Background: Green Hydrogen for balancing
renewable energy sources
Hydrogen gas, H2, can be produced from water using a process called electrolysis where an electrical voltage is applied to electrodes submerged in water. An electrical current will flow between the electrodes and H2 as well as oxygen gas, O2, is produced and emerges from the water in the form of bubbles. The H2 and O2 are separated whereby the H2 acts as a general purpose storage medium for energy that can balance the energy supply from intermittent renewable energy sources, such as wind or solar. The term Green Hydrogen refers specifically to H2 produced by electricity from renewable energy sources.
Stored H2 can be combusted in an engine wherein the toque from the engine drives an electrical generator that produces electricity. The main resulting component from H2 combustion is water and some nitrogen oxides, the latter of which can be filtered in catalytic converter. That is, unlike the combustion of fossil fuels, notorious for releasing carbon dioxide and various greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, the combustion of hydrogen gives rise to a benign byproduct – water – which can be used in the electrolysis process again and again.
In essence, Green Hydrogen represents a departure from conventional energy paradigms. Its utilization embodies an ecosystem of environmental virtue utilizing a circular process involving hydrogen, oxygen, and water – all of which are abundant on our planet.
SESYK AB: Offering a range of compelling
advantages for Green Hydrogen
Embracing hydrogen as a fuel source presents a range of compelling advantages including renewability, storability and versatility. However, there are technical and economic challenges for making Green Hydrogen widely adopted on a global scale. The most important challenge is caused by the low efficiency of the electrolysis process and the combustion process for hydrogen.
For electrolysis a low efficiency means that less hydrogen is produced per kWh of electrical energy used to drive the electrolysis. For combustion a low efficiency means that more hydrogen is needed per kWh of produced electricity. Accordingly, as illustrated in the figure below, there are two processes in the Green Hydrogen chain that impede the total energy efficiency of the hydrogen energy chain. Improving the efficiency of either one of these processes would bring society much closer to widescale and economically feasible adoption of hydrogen.
SESYK AB’s inventions improve both processes.
The CWE provides unprecedented electrolysis efficiency and makes a separate hydrogen separation step redundant, further increasing the efficiency of the Green Hydrogen chain.
The AERE provided increased efficiency for H2 combustion, meaning that less hydrogen is needed for maintaining the same output power compared to previous solutions.