HYDROGEN FUEL CELL
Hydrogen technologies enable variable renewable energy to be stored
Photo by: Duane Daws
Department of Science and Technology (DST) research organisation Hydrogen South Africa’s (HySA’s) infrastructure centre has developed an electrochemical hydrogen compressor unit with no moving parts, which improves the commercial application of water electrolysis systems, says HySA infrastructure centre director Dr Dmitri Bessarabov.
This energy efficient hydrogen compressor reduces the energy required to compress hydrogen generated by polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) water electrolysis. These systems can, thus, be deployed using existing renewable-energy technologies as the primary sources of energy.
The compressor has no moving parts and uses platinum as a catalyst. The DST and platinum major Anglo American Platinum fund the project.
“This is an important and significant development. Compressors with moving parts use more energy and are prone to mechanical friction, oil contamination, as well as other problems. Our compressor, based on solid-state ionic conductors, is silent and uses less energy.
In general, PEM water electrolysis systems can provide a relatively simple, scalable and easily deployed source of high-purity hydrogen for smaller retail and commercial applications near the point of consumption,” says Bessarabov.
PEM water electrolysers can also be scaled up to address various demands for energy storage.
Hydrogen can reduce health and safety risks in mines, enable the storage of renewable energy and is showing significant potential as the next main power source for electric vehicles.
According to Bessarabov, hydrogen technologies in the mining sector can reduce the reliance on diesel-powered equipment, reducing health risks to workers and ventilation requirements and costs.
“The mining sector faces a number of challenges, such as high operating costs associated with ventilation and the maintenance of diesel equipment, as well as a lack of automation and teleremote operations.”
The World Health Organisation (WHO) classifies diesel engine exhaust as “carcinogenic to humans” and underground mineworkers are at high risk because the machines they use are diesel-powered. The cost of flame-proofing diesel equipment is also high.
“Hydrogen technologies for the mining sector could potentially create new large-market opportunities for fuel-cell technology deployment in South Africa and internationally.”
However, the safety aspects and codes for hydrogen application in the mining environment need further development and validations.
Another profitable application of this technology is renewable energy and hydrogen fuel-cell systems to provide power for cellular communications throughout Africa. This would reduce the need to transport diesel to these isolated towers.
Further, automotive giant BMW has placed its internal combustion hydrogen engine on hold and is currently working on hydrogen fuel-cell cars, which have the benefits of electric cars, including high torque and quiet running, while overcoming the limitations of battery technologies.
HySA Infrastructure is involved in research to produce durable components for electrolysis, as well as benchmarking state-of-the-art catalysts for electrolysis.
Bessarabov exhorts industries, specifically the gas, cellular, mining and manufacturing industries, to approach HySA offices at the country’s universities and research institutions to explore the application of platinum-group-metals-based hydrogen technologies and to work towards the development of manufacturing capacity in the country.