Applications & Pathways
A Critical Review of Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cell Systems for Automotive Applications: Components, Materials, and Comparative Assessment
Mar 2023
Publication
The development of innovative technologies based on employing green energy carriers such as hydrogen is becoming high in demand especially in the automotive sector as a result of the challenges associated with sustainable mobility. In the present review a detailed overview of the entire hydrogen supply chain is proposed spanning from its production to storage and final use in cars. Notably the main focus is on Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cells (PEMFC) as the fuel-cell type most typically used in fuel cell electric vehicles. The analysis also includes a cost assessment of the various systems involved; specifically the materials commonly employed to manufacture fuel cells stacks and hydrogen storage systems are considered emphasizing the strengths and weaknesses of the selected strategies together with assessing the solutions to current problems. Moreover as a sought-after parallelism a comparison is also proposed and discussed between traditional diesel or gasoline cars battery-powered electric cars and fuel cell electric cars thus highlighting the advantages and main drawbacks of the propulsion systems currently available on the market.
Power-to-X in Energy Hubs: A Danish Case Study of Renewable Fuel Production
Feb 2023
Publication
The European Commission recently proposed requirements for the production of renewable fuels as these are required to decarbonize the hard-to-electrify parts of the industrial and heavy transport sectors. Power-to-X (P2X) energy hubs enable efficient synergies between energy infrastructures production facilities and storage options. In this study we explore the optimal operation of an energy hub by leveraging the flexibility of P2X including hydrogen methanol and ammonia synthesizers by analyzing potential revenue streams such as the day-ahead and ancillary services markets. We propose EnerHub2X a mixed-integer linear program that maximizes the hub’s profit based on current market prices considering the technical constraints of P2X such as unit commitment and non-linear efficiencies. We investigate a representative Danish energy hub and find that without price incentives it mainly sells renewable electricity and produces compressed hydrogen. A sufficient amount of renewable ammonia and methanol is only produced by adding a price premium of about 50% (0.16 e/kg) to the conventional fuel prices. To utilize production efficiently on-site renewable energy sources and P2X must be carefully aligned. We show that renewable power purchase agreements can provide flexibility while complying with the rules set by the European Commission.
Review and Comparison of Worldwide Hydrogen Activities in the Rail Sector with Special Focus on On-board Storage and Refueling Technologies
Aug 2022
Publication
"This paper investigates hydrogen storage and refueling technologies that were used in rail vehicles over the past 20 years as well as planned activities as part of demonstration projects or feasibility studies. Presented are details of the currently available technology and its vehicle integration market availability as well as standardization and research and development activities. A total of 80 international studies corporate announcements as well as vehicle and refueling demonstration projects were evaluated with regard to storage and refueling technology pressure level hydrogen amount and installation concepts inside rolling stock. Furthermore current hydrogen storage systems of worldwide manufacturers were analyzed in terms of technical data.<br/>We found that large fleets of hydrogen-fueled passenger railcars are currently being commissioned or are about to enter service along with many more vehicles on order worldwide. 35 MPa compressed gaseous storage system technology currently dominates in implementation projects. In terms of hydrogen storage requirements for railcars sufficient energy content and range are not a major barrier at present (assuming enough installation space is available). For this reason also hydrogen refueling stations required for 35 MPa vehicle operation are currently being set up worldwide.<br/>A wide variety of hydrogen demonstration and retrofit projects are currently underway for freight locomotive applications around the world in addition to completed and ongoing feasibility studies. Up to now no prevailing hydrogen storage technology emerged especially because line-haul locomotives are required to carry significantly more energy than passenger trains. The 35 MPa compressed storage systems commonly used in passenger trains offer too little energy density for mainline locomotive operation - alternative storage technologies are not yet established. Energy tender solutions could be an option to increase hydrogen storage capacity here."
