Kurzbeschreibung
(Englisch)
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The development of clean, sustainable and cost-competitive hydrogen production process is a key to a viable future hydrogen economy. The world leader in the production of high pressure zero gap alkaline electrolyzers, IHT, CH is facing the imminent necessity to replace the asbestos diaphragm used traditionally in their electrolyzers since 1950s, with a separator made of advanced environmentally friendly material. While diaphragm / membrane material has been already developed and produced in the laboratory scale (2-5 cm diameter) during the CTI project NMAE2, the goal of the following up P+D project is building up of a pilot plant electrolyzer at IHT, as well as production and testing of membranes (130 mm diameter) under semi-industrial conditions. This is a precondition for further step of up-scaling these membranes to the industrial size of 1.6 m in diameter. Also, there is a requirement from the market for electrolyzers in the power range of 1-5 kW. Nowadays this range is covered by PEM electrolyzers, whose characteristics are the efficiencies lower than 50% and high investment costs.
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Schlussbericht
(Englisch)
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The objectives of the project are the development of a fully automated pilot scale electrolyser at IHT for testing and characterizing new types of diaphragms/membranes for high pressure, zero gap alka-line electrolyser. At EMPA, membranes of new alternative materials are produced and tested on la-boratory scale concerning electrochemistry and stability.
Industrie Haute Technologie (IHT), Monthey, CH, produces alkaline electrolysers with a capacity for hydrogen generation of 760 Nm3/h H2, an electrical consumption of 4.3 kWh/Nm3 and a total efficiency of 82%. Nowadays, IHT is facing the imminent necessity to replace the asbestos diaphragm used traditionally in their electrolysers with a diaphragm made of advanced and environmentally friendly material.
The new materials has to fulfill multiple demands, such as good gas separation, fast evacuation of the bubbles from the surface (low sticking coefficient), good ionic conductivity and low cell overpotential, combined with a high chemical stability in 25 wt. % KOH solution at 85°C, mechanical strength as well as economic and ecological acceptance. The new developed diaphragms are based on minerals, ce-ramics, polymers and composites thereof.
While at EMPA the new materials has been developed and tested in laboratory scale and ambient conditions (room temperature, ambient pressure), IHT was building up the pilot plant electrolyser for testing the new membranes under industrial conditions at 80°C and 30 bar.
Auftragnehmer/Contractant/Contraente/Contractor:
EMPA
Industrie Haute Technologie
Autorschaft/Auteurs/Autori/Authors:
Vogt,Ulrich
Züttel,Andreas
Trajkovic,Ivo
Gorbar,Michal
Burkhalter,E.
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