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Reversible solid oxide cells (r-SOCs) can be operated in either solid oxide fuel cell or solid oxide electrolysis cell mode. They are expected to become important in the support of renewable energy due to their high efficiency for both power generation and hydrogen generation. The exchange current density is one of the most important parameters in the quantification of electrode performance in solid oxide cells. In this study four different fuel electrodes and two different air electrodes are fabricated using different materials and the microstructures are compared. The temperature fuel humidification and oxygen concentration at the air electrode are varied to obtain the apparent exchange current density for the different electrode materials. In contrast to ruthenium-and-gadolinia-doped ceria (Rh-GDC) as well as nickel-and-gadolinia-doped ceria (Ni-GDC) electrodes significant differences in the apparent exchange current density were observed between electrolysis and fuel cell modes for the nickel-scandia-stabilized zirconia (Ni-ScSZ) cermet. Variation of gas concentration revealed that surface adsorption sites were almost completely vacant for all these electrodes. The apparent exchange current densities obtained in this study are useful as a parameter for simulation of the internal properties of r-SOCs.

This is the Committee’s annual report to Parliament assessing progress in reducing UK emissions over the past year. It finds that UK action to curb greenhouse gas emissions is lagging behind what is needed to meet legally-binding emissions targets. Since June 2018 Government has delivered only 1 of 25 critical policies needed to get emissions reductions back on track.

The HyDeploy project is the UK’s first practical project to demonstrate that hydrogen can be safely blended into the natural-gas distribution system without requiring changes to appliances and the associated disruption. The project is funded under Ofgem’s Network Innovation Competition and is a collaboration between Cadent Gas Northern Gas Networks Progressive Energy Ltd Keele University (Keele) Health & Safety Laboratory and ITM Power. Cadent and Northern Gas Networks are the Gas Distribution Network sponsors of the project. Keele University is the host site providing the gas-distribution network which will receive the hydrogen blend. Keele University is the largest campus university in the UK. Health & Safety Laboratory provides the scientific laboratories and experimental expertise. ITM Power provides the electrolyser that produces the hydrogen. Progressive Energy Ltd is the project developer and project manager. HyDeploy is structured into three distinct phases. The first is an extensive technical programme to establish the necessary detailed evidence base in support of an application to the Health & Safety Executive for Exemption to Schedule 3 of the Gas Safety (Management) Regulations (GS(M)R) to permit the injection of hydrogen at 20 mol%. This is required to allow hydrogen to be blended into a natural-gas supply above the current British limit of 0.1 mol%.



The second phase comprises the construction of the electrolyser and grid entry unit along with the necessary piping and valves to allow hydrogen to be mixed and injected into the Keele University gas-distribution network and to ensure all necessary training of operatives is conducted before injection. The third phase is the trial itself which is due to start in the summer of 2019 and last around 10 months. The trial phase also provides an opportunity to undertake further experimental activities related to the operational network to support the pathway to full deployment of blended gas. The outcome of HyDeploy is principally developing the initial evidence base that hydrogen can be blended into a UK operational natural-gas network without disruption to customers and without prejudicing the safety of end users. If deployed at scale hydrogen blending at 20 mol% would unlock 29 TWh pa of decarbonized heat and provide a route map for deeper savings. The equivalent carbon savings of a national roll-out of a 20-mol% hydrogen blend would be to remove 2.5 million cars from the road.



HyDeploy is a seminal UK project for the decarbonization of the gas grid via hydrogen deployment and will provide the first stepping stone for setting technical operational and regulatory precedents of the hydrogen vector.

The Reactive Discrete Equation Method (RDEM) was recently introduced in [12] adapted to combustion modelling in [3] and implemented in the TONUS code [4]. The method has two major features: the combustion constant having velocity dimension is the fundamental flame speed and the combustion wave now is an integral part of the Reactive Riemann Problem. In the present report the RDEM method is applied to the simulation of the combustion Test 13H performed in the ENACCEF facility. Two types of computations have been considered: one with a constant fundamental flame speed the other with time dependent fundamental flame speed. It is shown that by using the latter technique we can reproduce the experimental visible flame velocity. The ratio between the fundamental flame speed and the laminar flame speed takes however very large values compared to the experimental data based on the tests performed in spherical bombs or cruciform burner.

To limit global warming and mitigate climate change the global economy needs to decarbonize and reduce emissions to net-zero by mid-century. The asymmetries of the global energy system necessitate the deployment of a suite of decarbonization technologies and an all-of-the-above approach to deliver the steep CO₂ -emissions reductions necessary. Carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies that capture CO₂ from industrial and power-plant point sources as well as the ambient air and store them underground are largely seen as needed to address both the flow of emissions being released and the stock of CO₂ already in the atmosphere. Despite the pressing need to commercialize the technologies their large-scale deployment has been slow. Initial deployment however could lead to near-term cost reduction and technology proliferation and lowering of the overall system cost of decarbonization. As of November 2019 more than half of global large-scale CCS facilities are in the USA thanks to a history of sustained government support for the technologies. Recently the USA has seen a raft of new developments on the policy and project side signalling a reinvigorated push to commercialize the technology. Analysing these recent developments using a policy-priorities framework for CCS commercialization developed by the Global CCS Institute the paper assesses the USA’s position to lead large-scale deployment of CCS technologies to commercialization. It concludes that the USA is in a prime position due to the political economic characteristics of its energy economy resource wealth and innovation-driven manufacturing sector.