Economic Analysis of a Hydrogen Power Plant in the Portuguese Electricity Market
Feb 2023
Publication
Hydrogen is regarded as a flexible energy carrier with multiple applications across several sectors. For instance it can be used in industrial processes transports heating and electrical power generation. Green hydrogen produced from renewable sources can have a crucial role in the pathway towards global decarbonization. However the success of green hydrogen production ultimately depends on its economic sustainability. In this context this work evaluates the economic performance of a hydrogen power plant participating in the electricity market and supplying multiple hydrogen consumers. The analysis includes technical and economical details of the main components of the hydrogen power plant. Its operation is simulated using six different scenarios which admit the production of either grey or green hydrogen. The scenarios used for the analysis include data from the Iberian electricity market for the Portuguese hub. An important conclusion is that the combination of multiple services in a hydrogen power plant has a positive effect on its economic performance. However as of today consumers who would wish to acquire green hydrogen would have to be willing to pay higher prices to compensate for the shorter periods of operation of hydrogen power plants and for their intrinsic losses. Nonetheless an increase in green hydrogen demand based on a greater environmental awareness can lead to the need to not only build more of these facilities but also to integrate more services into them. This could promote the investment in hydrogen-related technologies and result in changes in capital and operating costs of key components of these plants which are necessary to bring down production costs.
Dynamic Process Modeling of Topside Systems for Evaluating Power Consumption and Possibilities of Using Wind Power
Dec 2022
Publication
Norwegian offshore wind farms may be able to supply power to offshore oil and gas platforms in the near future thanks to the expeditious development of offshore wind technology. This would result in a reduction in CO2 emissions from oil and gas offshore installations which are currently powered predominantly by gas turbines. The challenge with using wind power is that offshore oil and gas installations require a fairly constant and stable source of power whereas wind power typically exhibits significant fluctuations over time. The purpose of this study is to perform a technical feasibility evaluation of using wind power to supply an offshore oil and gas installation on the basis of dynamic process simulations. Throughout the study only the topside processing system is considered since it is the most energy-intensive part of an oil and gas facility. An offshore field on the Norwegian Continental Shelf is used as a case study. The results indicate that when the processing system operates in steady-state conditions it cannot be powered solely by wind energy and another power source is required to compensate for low wind power generation intervals. An alternative would be to store wind energy during periods of high generation (e.g. by producing hydrogen or ammonia) and use it during periods of low generation. Utilizing energy storage methods wind energy can be continuously used for longer periods of time and provide a suitable constant power source for the studied case. Higher constant power can also be provided by increasing the efficiency of energy recovery and storage processes. Alternatively these two technologies may be integrated with gas turbines if the required storage cannot be provided or higher power is required. It was estimated that the integration of wind energy could result in noticeable reductions in CO2 emissions for the case study. Additionally according to the results the production storage and reuse of hydrogen and ammonia on-site may be viable options for supplying power.
Multi-Time Scale Optimal Scheduling Model of Wind and Hydrogen Integrated Energy System Based on Carbon Trading
Jan 2023
Publication
In the context of carbon trading energy conservation and emissions reduction are the development directions of integrated energy systems. In order to meet the development requirements of energy conservation and emissions reduction in the power grid considering the different responses of the system in different time periods a wind-hydrogen integrated multi-time scale energy scheduling model was established to optimize the energy-consumption scheduling problem of the system. As the scheduling model is a multiobjective nonlinear problem the artificial fish swarm algorithm–shuffled frog leaping algorithm (AFS-SFLA) was used to solve the scheduling model to achieve system optimization. In the experimental test process the Griewank benchmark function and the Rosenbrock function were selected to test the performance of the proposed AFS-SFL algorithm. In the Griewank environment compared to the SFLA algorithm the AFS-SFL algorithm was able to find a feasible solution at an early stage and tended to converge after 110 iterations. The optimal solution was −4.83. In the test of total electric power deviation results at different time scales the maximum deviation of early dispatching was 14.58 MW and the minimum deviation was 0.56 MW. The overall deviation of real-time scheduling was the minimum and the minimum deviation was 0 and the maximum deviation was 1.89 WM. The integrated energy system adopted real-time scale dispatching with good system stability and low-energy consumption. Power system dispatching optimization belongs to the objective optimization problem. The artificial fish swarm algorithm and frog algorithm were innovatively combined to solve the dispatching model which improved the accuracy of power grid dispatching. The research content provides an effective reference for the efficient use of clean and renewable energy.
