NREL-led consortium targets water splitting to produce hydrogen

NREL-led consortium targets water splitting to produce hydrogen

NEWS / IN BRIEF Hydrogen was known as H2 Logic, before it was acquired by Nel [FCB, June 2015, p8, and see the H2 Logic feature in May 2013]. GreenHyd...

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NEWS / IN BRIEF Hydrogen was known as H2 Logic, before it was acquired by Nel [FCB, June 2015, p8, and see the H2 Logic feature in May 2013]. GreenHydrogen and DTU will refine the former’s electrolysis technology to make it more practical for onsite hydrogen production at refueling stations, including monitoring to ensure that the hydrogen produced meets automakers’ specifications, and increasing power density in the electrolyser cells. Nel Hydrogen, Gramstrup Køling, and DTI will continue work on the unique, patented cooling technology for hydrogen stations that was developed under H2Cost-1. Effective cooling during the hydrogen refueling process is critical for faster fueling, to match gasoline or diesel refueling times. The HyBoost-2 project aims to integrate hydrogen refueling with conventional fueling stations, for higher capacity with reduced space requirements, to help accelerate the rollout of hydrogen vehicles. The DKK18.8 million ($2.7 million) project is a collaboration between DTU, DTI, Nel Hydrogen, seal manufacturer Carsten Holm A/S, and electroplating specialist Elplatek A/S, and will also run to the end of 2018. The project partners will develop and test a fullscale prototype of the patented hydrogen refueling technology that was developed in the HyBoost-1 project in 2014. The aim is to triple the hydrogen capacity in the same size of equipment. Work is ongoing to ensure that the high production capacity is retained even if the hydrogen station is coupled with an electrolyser, which would normally supply hydrogen at a lower pressure than trucked-in hydrogen, for example. Nel Hydrogen Solutions, Herning, Denmark. Tel: +45 9627 5600, www.nel-hydrogen.com GreenHydrogen, Kolding, Denmark. Tel: +45 7550 3500, www.greenhydrogen.dk DTU Energy: www.energy.dtu.dk/english

NREL-led consortium targets water splitting to produce hydrogen

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he US Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colorado has formed the new HydroGEN Advanced Water Splitting Materials Consortium with five other national labs, to accelerate the development of commercially viable pathways for hydrogen production from renewable energy sources. The HydroGEN consortium is being funded by DOE’s Fuel Cell Technologies Office in the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), at approximately $10 million 12

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per annum (subject to appropriations), including investments in national lab capabilities and general public funding opportunities. HydroGEN also includes Sandia National Laboratories, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Idaho National Laboratory, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, and Savannah River National Laboratory. DOE currently funds research to develop lowcarbon hydrogen production pathways including advanced electrolysis, photoelectrochemical hydrogen production, and solar thermochemical hydrogen production. DOE intends that HydroGEN will accelerate the development of these pathways by enhancing the accessibility of national lab resources to external stakeholders, and establishing robust online portals to capture and share the results of non-proprietary research. The consortium’s website highlights mechanisms for external stakeholders to leverage HydroGEN’s capabilities. ‘HydroGEN brings together capabilities that can only be found in the national lab system, and makes them easily available to material developers in academia and industry,’ says Dr Huyen N. Dinh, in NREL’s Chemistry and Nanoscience Center, and director of HydroGEN. ‘Our research strategy integrates computational tools and modelling, material synthesis, process and manufacturing scaleup, characterisation, system integration, data management, and analysis to accelerate advanced water splitting material development.’ HydroGEN is the latest consortium created by EERE under DOE’s Energy Materials Network (EMN) initiative. Last autumn the Hydrogen Materials – Advanced Research Consortium (HyMARC) was launched, to focus on the thermodynamic and kinetic limitations of hydrogen storage materials [FCB, November 2015, p11]. And earlier this year the Electrocatalysis Consortium (ElectroCat) was set up to accelerate the development of fuel cell catalysts made without platinum group metals (PGM-free) for use in transportation applications [March 2016, p11]. NREL has also just signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE in Germany, for close collaboration on hydrogen and fuel cell technologies research [see page 11]. Contact: Dr Huyen N. Dinh, Chemistry and Nanoscience Center, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, Colorado, USA. Tel: +1 303 275 3605, Email: Huyen. [email protected], Web: http://tinyurl.com/nrel-chem-nano HydroGEN Consortium: www.h2awsm.org DOE Energy Materials Network: http://tinyurl.com/energy-materials-network DOE Fuel Cell Technologies Office: http://tinyurl.com/doe-fcto

IN BRIEF German government extends NIP to 2026 The German federal government has decided on its next National Innovation Programme (NIP) for hydrogen and fuel cell technology, from 2016 to 2026. The inter-ministerial initiative safeguards R&D continuity, and addresses the support required for market entry of the first products. ‘The government programme builds on the successes of the first phase of the NIP (2007– 2016). In the NIP the degree of technological maturity of, for example, fuel cell vehicles or fuel cell heating devices significantly evolved both technically and economically, and a modern branch of industry with around 500 companies and organisations was established,’ says Dr Klaus Bonhoff, managing director of NOW GmbH (www.now-gmbh.de), which coordinates the NIP. ‘The areas of activity defined in the government programme for the continuation of the NIP provide the framework for the market ramp-up that has already begun.’ UAE team flies fuel cell multirotor drone A team of mechanical engineers at the American University of Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates (http://tinyurl.com/aus-mecheng) has successfully flown a hydrogen PEM fuel cell powered multirotor drone, which it says is the first flight of its kind outside North America. The same team conducted the first flight of a fixed-wing hydrogen fuel cell powered unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) in the UAE in August 2015 [FCB, September 2015, p3]. Fuel cells in Royal Caribbean cruise ships Royal Caribbean Cruises (www. royalcaribbean.com) plans to introduce the use of fuel cell technology onboard its cruise ships, ushering in a new era of shipbuilding to dramatically reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The company will begin testing fuel cell technology on an existing Oasis-class ship in 2017, and will run progressively larger fuel cell projects on new Quantum-class vessels being built in the next several years. ‘As the technology becomes smaller and more efficient, fuel cells become more viable in a significant way to power the ship’s hotel functions,’ says ship design chief Harri Kulovaara. ‘We will begin testing those possibilities as soon as we can, and look to maximise their use when the Icon class debuts.’ ‘There is a long lead time for the Icon class, and we will use that time to work with [Finnish shipbuilder] Meyer Turku to adapt fuel cell technology for maritime use,’ he continues, adding that additional regulatory standards would also need to be developed for the technology.

November 2016