multiple hikers, and if so, how many? How fast can the water be reproduced?
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