Hydrogen production from butanol is a promising alternative when it is obtained from bio-butanol or bio-oil due to the higher hydrogen content compared to other oxygenates such as methanol ethanol or propanol. Catalysts and operating conditions play a crucial role in hydrogen production. Ni and Rh are metals mainly used for butanol steam reforming oxidative steam reforming and partial oxidation. Additives such as Cu can improve catalytic activity in many folds. Moreover support–metal interaction and catalyst preparation technique also play a decisive role in the stability and hydrogen production capacity of catalyst. Steam reforming technique as an option is more frequently researched due to higher hydrogen production capability in comparison to other thermochemical techniques despite its endothermic nature. The use of the oxidative steam reforming and partial oxidation has the advantages of requiring less energy and longer stability of catalysts. However the hydrogen yield is less. This article brings together and examines the latest research on hydrogen production from butanol via steam reforming oxidative steam reforming and partial oxidation reactions. In addition the review examines a few thermodynamic studies based on sorption-enhanced steam reforming and dry reforming where there is potential for hydrogen extraction.  

Hydrogen is considered a secondary source of energy commonly referred to as an energy carrier. It has the highest energy content when compared to other common fuels by weight having great potential for further development. Hydrogen can be produced from various domestic resources but based on the fossil resource conditions in China coal-based hydrogen energy is considered to be the most valuable because it is not only an effective way to develop clean energy but also a proactive exploration of the clean usage of traditional coal resources. In this article the sorption-enhanced water–gas shift technology in the coal-to-hydrogen section and the hydrogen-storage and transport technology with liquid aromatics are introduced and basic mechanisms technical advantages latest progress and future R&D focuses of hydrogen-production and storage processes are listed and discussed. As a conclusion after considering the development frame and the business characteristics of CHN Energy Group a conceptual architecture for developing coal-based hydrogen energy and the corresponding supply chain is proposed.

Hydrogen was doped in austenitic stainless steel (ASS) 316L tensile samples produced by the laser-powder bed fusion (L-PBF) technique. For this aim an electrochemical method was conducted under a high current density of 100 mA/cm2 for three days to examine its sustainability under extreme hydrogen environments at ambient temperatures. The chemical composition of the starting powders contained a high amount of Ni approximately 12.9 wt.% as a strong austenite stabilizer. The tensile tests disclosed that hydrogen charging caused a minor reduction in the elongation to failure (approximately 3.5% on average) and ultimate tensile strength (UTS; approximately 2.1% on average) of the samples using a low strain rate of 1.2 × 10⁻⁴ s⁻¹. It was also found that an increase in the strain rate from 1.2 × 10⁻⁴ s⁻¹ o 4.8 ×10⁻⁴ s⁻¹ led to a reduction of approximately 3.6% on average for the elongation to failure and 1.7% on average for UTS in the pre-charged samples. No trace of martensite was detected in the X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis of the fractured samples thanks to the high Ni content which caused a minor reduction in UTS × uniform elongation (UE) (GPa%) after the H charging. Considerable surface tearing was observed for the pre-charged sample after the tensile deformation. Additionally some cracks were observed to be independent of the melt pool boundaries indicating that such boundaries cannot necessarily act as a suitable area for the crack propagation.

In our society the use of hydrogen is continually growing and there will be a widespread installation of plants with high capacity storages in our towns as automotive refuelling stations. For this reason it is necessary to make accurate studies on the safety of these kinds of plants to protect our town inhabitants Moreover hydrogen is a highly flammable chemical that can be particularly dangerous in case of release since its mixing with air in the presence of an ignition source could lead to fires or explosions. Generally most simulation models whether or not concerned with fluid dynamics used in safety and risk studies are not validated for hydrogen use. This aspect may imply that the results of studies on safety cannot be too accurate and realistic. This paper introduces an experimental activity which was performed by the Department of Energetics of Politecnico of Torino with the collaboration of the University of Pisa. Accidental hydrogen release and dispersion were studied in order to acquire a set of experimental data to validate simulation models for such studies. At the laboratories of the Department of Mechanical Nuclear and Production Engineering of the University of Pisa a pilot plant called Hydrogen Pipe Break Test was built. The apparatus consisted of a 12 m3 tank which was fed by high pressure cylinders. A 50 m long pipe moved from the tank to an open space and at the far end of the pipe there was an automatic release system that could be operated by remote control. During the experimental activity data was acquired regarding hydrogen concentration as a function of distance from the release hole also lengthwise and vertically. In this paper some of the experimental data acquired during the activity have been compared with the integral models Effects and Phast. In the future experimental results will be used to calibrate a more sophisticated model to atmospheric dispersion studies.

The Aberdeen Vision Project could deliver CO2 savings of 1.5MtCO2/y compared with natural gas. A dedicated pipeline from St Fergus to Aberdeen would enable the phased transfer of the Aberdeen regional gas distribution system to 20% then 100% hydrogen.

The study has demonstrated that 2% hydrogen can be injected into the National Transmission System (NTS) at St Fergus and its distribution through the system into the gas distribution network. Due to unique regional attributes the Aberdeen region could lead the UK in the conversion to largescale clean hydrogen. A 200MW hydrogen generation plant is planned to suit 2% blend into the NTS followed by a build out to supply the Aberdeen gas networks and to enable low cost hydrogen transport applications.

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