Introduction
Hydrogen has traditionally been indispensable for transforming petroleum into many of the synthetic materials used in industrial production, such as polymers, chemicals, and pharmaceutical raw materials. Currently, hydrogen is receiving a lot of press in the context of new applications involving renewable energy and clean technologies. In particular, considerable R&D has been focused on the development of high efficiency home and other distributed electrolysis systems for transportation. Industry estimates that the total market for traditional uses of hydrogen combined with these new applications will reach $15.6 billion by 2016. Revenues from merchant and on-site hydrogen sales will reach $2.7 billion in 2008, up from $1.8 billion in 2003, at an average annual growth rate of 8.5%.
Challenge
Currently, 85% of the world's hydrogen is produced by steam reformation of natural gas, wherein natural gas and steam are converted to hydrogen. Steam reformation of natural gas, however, also produces trace amounts of carbon monoxide (CO), which remains with the hydrogen. Without expensive purification processes, the CO becomes a poison in the hydrogen feed to the fuel cells expected to be used in vehicles, stationary power sources and industrial devices for power production. Additionally, hydrogen produced by steam reformation is usually generated at large chemical plants and must be shipped to the customer in large compressed cylinders or as a liquid in a cryogenic container, further increasing cost.
Alternative compact on-site or onboard hydrogen production systems are highly desirable. One viable process for on-site hydrogen generation is water electrolysis (the splitting of water molecules with electrical energy), which generates hydrogen without producing greenhouse gasses or CO, and ideally would be powered by a renewable resource such as solar, wind, geothermal, hydroelectric or nuclear energy. Compact onboard hydrogen reformers, capable of producing high-purity hydrogen, are another pathway for Hydrogen Fuel Cell Vehicles (HFCVs).
However, both water electrolysis and onboard reformers have not yet achieved the efficiency and cost levels required for practical applications.
Solution
Electrolysis: During electrolysis, water molecules are broken into their constituent parts using QSI nanometal (such as Nano Ni) electrodes to produce oxygen (O2) and hydrogen (H2). The hydrogen can be used to power fuel cells (See How Hydrogen Creates Electric Power In A Fuel Cell); the oxygen can be stored or vented as desired. Two types of electrolysis have been considered for hydrogen generation, acidic and alkaline electrolyzers. Acidic electrolysis is ill suited to be the standard production method as it requires prohibitively expensive platinum as its catalyst material. Alkaline electrolysis is a more promising approach, since it eliminates the need for expensive precious metal catalysts, and with high surface area nano-scale particles, the catalytic reaction is more efficient. For alkaline electrolysis, a combination of nickel and iron is ideal because it is less costly and can easily be produced at the nano-scale level. QSI's proprietary Nano NiFe™ coating of nickel and iron particles has been shown to improve the alkaline electrolysis process by dramatically increasing the surface area available for the catalytic reaction that generates hydrogen, thus increasing efficiency and production rates. QSI has demonstrated that by using its nano nickel and iron particles (QSI-NANO NIFE™) it is possible to increase the efficiency of an electrolyzer design by several percent by increasing the surface area of its active components. Such an increase is critical for reaching the Department of Energy's 2012 target of 69% efficiency (based on lower heating value). Increases of more than 10% have been demonstrated. In addition to efficiency improvements, QSI's Nano NIFE™ electrode coating permits increases of 60% to 200% in hydrogen production from the same electrode at a fixed efficiency. For hydrogen production, the increase in production efficiency reduces the major operating cost component, the cost of electricity consumed. The increase in production rate reduces the major capital cost component, the cost of the electrolyzer stack. QSI has designed, constructed and operated a test alkaline electrolyzer stack and system utilizing Nano NiFe™ coated cathodes. The stack exhibited 68% efficiency in normal operation and has unique thermal management systems for uniform control of temperature. It is currently capable of producing 2.8 cubic meters of hydrogen per day, or 1.8 kg per week. QSI's proprietary and scalable manufacturing process can produce nano nickel and iron in the quantities required for large-scale commercial hydrogen generation via water electrolysis. QSI's nano scale materials thus make it possible to meet all current and future hydrogen needs: for industrial production, as sole fuel for next generation plug-in hybrid electric/hydrogen and fuel cell powered vehicles.
Compact Onboard Hydrogen Reformers for HFCVs: QSI is also presently engineering a compact hydrogen reformer for HFCV applications, capable of reforming all conventionally available fuels (natural gas, gasoline, diesel and bio-fuels) to high-purity hydrogen. The project is funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation, and the goal is production of high-purity hydrogen in volumes sufficient to power an HFCV. The technology being developed uses hydrogen- permeable membrane reactors with autothermal reforming of hydrocarbons, capable of instantaneous startup (less than 30 seconds) and fast transient response (less than 5 seconds). The autothermal reactor is designed with mini-channels for optimized heat transfer efficiency, while the hydrogen produced in these channels is removed continuously through a hydrogen permeable membrane. The system is configured for production of 5 kg/week of high-purity hydrogen production, the current DOE goal for household hydrogen systems to power HFCVs. In addition, QSI is also working on compact high-temperature fuel cells, capable of In situ reforming of hydrocarbons to hydrogen for use in fuel cells for power production, under a U.S. Army grant. In the latter project, QSI is developing a Unitized Reformed Hydrocarbon Fuel Cell, operating at 300C, with proprietary membrane development and bi-functional anode development, the latter capable of functioning as both a fuel reforming catalyzed support and a high-temperature hydrogen anode for the fuel cell side.
