HH-Gen: High performance green hydrogen generation from solar energy

HH-Gen：太阳能高性能绿色制氢

• 批准号: 79783
• 金额: $ 34.07万
• 依托单位: FOCALSUN LTD
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Collaborative R&D
• 财政年份: 2020
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2020 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=79783
• 关键词: HH; Gen; performance; green; hydrogen

In 2018, the IPCC concluded that limiting global warming to 2ºC requires a reduction in CO2 emissions of 25% by 2030 compared with 2010 levels, and to reach net zero by 2070\. Hydrogen is a clean-energy solution representing an important aspect of the transition to renewable energies required to prevent catastrophic climate change. "Green" hydrogen produced from renewable sources can address critical energy challenges. It offers a route to decarbonise many sectors such as aviation, long-haul transport, chemicals manufacture, and iron and steel, where it is challenging to reduce emissions. Hydrogen is a versatile fuel, both in terms of supply and use, which can store large quantities of energy for prolonged periods of time, and can transport energy over long distances. It can enable renewable energy resources to provide greater contribution, with potential to mitigate issues with variable output from renewables, such as solar photovoltaics (PV) and wind. However, producing hydrogen from renewable energy resources is currently expensive, and \>90% of global hydrogen production comes from fossil fuels (so-called "grey" hydrogen. mostly steam reforming of natural gas). Although the costs of producing hydrogen from renewable electricity are falling, significant advances are required in the state of the art so that green hydrogen becomes cost competitive with alternatives. FocalSun's technology aims to solve issues with the cost of production of green hydrogen. We seek to achieve this by focusing on eliminating inefficiencies in the processes used to produce hydrogen from solar energy. Consider a large array of solar panels connected to the grid, which is then connected to an electrolyser to generate hydrogen through electrolysis of water. There are several inefficiencies:* PV panels are around 18-20% efficient and typically static and do not track the sun (meaning efficiency is in reality less than 18-20%). FocalSun uses bi-axial concentrating solar optics in combination with high-efficiency multi-junction solar cells, which are ~45% efficient. In combination with thermal energy recovery, this can result in more than 80% of the incident solar energy being captured for use as part of a hydrogen production system.* Solar cells produce DC electricity, which is converted to AC, typically transmitted several miles, then converted back to DC to power the electrolyser. DC/AC and AC/DC conversion consumes around 5-10% of the produced energy. FocalSun is designed so that the electrolyser is co-located with the solar power system, enabling direct coupling of the electrical energy, eliminating these losses.This project will address these efficiencies to enable green hydrogen to become cost-competitive with grey hydrogen. Moreover, because the directly-coupled configuration requires a compact electrolyser, this enables us to develop high-pressure electrolysers, where the water used for electrolysis is compressed so that the hydrogen is directly produced at high pressure, thus eliminating the pumping losses to compress hydrogen for transmission. Pressurising water requires much less energy than pressuring hydrogen gas because the change in volume that occurs is far smaller. This represents a future R&D direction, and a pathway to further reducing the cost of green hydrogen.

2018年，IPCC得出结论，将全球变暖限制在2ºC需要到2030年将二氧化碳排放量与2010年水平相比减少25%，并到2070年达到净零排放。氢是一种清洁能源解决方案，代表了向可再生能源过渡的一个重要方面，以防止灾难性的气候变化。由可再生能源生产的“绿色”氢可以解决关键的能源挑战。它为航空、长途运输、化学品制造和钢铁等许多行业的脱碳提供了一条途径，这些行业在减少排放方面具有挑战性。氢气是一种多功能燃料，无论是在供应和使用方面，它可以长时间储存大量能量，并可以长距离运输能量。它可以使可再生能源资源提供更大的贡献，并有可能缓解太阳能光伏（PV）和风能等可再生能源的可变输出问题。然而，从可再生能源资源生产氢气目前是昂贵的，并且全球氢气生产的90%来自化石燃料（所谓的“灰色”氢气。主要是天然气的蒸汽重整）。虽然从可再生电力生产氢气的成本正在下降，但需要在现有技术中取得重大进展，以使绿色氢气与替代品相比具有成本竞争力。FocalSun的技术旨在解决生产绿色氢气的成本问题。为了实现这一目标，我们致力于消除太阳能制氢过程中的低效率。考虑一个连接到电网的大型太阳能电池板阵列，然后连接到电解槽，通过电解水产生氢气。有几个低效率：* 光伏电池板的效率约为18-20%，通常是静态的，不跟踪太阳（这意味着效率实际上低于18-20%）。FocalSun使用双轴聚光太阳能光学器件与高效多结太阳能电池相结合，其效率约为45%。结合热能回收，这可以导致超过80%的入射太阳能被捕获，用作制氢系统的一部分。太阳能电池产生直流电，将其转换为交流电，通常传输几英里，然后转换回直流电为电解槽供电。DC/AC和AC/DC转换消耗约5-10%的所产生的能量。FocalSun的设计使电解槽与太阳能发电系统位于同一地点，从而实现电能的直接耦合，消除这些损失。该项目将解决这些效率问题，使绿色氢与灰色氢相比具有成本竞争力。此外，由于直接耦合配置需要紧凑的电解槽，这使得我们能够开发高压电解槽，其中用于电解的水被压缩，使得氢气在高压下直接产生，从而消除了压缩氢气以用于传输的泵送损失。对水加压比对氢气加压需要的能量少得多，因为发生的体积变化要小得多。这代表了未来的研发方向，也是进一步降低绿色氢成本的途径。