On ship and in the field hydrogen porduction

[PMN1]

What process was used on ships and in the field to produce hydrogen for observation/barrage/etc balloons?

 

[Hood]

This should provide some answers:

Nevil Shute Foundation—Title

Only a couple of airship stations in the UK received silicol plants, most of the smaller bases relied on commercial cylinders.

 

[Scott Kenny]

This should provide some answers:

Nevil Shute Foundation—Title

Only a couple of airship stations in the UK received silicol plants, most of the smaller bases relied on commercial cylinders.

Huh. I was expecting electrolysis, not steam cracking.

 

[Byeman]

Huh. I was expecting electrolysis, not steam cracking.

required to much power

 

[Byeman]

What process was used on ships and in the field to produce hydrogen for observation/barrage/etc balloons?

For the US civil war, it was sulfuric acid and iron.

 

[PMN1]

For the US civil war, it was sulfuric acid and iron.

This is for the wiki article

The first major-scale use of balloons in the military occurred during the Civil War with the Union Army Balloon Corps established and organized by Prof. Thaddeus S. C. Lowe. Originally, the balloons were inflated with coal gas from municipal services and then walked out to the battlefield, an arduous and inefficient operation as the balloons had to be returned to the city every four days for re-inflation. Eventually, hydrogen gas generators, a compact system of tanks and copper plumbing, were constructed that combined iron filings and sulfuric acid to produce hydrogen. The generators were easily transported with the uninflated balloons to the field on a standard buckboard. However, this method shortened the life of the balloons, because traces of the sulfuric acid often entered the balloons along with the hydrogen.[9] In all, Lowe built seven balloons that were fit for military service.