The share of global demand for renewables will grow from 13% in 2020 to 45% in 2050*, and technologies that use renewable energy to produce hydrogen from water electrolysis will play an important role in countries' decarbonization strategies. Among the different electrolysis hydrogen production technologies, AEM electrolysis hydrogen production has become the most promising water electrolysis hydrogen production technology in the industry due to its strong dynamic response ability, low equipment cost, high performance and high efficiency.
In February this year, Qingneng Co., Ltd. announced a major technological breakthrough in the new AEM electrolyte membrane. The AEM electrolyte membrane can achieve long-term mechanical and chemical stability while greatly improving the ionic conductivity, which provides a technical basis for the production of low-cost green hydrogen by the AEM electrolysis system.
Qingneng Co., Ltd. self-developed AEM membrane
The anion exchange membrane is one of the key components that affect the performance, life, efficiency and cost of AEM electrolysis system, and it is also the main technical bottleneck restricting the large-scale commercial development of AEM electrolysis hydrogen production equipment. Qingneng Co., Ltd.'s AEM membrane uses fully saturated hydrocarbon bond resin as the substrate of functional group, with a thickness of 50μm, which is thinner, lower in material consumption and lower in cost than the PPS film currently used in lye electrolyzers.
Qingneng AEM membrane technical parameter table
The AEM electrolyte membrane independently developed by Qingneng Co., Ltd. is based on the multi-layer reinforcement and anti-free radical technology in the company's patent application in the United States in 2007/0275291, with a width of up to 80cm and a tensile strength of more than 65MPa, which can reach 1.5~2 times the strength of other similar products, which is suitable for the production of large-scale AEM electrolyzers, and can achieve higher compressive strength and gas barrier capacity on the hydroxide side, providing better safe operation guarantee for the electrolysis system. Qingneng AEM membranes also have excellent ion conductivity. The test results show that the performance and service life of Qingneng AEM film are significantly better than those of other similar products under the same conditions.
AEM membrane performance comparison
AEM Membrane Lifetime (Accelerated Testing) Comparison
For more than 20 years, Qingneng has continued to focus on the core technology innovation and commercial application of hydrogen energy. AEM full-scale short reactor systems in the 100-kilowatt scale are currently being tested, and the first megawatt-scale AEM electrolysis hydrogen production system is planned to be launched by the end of 2024.
With the low-cost electricity brought about by the rapid development of renewable energy, Qingneng Co., Ltd.'s high-performance and long-life AEM electrolysis hydrogen production system will lead the global green hydrogen production cost to gradually enter the era of US$1/kg, and promote the large-scale promotion and application of green hydrogen in the fields of chemical industry, refining and chemical, metallurgy, and transportation.
*Source: International Energy Agency