The Institute of Chemical Technology (ITQ), a joint facility of the Higher Council for Scientific Research (CSIC) and the Polytechnic University of Valencia (UPV), has created a new electrified reactor to generate hydrogen in a more energy-efficient and sustainable manner.
This group has successfully merged 36 separate ceramic membranes into a modular, scalable generator that generates hydrogen from electricity and a variety of fuels with nearly little energy loss. This is the first time that it has been demonstrated that this technique can be used to produce hydrogen in an industrial setting.
The most prevalent chemical element on the earth, hydrogen, however, is not found in any deposits. It must be obtained from other components that include it. Colors are assigned to hydrogen generation for energy purposes based on how clean it is obtained. Green hydrogen, which is generated from sustainable energy sources, is the cleanest. According to the findings of research in which the ITQ is involved, both types are promising for competitiveness in land and sea transportation, as well as other markets and industrial applications.
The proton ceramic electrochemical reactors employed in this work extract hydrogen from other molecules with high efficiency using electrical energy. Ammonia, natural gas, biogas, or other hydrogen molecules can be used as fuel. The research has allowed an electrified reactor to be scaled up to produce nearly half a kilo of compressed hydrogen per day by electro compression, with very high purity and maximum energy efficiency of over 90%.
One of the most significant achievements of this study has been the demonstration by the ITQ energy conversion and storage group that it is feasible to operate with this sort of technology at 150 bar pressure. Furthermore, the carbon dioxide (CO 2) created in the process is not discharged into the environment with this method; instead, it is converted into a pressured current for liquefaction and transport for later use or storage, allowing for decarbonization.
IN THE DIRECTION OF INDUSTRIAL MASS PRODUCTION
For the first time, the findings of this study reveal that proton ceramic technology may be utilized to construct scalable hydrogen devices, paving the door for widespread industrial production. Hydrogen has the benefit of being able to store and distribute energy, whereas other clean sources such as solar and wind are intermittent. “This method will allow energy to be stored in the form of high energy density molecules with hydrogen content, addressing the problem of renewable energy sources being intermittent,” explains ITQ postdoctoral researcher Sonia Remiro Buenamaana.
In addition to the ITQ, the study team comprises scientists and engineers from the University of Oslo and the Norwegian SINTEF research center, as well as CoorsTek Membrane Sciences, the company’s research division. “Energy efficiency is critical for hydrogen’s future,” says co-author Irene Yuste, a chemical engineer at CoorsTek Membrane Sciences and a Ph.D. student at the University of Oslo.
“There is a loss of energy when energy is transferred from one form to another,” explains José Manuel Serra, CSIC research professor at ITQ and co-lead author of the study. “We can integrate several processes of hydrogen synthesis in a single stage using our proton ceramic membranes, where the heat for catalytic hydrogen production is provided by electrochemical gas separation, resulting in a thermally balanced process.” “As a consequence, hydrogen is produced with nearly little energy loss,” he emphasizes.
Proton ceramic membranes, like batteries, fuel cells, and electrolyzers, are electrochemical energy converters. A novel component created by CoorsTek Membrane Sciences using glass-ceramic and metallic materials, which combines the toughness of a ceramic with the electronic conductivity of a metal, is one of the keys to advancement.
These membranes break down hydrogen into its subatomic components (protons and electrons) and transport the protons through a solid ceramic electrolyte at high temperatures between 400 and 800 degrees Celsius. “To enhance the working conditions of these systems, our research group has conducted a thorough investigation of the rates of the reactions that occur, as well as the mechanisms involved in them,” says ITQ researcher Mara I. Valls Esteve.
Shell, ExxonMobil, TotalEnergies, Equinor, ENGIE, and Saudi Aramco all contributed technological specialists and financial resources to the research that resulted in the publication inScience. Gassnova, Norway’s state-owned carbon capture, storage, and transportation enterprise, and the Norwegian Research Council also donated cash.
To achieve these outcomes, researchers used an open innovation strategy to produce free knowledge and advance the maturity of this revolutionary technology. The installation of a prototype stand-alone hydrogen generator at the Saudi Aramco headquarters site in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, is the next phase in the development program.