Design of Gravimetric Primary Standards for Field-testing of Hydrogen Refuelling Stations
Apr 2020
Publication
The Federal Institute of Metrology METAS developed a Hydrogen Field Test Standard (HFTS) that can be used for field verification and calibration of hydrogen refuelling stations. The testing method is based on the gravimetric principle. The experimental design of the HFTS as well as the description of the method are presented here.
Risk Assessment of the Low-carbon Transition of Austria’s Steel and Electricity Sectors
Dec 2018
Publication
To limit global temperature increase below +2°C societies need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions radically within the next few decades. Amongst other mitigation measures this requires transforming process-emission intensive industries towards emission neutrality. One way to this end is the renewables-based electrification of industries. We present results of a recent coproduction process which brought together stakeholders from industry policy administration and science to co-create climate-neutral transition pathways for the steel and electricity sectors in Austria. The results summarized here are the definition of reliable pathways and the identification of associated risks pertaining to pathway implementation including a macro-economic quantification. We find that risks to implementation (barriers) are at least as important as risks of implementation (negative consequences). From the quantitative analysis we find that provided that barriers can be reduced macroeconomic costs of the transition are only moderate and that stakeholders might overestimate risks when neglecting economy-wide feedbacks.
Renewable Electricity for Decarbonisation of Road Transport: Batteries or E-Fuels?
Feb 2023
Publication
Road transport is one of the most energy-consuming and greenhouse gas (GHG) emitting sectors. Progressive decarbonisation of electricity generation could support the ambitious target of road vehicle climate neutrality in two different ways: direct electrification with onboard electro-chemical storage or a change of energy vector with e-fuels. The most promising state-of-the-art electrochemical storages for road transport have been analysed considering current and future technologies (the most promising ones) whose use is assumed to occur within the next 10–15 years. Different e-fuels (e-hydrogen e-methanol e-diesel e-ammonia E-DME and e-methane) and their production pathways have been reviewed and compared in terms of energy density synthesis efficiency and technology readiness level. A final energetic comparison between electrochemical storages and e-fuels has been carried out considering different powertrain architectures highlighting the huge difference in efficiency for these competing solutions. E-fuels require 3–5 times more input energy and cause 3–5 times higher equivalent vehicle CO2 emissions if the electricity is not entirely decarbonised.
A Review of The Methanol Economy: The Fuel Cell Route
Jan 2020
Publication
This review presents methanol as a potential renewable alternative to fossil fuels in the fight against climate change. It explores the renewable ways of obtaining methanol and its use in efficient energy systems for a net zero-emission carbon cycle with a special focus on fuel cells. It investigates the different parts of the carbon cycle from a methanol and fuel cell perspective. In recent years the potential for a methanol economy has been shown and there has been significant technological advancement of its renewable production and utilization. Even though its full adoption will require further development it can be produced from renewable electricity and biomass or CO2 capture and can be used in several industrial sectors which make it an excellent liquid electrofuel for the transition to a sustainable economy. By converting CO2 into liquid fuels the harmful effects of CO2 emissions from existing industries that still rely on fossil fuels are reduced. The methanol can then be used both in the energy sector and the chemical industry and become an all-around substitute for petroleum. The scope of this review is to put together the different aspects of methanol as an energy carrier of the future with particular focus on its renewable production and its use in high-temperature polymer electrolyte fuel cells (HT-PEMFCs) via methanol steam reforming.
