The ocean is the largest hydrogen mine on the planet, and combined with offshore wind and solar power generation technology, direct hydrogen production through inexhaustible seawater resources will provide a new path for the development of the green hydrogen industry.
According to whether seawater needs to be desalined in advance, seawater hydrogen production is divided into two routes: direct electrolysis hydrogen production and indirect electrolysis hydrogen production. Compared with indirect hydrogen production, the direct hydrogen production route from seawater simplifies the process flow, so it is easier to achieve the cost reduction goal.
In recent years, scientific research teams from all over the world have made breakthroughs in seawater electrolysis to produce hydrogen, and seawater hydrogen production technology has developed rapidly. In addition, domestic and foreign enterprises are actively promoting the industrialization of seawater hydrogen production, and a number of seawater hydrogen production projects have been launched one after another.
The team of academician Xie Heping of Shenzhen University and Sichuan University
On November 30, 2022, the team of academician Xie Heping from Shenzhen University and Sichuan University published the research results related to in-situ direct electrolysis of seawater hydrogen production in the journal Nature. In this study, a new principle and technology of in-situ direct electrolysis of seawater driven by phase change migration driven by physical, mechanics and electrochemistry were established, which completely isolated seawater ions, and achieved a major breakthrough in the principle and technology of in-situ direct electrolysis of seawater hydrogen production without desalination process, side reactions and additional energy consumption.
On December 16, 2022, Dongfang Electric Co., Ltd., Dongfang Electric (Fujian) Innovation Research Institute Co., Ltd., and the team of academician Xie Heping of Shenzhen University and Sichuan University jointly signed a four-party cooperation agreement on "Pilot Test and Industrialization Promotion and Application of Original Technology for In-situ Direct Electrolysis of Seawater without Desalination".
In June 2023, after an on-site inspection by an expert group of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, it was confirmed that the world's first offshore wind power in-situ direct electrolysis hydrogen production technology without desalination seawater was successfully tested at the Xinghua Bay Offshore Wind Farm in Fujian Province.
In October 2023, Dongfu Institute signed a project cooperation agreement with PetroChina Changqing Oilfield Branch to apply the in-situ direct electrolysis hydrogen production technology of non-desalination seawater to Changqing Oilfield. This is the first time that the technology has been applied to the field of hydrogen production from industrial wastewater after the successful pilot test at sea. In the future, the project will explore the expansion of seawater hydrogen production technology to the field of energy conservation and environmental protection, and provide a route reference for hydrogen production from industrial wastewater such as petrochemical wastewater and steelmaking wastewater.
Li Chaosheng's research group, School of Modern Engineering, Nanjing University
Recently, Nanjing University has made a major breakthrough in the technology of hydrogen production from seawater. Chaosheng Li's research group at the School of Modern Engineering of Nanjing University has designed an electrocatalyst based on layered dihydroxide compounds (CoFe-LDHs) to cope with the challenge of high concentration of Cl− in seawater for hydrogen production by electrolysis of seawater.
It is understood that the relevant results have been published in Nature Sustainability (2024, 7, 158\u2012167) on February 9, 2024 under the title of "Ultrastable electrocatalytic seawater splitting at ampere-level current density". It is worth mentioning that this research has also been funded by the National Science Foundation for Distinguished Young Scholars, the National Key R&D Program, the Basic Research of Frontier Leading Technology in Jiangsu Province, and the Excellence Program of Nanjing University.
The team of Professor Ling Tao of Tianjin University and Professor Qiao Shizhang of the University of Adelaide, Australia
On January 30, 2023, Professor Ling Tao of Tianjin University and Professor Qiao Shizhang of the University of Adelaide, Australia, published the research results of seawater hydrogen production in the journal Nature Energy. In this achievement, by introducing hard Lewis acid materials on the surface of common catalysts, a local alkaline reaction microenvironment was constructed on the surface of the catalyst, and efficient and stable electrolysis hydrogen production was achieved in near-neutral natural seawater without purification, desalination and addition of strong alkali.
Dalian Clean Energy Group Co., Ltd
On January 28, 2023, the demonstration project of seawater hydrogen production industry integration in Pulandian District, Dalian City officially started. After the project is put into operation, it will form an annual power generation capacity of 137 million kilowatt hours and an annual output of 2,000 tons of new energy green hydrogen, and plans to invest about 3 billion yuan in the next three years to gradually form an industrial scale of 500 megawatts of new energy power generation and 10,000 tons of green hydrogen.
