Application of Hydrogen Energy and Applicable Pumps

The hydrogen revolution is happening. No matter in electricity generation, transportation, oil refining or chemical industry, hydrogen is gradually replacing fossil fuels, becoming the promoter of energy transition, and playing a key role in realizing low-carbon energy in industry.

What is Hydrogenic Energy?

Hydrogen energy resource is a new renewable energy resource. Since the molecular structure of hydrogen does not contain carbon, the use and production of hydrogen energy can greatly reduce carbon emissions. In addition, excess electricity from renewable energy such as wind energy and solar energy can also be used to convert water into hydrogen through electrolysis, it can be stored for a long time and in large quantities, and converted into electrical energy when needed. It can be seen that hydrogen is a clean, environmentally friendly, efficient and multifunctional energy carrier.

What is Hydrogen? The Colors of Hydrogen?

Hydrogen does not exist in nature, it needs to be produced, and can be obtained through electrolysis of water by renewable energy, or steam methane reforming. Even though hydrogen will only produce water after combustion or chemical reaction, and will not emit any carbon or pollutants, the amount of carbon emissions produced during the process is still different depending on the source of materials and production methods, and the color is often used to differentiate hydrogen type.

1. Grey Hydrogen
   Using fossil fuels such as natural gas (mainly methane) for steam methane reforming, water vapor reacts with hydrocarbons to convert hydrogen, which is the most commonly used and lowest-cost manufacturing method today. The disadvantage is that the by-products emitted contain a lot of carbon dioxide.
2. Green Hydrogen
   Using renewable energy (such as wind energy, solar energy) or nuclear energy to do water electrolysis to produce hydrogen, which has the advantage of almost zero carbon emissions in the process. The disadvantage is that the cost of electrolyzer is high, and the conversion efficiency of water electrolysis is only about 70-80%.
3. Blue Hydrogen
   Hydrogen is produced by steam methane reforming of fossil fuels such as natural gas (methane), but with carbon capture and storage (CCS) in the process.
4. Brown Hydrogen
   Brown hydrogen is produced via coal gasification. The disadvantage is that the CO2 and carbon monoxide released as by-products during the process are not recaptured, causing high degree of pollution to the environment.

In order to achieve the goal of 2050 Net Zero Emissions, it is necessary to gradually increase the proportion of low-carbon hydrogen such as green hydrogen and blue hydrogen. Countries are committed to researching mature green hydrogen manufacturing technologies to alleviate global warming and energy crisis.

Electrolyte Circulation

In the electrolysis technology for producing green hydrogen, a key step is to pass electricity into the electrolyzer containing the electrolyte (typically potassium hydroxide) so that the electrolyte and water are mixed and circulated between the cathode and the anode, and then occurring chemical reaction, split into hydrogen and oxygen. In this electrolyte circulation system, PTCXPUMP sealless magnetic drive pump with the characteristics of leakage-free and corrosion resistance can ensure safety in use, and become the best solution for transporting potassium hydroxide or other electrolytes.

Hydrogen Economy

The hydrogen economy was proposed by General Motors (GM) in 1970, which refers to a new economic structure that replaces petroleum with hydrogen and widely uses hydrogen as the main energy carrier. With the trend of hydrogen economy, innovative and advanced hydrogen application methods will be gradually developed, and wider application fields and markets will also appear at the same time.

However, hydrogen gas is an explosive gas and is easy to leak. In addition, hydrogen molecules are small and easy to penetrate into metal materials, resulting in reduced ductility and "hydrogen embrittlement". Therefore, there are special demands on pumps for handling and transporting hydrogen.

Conveying Solutions Without Leakage Concerns

In order to save storage space, it is necessary to compress and liquefy hydrogen before transporting it. A compressor is used to compress gaseous hydrogen, and then the hydrogen is cooled to turn it into liquid hydrogen. The storage of liquid hydrogen requires low temperature and high pressure resistance, so complete gastightness is one of the key to hydrogen process system. In order to avoid hydrogen leakage or external gas mixed with hydrogen, resulting in impurities in the gas, a sealless magnetic drive pump must be used, which helps to improve efficiency and cost management.

If you are also ready to respond to the global trend of net zero emissions, please contact us to choose the most suitable pump for hydrogen energy applications.