Life Cycle Greenhouse Gas Emissions of Alternative Fuels and Powertrains for Medium-duty Trucks: A Singapore Case Study
Mar 2022
Publication
Alternatives to conventional diesel engines in medium/heavy-duty commercial trucks offer promising solutions to decarbonize road freight. We compare the life cycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from diesel battery electric (BEV) and hydrogen fuel cell (FCV) medium-duty urban delivery trucks (gross vehicle weight 3.5 – 7 metric tonnes) in Singapore including the vehicle and fuel production use phase and end-of-life stages. Use phase energy demand was estimated by simulating energy consumption on local real-world driving cycles. BEVs powered by the 2019 electricity mix had up to 11% lower GHG emissions than conventional diesel but doubling battery capacity to meet travel range requirements resulted in up to 12% higher emissions. FCVs using gaseous hydrogen via steam methane reforming achieved 23 – 30% GHG reductions while satisfying range requirements. Efforts in obtaining updated and reliable data on vehicle production remain critical for assessments of emerging technologies and enacting evidence-based policies to decarbonize road freight.
Concept Design and Energy Balance Optimization of a Hydrogen Fuel Cell Helicoptor for Unmanned Aerial Vehicle and Aerotaxi Applications
May 2023
Publication
In the new scenario where the transportation sector must be decarbonized to limit global warming fuel cellpowered aerial vehicles have been selected as a strategic target application to compose part of the urban fleet to minimize road transport congestion and make goods and personal transportation fast and efficient. To address the necessity of clean and efficient urban air transport this work consists of the conceptual development of a lightweight rotary-winged transport vehicle using a hydrogen-based fuel cell propulsion system and the optimization of its energy balance. For that purpose the methods for integrating the coupled aerodynamic and propulsion system sizing and optimization was developed with the aim of designing concepts capable of carrying 0 (unmanned aerial vehicle — Design 1) and 1 (Aerotaxi — Design 2) passengers for a distance of 300 km at a cruise altitude of 500 m with a minimum climbing rate capability of 6 m s−1 at 1000 m. The results show how these designs with the desired performance specifications can be obtained with a vehicle mass ranging from 416 to 648 kg depending on the application and with specific range and endurance respectively within 46.2–47.8 km/kg and 20.4–21.3 min/kg for design 1 and 33.3–33.8 km/kg and 12.5–13.9 min/kg for design 2.
GIS-Based Method for Future Prospect of Energy Supply in Algerian Road Transport Sector Using Solar Roads Technology
May 2019
Publication
This paper aims to investigate the possibility of integration of Electric Vehicles EVs supply’s with electricity and/or hydrogen in the road transport sector and estimate the energy supply derived from solar irradiation by using solar roads technology. The case study is road Est-Oust (road E-O) of Algeria. A Geographic Information System and spatial analysis tools are combined with spatial data and technical models to carry out these calculations. The results of this study demonstrate that solar road panels which are integrated into the road E-O produce over to 804 GWh/year which equivalents to 13778 tons of hydrogen per year.by using FCEVs will saving over then 41.103 liter of fossil fuels (regular gasoline); and reduce GHG emission (CO2) in the transportation sector by 216 tons per year.
Advanced Hydrogen Production through Methane Cracking: A Review
Jul 2015
Publication
Hydrogen is widely produced and used for our day-to-day needs. It has also the potential to be used as fuel for industry or can be used as an energy carrier for stationary power. Hydrogen can be produced by different processes like from fossil fuels (Steam methane reforming coal gasification cracking of natural gas); renewable resources (electrolysis wind etc.); nuclear energy (thermochemical water splitting). In this paper few processes have been discussed briefly. Cracking of methane has been given special emphasis in this review for production of hydrogen. There are mainly two types of cracking non-catalytic and catalytic. Catalytic cracking of methane is governed mainly by finding a suitable catalyst; its generation deactivation activation and filament formation for the adsorption of carbon particles (deposited on metal surface); study of metallic support which helps in finding active sites of the catalyst for the reaction to proceed easily. Non-catalytic cracking of methane is mainly based on thermal cracking. Moreover several thermal cracking processes with their reactor configurations have been discussed.
