Sodium borohydride production by using calcium borates and investigation of processing parameters

World energy requirements are mostly provided by fossil fuels which are known as primaryenergy sources. Therefore much more attention is given to hydrogen because ofenvironmental pollution, decreasing of energy sources and difficulties in storing electricalenergy.Hydrogen which has the highest energy concept per unit weight among other fuels, is themost simple and common element in the universe. Hydrogen is not a natural fuel, it is asynthetic fuel which is produced through different raw materials such as water, fossil fuelsand biomass.One of the most important features of hydrogen is that it can easly be stored. Pure hydrogen ingaseous and liquid form can be stored in tanks, as well as physically stored in carbonnanotubes and also can be chemically stored as hydrides. Boron containing complex hydridesare considered seriously since they are used in liquid conditions. Sodium borohydride is thefundamental of boron based systems. Compared to the other hydrogen storage methods,sodium borohydride is much more advantageous.In this study sodium borohydride is produced through two different methods in which twodifferent boron containing minerals are used as starting material. Sintering of minerals withquartz powder is the first production method; the other method is melting process of theminerals with quartz powder in high temperatures to obtain borosilicate glass for theproduction of sodium borohydride. The production efficiency is %88 in the method, in whichmelting process is applied and it is accepted much more economically and appropriate for theindustrial applications because of the energy and time savings during melting process.Keywords: Sodium borohydride, hydrogen energy, fuel cells, boron compoundsJURY:1. Prof. Dr. Sabriye PİŞKİN (Superviser) Date: 28.12.20052. Prof. Dr. Ahmet EKERİM Page: 1153. Doç. Dr. Seyfettin ERTURAN