The seawater hydrogen production industry integration demonstration project will make full use of the advantages of photovoltaic resources in the tidal flats of Pulandian District and the advantages of Dalian technology research and development, energy storage equipment, hydrogen production equipment, hydrogen refueling equipment, hydrogen fuel cells, vehicles, hydrogen energy consumption, etc., which can realize the localization of the complete industrial chain, and create the first domestic hydrogen energy industry integration demonstration project integrating tidal flat photovoltaic, energy storage, seawater desalination, and electrolysis hydrogen production, and try the integration of wind and solar and large-scale isolated grid operation mode that is not limited by the grid index.
Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences
In October 2023, it was reported that the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has developed a new technology for preparing hydrogen co-production freshwater using seawater as raw material around the demand for hydrogen production from nearshore/offshore wind power, and has completed the test and verification of a 25-kilowatt device based on this technology.
The team used the waste heat generated by electrolysis of water as the heat source for seawater low-temperature production of freshwater, established a waste heat recovery system, and integrated and coupled it with seawater low-temperature desalination technology to develop a new technology for seawater hydrogen production and freshwater production. Compared with traditional freshwater water electrolysis to produce hydrogen, this technology eliminates the need for heat exchanger units and the accompanying cooling medium for waste heat removal, reducing equipment costs and energy consumption.
On this basis, the team developed a 25 kilowatt seawater hydrogen co-production freshwater device. The operation results show that the high-efficiency hydrogen production of fresh water can be achieved with seawater as raw material, and the hydrogen production capacity can reach 3 tons/year, and the freshwater produced can be co-produced by 6 tons/year on the basis of meeting its own electrolysis needs, which proves the feasibility and advancement of the new technology of seawater hydrogen production and freshwater, and is expected to provide technical support with core competitiveness for large-scale hydrogen production from nearshore/offshore wind power.
University of Oxford & East China University of Science and Technology
On January 4, 2024, Edman Tsang's team at the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom and Wu Xinping's team from East China University of Science and Technology published their research results in the journal Nature Catalysis. In this paper, we report a new strategy for hydrogen production from high-temperature decomposition of seawater driven by sunlight, and achieves an energy conversion efficiency of up to 15.9%, which exceeds that of similar systems reported so far.
This achievement clearly reveals the mechanism of electrolyte ions in seawater to promote the separation of photogenerated carriers in the catalytic system, has a new understanding of the system at the nanometer and even atomic scales, innovatively proposes the electrolyte-assisted polarization effect, and preliminarily explores its feasibility in practical production and application.
Institute of Physics and Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences
In February 2024, the Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry of the Chinese Academy of Sciences proposed a new strategy for hydrogen production from seawater - using electrochemical reforming of waste polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastics to extract hydrogen from seawater. The research provides new ideas for the utilization of waste plastics and marine resources, as well as the production of green hydrogen, and is expected to contribute to solving the global energy crisis and environmental pollution.
The research team designed a composite electrocatalyst called "palladium-cobalt copper tetroxide", which successfully solved the problem of reducing costs and increasing efficiency of hydrogen production by electrolysis of water. This catalyst can not only convert waste PET plastic into high value-added glycolic acid with high selectivity, but also effectively improve the efficiency of hydrogen production from seawater and reduce costs. In the simulated seawater environment, the system has a stable operation time of more than 100 hours under a current of 1.6 amperes, showing high practicability and stability.
Hyundai Heavy Industries
In March 2021, the Korea Institute of Materials Science (KSA) announced that its research team has succeeded in developing the "anion exchange membrane (AEMs) seawater electrolysis technology" that can directly produce green hydrogen from seawater and reduce the unit price of hydrogen production for the first time in Korea. Hyundai Heavy Industries has jointly developed seawater electrolysis catalyst and electrode technology with Pusan National University and Korea Institute of Materials Science, and jointly developed an engineering analysis model for water electrolysis system with Seoul National University.
IN FEBRUARY 2023, EIGHT COMPANIES, RESEARCH INSTITUTIONS, AND UNIVERSITIES, INCLUDING HYUNDAI HEAVY INDUSTRIES, KOREA SHIPBUILDING & MARINE, HYUNDAI OIL BANK, KOREA INSTITUTE OF MATERIALS SCIENCE, SEOUL NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, BUSAN UNIVERSITY, SAMSUNG TICO, AND HEESUNG CATALYSTS CORPORATION, SIGNED A BUSINESS AGREEMENT ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF CORE TECHNOLOGIES FOR SEAWATER ELECTROLYSIS SYSTEMS.
Indian Institute of Technology Madras
The new technology and research at the Indian Institute of Technology Madras aim to directly harness the abundant seawater to produce green hydrogen to reduce the demand for fresh water. The researchers used carbon-based support materials instead of metal as electrodes, virtually eliminating the possibility of electrode corrosion in seawater. The technology developed by the Indian Institute of Technology Madras can be used for industrial and domestic wastewater treatment. They are already planning to start experimenting with industrial wastewater.
Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, Australia
A team led by Dr Nasir Mahmoud, a senior research fellow at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT), has successfully electrolyzed hydrogen from seawater while bypassing the costly desalination process. Mahmoud and his team have developed catalysts specifically for seawater. These new catalysts are more efficient, stable, and cost-effective than other catalysts. This technology modifies the internal chemistry of the catalyst in a simple way, helping to scale up seawater electrolysis because the catalyst is easy to manufacture and less expensive to produce. The technology significantly reduces the cost of electrolyzers, and the next step for researchers is to develop a new type of electrolyzer that uses a range of catalysts to efficiently produce large amounts of hydrogen.
SLAC team at Stanford University
The SLAC team at Stanford University uses a dual-membrane system to produce hydrogen directly from seawater electrolysis. At present, most water electrolysis systems use single-layer membranes. The SLAC team investigated the use of a two-layer diaphragm system that could reduce the chance of chloride ions reaching the anode and oxidizing. Protons pass through one of the membranes to a site where they can be enriched and converted into hydrogen by interacting with the cathode. The second membrane in the system allows only anions (e.g., chloride) to pass through, while the other membrane has electronegative groups on it. The SLAC team said that in the experiments, the negatively charged membranes were shown to be highly effective at blocking almost all chloride ions, and that their systems did not produce toxic byproducts such as chlorine when operating.
ERM Dolphyn Project, UK
ERM's Dolphyn project uses a decentralized hydrogen production model to achieve large-scale decentralized hydrogen production by setting up water electrolysis hydrogen production equipment on the wind turbine platform, integrating the electrolysis hydrogen production module and the wind power generation module on the semi-submersible wind turbine platform, and the hydrogen is transported to the UK mainland through the existing oil and gas pipelines in the North Sea. It is a revolutionary solution that combines cutting-edge floating wind energy and hydrogen production technologies.
The integrated system will harness the power of offshore wind resources to drive large-scale green hydrogen production. This innovative solution features a modular design that combines electrolysis and a 10 MW wind turbine on a mooring floating substructure. The result is a fully integrated system capable of producing green hydrogen from seawater, powered solely by wind energy.
Ningbo Institute of Materials, Chinese Academy of Sciences
In June 2023, the Ningbo Institute of Materials of the Chinese Academy of Sciences announced that the institute has made progress in the large-scale and highly stable cathode technology for hydrogen production from seawater electrolysis, providing a new synthesis method for solving the high-performance cathode synthesis for industrial scale amplification in the process of hydrogen production by seawater electrolysis. The Institute's evaluation of the performance and cost of the synthetic cathode shows that the electrode has the potential for sustainable hydrogen production on an industrial scale.
Lhyfe, a French hydrogen technology company
In September 2022, French hydrogen technology company Lhyfe launched its Sealhyfe offshore hydrogen production platform, which combines solar, wind and wave energy to obtain renewable green hydrogen through the electrolysis of seawater.
In June 2023, the French company Lhyfe announced the commissioning of its first offshore hydrogen production pilot project, Sealhyfe, successfully producing the first kilogram of green hydrogen in the Atlantic. The Sealhyfe project uses an EX-425D model PEM electrolyzer supplied by Plug, which is powered by offshore wind power supplied by floating wind turbines. Lhyfe also announced the HOPE project (European Offshore Hydrogen Production Project), which is expected to produce up to 4 tonnes of hydrogen per day near Ostend, Belgium, in 2026.
Ohmium, an electrolyzer manufacturing company, and Aquastill, a membrane distillation technology company
July 2023 Ohmium International ("Ohmium"), a designer and manufacturer of advanced proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolyzers, announced a strategic collaboration with Aquastill, one of the leaders in modular membrane distillation technology, to use waste heat for desalination of seawater and hydrogen production.
By combining Aquastill's desalination capabilities with Ohmyum's modular electrolyzers, this collaboration will create new decarbonization opportunities for businesses in coastal areas, providing more efficient, sustainable and low-cost clean energy. In addition, the innovative integration of modular desalination units coupled to proton exchange membrane electrolyzers with offshore wind farms will facilitate cost-effective green hydrogen production. Ohmium and Aquastill have begun evaluating the integration feasibility of these technologies, with the aim of bringing them into commercial use as soon as possible.
Korea Institute of Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering
On July 20, 2023, the Korea Institute of Marine and Ocean Engineering (KRISO) announced that its offshore hydrogen production platform has received In-Principle Approval (AiP) from the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS). The platform is an environmentally friendly platform that can generate electricity from marine renewable energy to produce green hydrogen. The platform consists of a seawater desalination system, a water electrolysis system, a compression system and a pressurized hydrogen storage system.
Source: ASIACHEM Consulting
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