Preparation, Performance and Challenges of Catalyst Layer for Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell
Nov 2021
Publication
In this paper the composition function and structure of the catalyst layer (CL) of a proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) are summarized. The hydrogen reduction reaction (HOR) and oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) processes and their mechanisms and the main interfaces of CL (PEM|CL and CL|MPL) are described briefly. The process of mass transfer (hydrogen oxygen and water) proton and electron transfer in MEA are described in detail including their influencing factors. The failure mechanism of CL (Pt particles CL crack CL flooding etc.) and the degradation mechanism of the main components in CL are studied. On the basis of the existing problems a structure optimization strategy for a high‐performance CL is proposed. The commonly used preparation processes of CL are introduced. Based on the classical drying theory the drying process of a wet CL is explained. Finally the research direction and future challenges of CL are pointed out hoping to provide a new perspective for the design and selection of CL materials and preparation equipment.
Everything About Hydrogen Podcast: What's Brewing in the UK Clean Hydrogen Sector?
Dec 2021
Publication
Chris Jackson is the Founder and CEO of Protium Green Solutions based in London. Protium is a hydrogen energy services company that designs develops finances owns and operates clean hydrogen solutions for clients to achieve net zero energy emissions at their industrial/manufacturing sites. Chris will talk to us about the Protium story and also give us some insight into a major project that Protium recently announced in conjunction Budweiser Brewing Group UK&Ireland to explore the deployment of zero emission green hydrogen at Magor brewery in South Wales one of the largest breweries in the UK. To that end in order to get the full story about this project we are delighted to say that we have yet another great guest on this episode. Tom Brewer who leads Global Environmental Sustainability efforts at AB InBev the parent company of Budweiser Brewing Group will join us for the final segment of the show to talk about how hydrogen fits into AB InBev’s vision of a sustainable future for the company.
The podcast can be found on their website
The podcast can be found on their website
Facile Synthesis of Palladium Phosphide Electrocatalysts and their Activity for the Hydrogen Oxidation, Hydrogen Evolutions, Oxygen Reduction and Formic Acid Oxidation Reactions
Nov 2015
Publication
We demonstrate a new approach for producing highly dispersed supported metal phosphide powders with small particle size improved stability and increased electrocatalytic activity towards some useful reactions. The approach involves a one-step conversion of metal supported on high surface area carbon to the metal phosphide utilising a very simple and scalable synthetic process. We use this approach to produce PdP2 and Pd5P2 particles dispersed on carbon with a particle size of 4.5–5.5 nm by converting a commercially available Pd/C powder. The metal phosphide catalysts were tested for the oxygen reduction hydrogen oxidation and evolution and formic acid oxidation reactions. Compared to the unconverted Pd/C material we find that alloying the P at different levels shifts oxide formation on the Pd to higher potentials leading to greater stability during cycling studies (20% more ECSA retained 5k cycles) and in thermal treatment under air. Hydrogen absorption within the PdP2 and Pd5P2 particles is enhanced. The phosphides compare favourably to the most active catalysts reported to date for formic acid oxidation especially PdP2 and there is a significant decrease in poisoning of the surface compared to Pd alone. The mechanistic changes in the reactions studied are rationalised in terms of increased water activation on the surface phosphorus atoms of the catalyst. One of the catalysts PdP2/C is tested in a fuel cell as anode and cathode catalyst and shows good performance.
