Integrating a mixed energy vector battolyser into a microgrid

EPSRC：MATTHEW BRENTON：EP/T518098/1 2010年，联合国估计有15亿人用不上电。缺乏电力供应对健康和福祉产生影响。例如，高达40%的这些人依赖木材或木炭做饭，这导致释放有毒气体，导致肺部疾病，每年造成约200万人死亡。由太阳能和风能供电的微型和小型电网是远程供电的重要解决方案。现有的小型和微型电网研究已经确定，出于环境原因，将氢气作为一种能源载体来克服长期储存的问题，特别是在柴油备用发电机周围。目前，最常见的氢气生产途径是蒸汽甲烷重整。氢气也可以通过电解生产，电解有四种主要类型。总成本（包括设备的剩余部分）接近700- 1000英镑/kWe。目前的认知智慧表明，今天的电解槽不容易在成本上具有竞争力。PEM和碱性电解槽的另一个问题是制造中使用的元素（铂、钴、铱和钛）。使用大量的这些材料来扩大生产违背了政府的要求和减少稀缺材料使用的共识。因此，从成本、可持续性或可再循环性选项来看，现有技术的电解槽不适合用于微电网中，特别是由于低容量因子。这项研究着眼于使用电解槽的替代技术来实现这一目标; battolyser。Battolyser是一种电池/电解槽组合，基于水液流电池技术。因为它也是为电池功能预先设计的，所以电极可能比电解槽中的电极更稳定。与计划的20兆瓦电解槽相比，液流电池的设计规模高达100兆瓦，500兆瓦时，因此一旦通过早期TRL障碍，就有很好的潜力迅速扩大电池技术。Battolyser的其他优点包括使用低危害化学品和更高的生产材料可用性。与现有的回收设施连接也有额外的潜力，有助于长期的可持续发展规划。由于battolyser是一个可以同时生产电力和氢气的单一设备，它有可能比电解槽更经济可行，因为它有多个价值流。将进行博士交流计划的研究人员一直在拉夫堡大学的实验室内开发一种低成本的battolyser。然而，实验室环境与真实的世界条件不同，许多研究由于在真实的世界中开发技术的挑战而失败。该项目旨在将该技术介绍给卡尔加里-他们正在开发一种新的太阳能+内燃+液流电池隔离微电网，以便他们能够了解这项技术对他们的系统意味着什么，同时告知博士生在真实的世界条件下可能面临的挑战，以及应对这一挑战所需的科学和工程调整。

EPSRC : MATTHEW BRENTON : EP/T518098/1In 2010 the UN estimated there were 1.5 billion people with no access to electricity. A lack of access to electricity has implications on health and wellbeing. For example up to 40% of these people rely on wood or charcoal for cooking which results in the release of toxic gases leading to lung disease which kills around 2million people /year. Micro and mini grids supplied by solar and wind power are an important solution to remote access to electricity. Existing research into mini and microgrids has established that for environmental reasons, it makes sense to include hydrogen as an energy vector to overcome issues with long term storage especially around diesel backup generators.Presently, the most common production route for hydrogen is steam methane reformation. Hydrogen can also be produced through electrolysis of which there are four main types. The total cost including balance of plant is close to £700-£1000/kWe. Current perceived wisdom suggests today's electrolysers cannot easily be made cost competitive. A further issue with PEM and alkaline electrolysers is the elements used in manufacture (platinum, cobalt, iridium and titanium). Using significant amounts of these materials to scale up production goes against government mandates and common wisdom around needing to reduce scarce material utilisation. A state-of-the-art electrolyser is therefore not suitable for use in a microgrid from a cost, sustainability, or recyclability option, particularly due to a low capacity factor. This research looks at using an alternative technology to the electrolyser to achieve this; the battolyser. A battolyser is a battery/electrolyser combined and is based on aqueous flow battery technology. Because it is pre-designed for battery functionality too, the electrodes may be more stable than those in an electrolyser. Flow batteries are being designed in scales of up to 100MW, 500MWh compared to Electrolysers at a planned 20MW and therefore there is good potential to scale up battolyser technology quickly once it passes early stage TRL hurdles. Additional advantages of a battolyser include the use of low hazard chemicals and the higher availability of materials used in manufacture. There is also additional potential to link into existing recycling facilities helping with long term sustainability planning.As the battolyser is a single device which can produce both electricity and hydrogen it has the potential to be more economically viable than an electrolyser because of the multiple value streams. The researcher who will undertake the doctoral exchange scheme has been developing a low cost battolyser within the laboratory at Loughborough University. However, a laboratory environment is nto the same as real world conditions and many research fails due to the challenges of developing technology in the real world. This project aims to introduce the technology to Calgary - who are developing a new solar + internal combustion + flow battery isolated microgrid so that they can understand what this technology will mean for their system while at the same time informing the Doctoral student about the challenges that the battolyser may face under real world conditions and the scientific and engineering based adjustments needed to deal with this.