Liberating Hydrogen

Hello all,

Does anyone know the equation for liberating hydrogen using aluminum, water, and
sodium hydroxide (a.k.a. lye)?
something like: Al + NaOH + H2O -> H2 + ......
(the old blowing up balloons with the beer bottle trick)

Trying to figure out how much of each it would take to get a given quantity of H2.

2 Al + 2 NaOH + 2H2O => Na2Al2O4 + 3H2

Don't forget the water vapor that comes off as this sucker is exothermic. If you can separate the water out you'll get better lift.

ive never heard of this, and i would love to see a demonstration.

can someone who knows about this get a video of it being done up here?

cheers

Thanks.

In the book " British Airships: Past, Present and Future" by G. Whale he writes
"At the outbreak of war, with the exception of a silicol plant at Kingsnorth,
 now of obsolete type, and a small electrolytic plant at Farnborough,
there was no facility for the production of hydrogen in this country for the
airship service. "

Book is free from "http://www.gutenberg.net" search on "airships"

I couldn't find any information on "Silicol"  that was helpful on the internet.

This produces  just  hydrogen  right ?  Not  HHO  .

Just H2;

The so called " brown gas" used in welding is a mix of H2 and O2. I steer clear of these type of welders so I won't become a brown spot on the wall.....

speaking of books on airships, there are 49 books that have full view
at:
http://catalog.hathitrust.org/Search/Home?type[]=all&lookfor[]=airships&filter[]=ht_availability%3AFull%20text&filter[]=language%3AEnglish&page=3&use_dismax=1&page=1
in English.  The newest one looks interesting; "Pressure airships."

by Blakemore, Thomas Lloyd.Published 1927

great videos and great books!