Impacts of Load Profiles on the Optimization of Power Management of a Green Building Employing Fuel Cells
Dec 2018
Publication
This paper discusses the performance improvement of a green building by optimization procedures and the influences of load characteristics on optimization. The green building is equipped with a self-sustained hybrid power system consisting of solar cells wind turbines batteries proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) electrolyzer and power electronic devices. We develop a simulation model using the Matlab/SimPowerSystemTM and tune the model parameters based on experimental responses so that we can predict and analyze system responses without conducting extensive experiments. Three performance indexes are then defined to optimize the design of the hybrid system for three typical load profiles: the household the laboratory and the office loads. The results indicate that the total system cost was reduced by 38.9% 40% and 28.6% for the household laboratory and office loads respectively while the system reliability was improved by 4.89% 24.42% and 5.08%. That is the component sizes and power management strategies could greatly improve system cost and reliability while the performance improvement can be greatly influenced by the characteristics of the load profiles. A safety index is applied to evaluate the sustainability of the hybrid power system under extreme weather conditions. We further discuss two methods for improving the system safety: the use of sub-optimal settings or the additional chemical hydride. Adding 20 kg of NaBH4 can provide 63 kWh and increase system safety by 3.33 2.10 and 2.90 days for the household laboratory and office loads respectively. In future the proposed method can be applied to explore the potential benefits when constructing customized hybrid power systems.
Performance Estimation of a Downsized SI Engine Running with Hydrogen
Jun 2022
Publication
Hydrogen is a carbon-free fuel that can be produced in many ways starting from different sources. Its use as a fuel in internal combustion engines could be a method of significantly reducing their environmental impact. In spark-ignition (SI) engines lean hydrogen–air mixtures can be burnt. When a gaseous fuel like hydrogen is port-injected in an SI engine working with lean mixtures supercharging becomes very useful in order not to excessively penalize the engine performance. In this work the performance of a turbocharged PFI spark-ignition engine fueled by hydrogen has been investigated by means of 1-D numerical simulations. The analysis focused on the engine behavior both at full and partial load considering low and medium engine speeds (1500 and 3000 rpm). Equivalence ratios higher than 0.35 have been considered in order to ensure acceptable cycle-to-cycle variations. The constraints that ensure the safety of engine components have also been respected. The results of the analysis provide a guideline able to set up the load control strategy of a SI hydrogen engine based on the variation of the air to fuel ratio boost pressure and throttle opening. Furthermore performance and efficiency of the hydrogen engine have been compared to those of the base gasoline engine. At 1500 and 3000 rpm except for very low loads the hydrogen engine load can be regulated by properly combining the equivalence ratio and the boost pressure. At 3000 rpm the gasoline engine maximum power is not reached but for each engine load lean burning allows the hydrogen engine achieving much higher efficiencies than those of the gasoline engine. At full load the maximum power output decreases from 120 kW to about 97 kW but the engine efficiency of the hydrogen engine is higher than that of the gasoline one for each full load operating point.
Recent Developments in High-Performance Nafion Membranes for Hydrogen Fuel Cells Applications
Aug 2021
Publication
As a promising alternative to petroleum fossil energy polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell has drawn considerable attention due to its low pollution emission high energy density portability and long operation times. Proton exchange membrane (PEM) like Nafion plays an essential role as the core of fuel cell. A good PEM must have satisfactory performance such as high proton conductivity excellent mechanical strength electrochemical stability and suitable for making membrane electrode assemblies (MEA). However performance degradation and high permeability remain the main shortcomings of Nafion. Therefore the development of a new PEM with better performance in some special conditions is greatly desired. In this review we aim to summarize the latest achievements in improving the Nafion performance that works well under elevated temperature or methanol-fueled systems. The methods described in this article can be divided into some categories utilizing hydrophilic inorganic material metal-organic frameworks nanocomposites and ionic liquids. In addition the mechanism of proton conduction in Nafion membranes is discussed. These composite membranes exhibit some desirable characteristics but the development is still at an early stage. In the future revolutionary approaches are needed to accelerate the application of fuel cells and promote the renewal of energy structure.
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