On Day 1 of H2Tech's H2Tech Solutions virtual event, Dr. Anna Pougin, Project Manager, Hydrogen Economy for CREAVIS-EVONIK, explored one of the challenges of green hydrogen: the cost-competitiveness compared to conventional hydrogen production methods.

"One of the key components to enable technologies such as electrolysis is the membrane used," Dr. Pougin began. During her presentation, she detailed electrolyzers and different technologies, and asserted that the AEM technology was superior to making green hydrogen cost-competitive.

Membrane technology is one of Evonik's core competencies, with membrane product suites that include SEPURAN Green, which is used in biogas applications and is gaining more traction in the separation of gas mixtures of natural gas and hydrogen in applications where the gas grid may be utilized to transport hydrogen cheaply, then separate the natural gas and hydrogen again; and SEPURAN Noble, which is used to purify helium onsite.

The AEM membrane is the latest generation of membrane technologies for electrolysis. Dr. Pougin described the technology as an ideal combination of the best aspects of PEM electrolysis and alkaline electrolysis (AEL) without their respective disadvantages.

"For a long time, no membrane has been known that could be used in this electrolysis technique, because most of the membranes out there are good for only one or two of at least three key performance indicators," Dr. Pougin said. She announced that prototypes are now available.

The needed membrane must have two components to ensure that the structure giving "backbone" to the polymeric membrane is not hydrolyzed, and that anines can be conducted through the membrane efficiently to allow for high-performance electrolysis.

Dr. Pougin said, "This membrane must bring together three characteristics: high ion conductivity, mechanical integrity and stability in alkyline media. There are a few membranes out there that claim they can operate under those conditions, and we have tested a few and are convinced that our membranes have superior characteristics and can deliver superior performance on all three of these KPIs when it comes to membrane electrolysis."

Dr. Pougin also presented direct cost and benefit comparisons with competitive membrane technologies, and provided further details about the Evonik technology.

She closed her presentation by discussing the CHANNEL Consortia, a multidisciplinary group consisting of members from four different European countries, including industrial companies and academic institutions, that bring together extensive knowledge to produce a high-performance electrolyzer. The CHANNEL project is the development of the most Cost-efficient Hydrogen production unit based on AnnioN exchange membrane ELectrolysis.  

This in-depth and informative Session 5 can be viewed on-demand.

The H2Tech Solutions virtual conference runs from 18–19 May. Please visit www.H2-TechSolutions.com to view the event agenda and register for live and on-demand access to all speaker presentations.