We live in times energy transition. Fossil fuels are running out because of depletion and because they are damaging the planet. And while we can not replace them 100% renewable energy sources such as electricity generated by wind, solar or hydroelectric power, researchers around the world are looking for alternative sources to move ships, planes, trains and cars. clean fonts. One of the most discussed is hydrogen. And among its many colors there are those who speak of golden hydrogen.
Hydrogen is everywhere. He first element from the periodic table. And it’s a chemical element more the abundance of the universe. According to Wikipedia, it is over 75% matter by mass and over 90% atoms. Come on, if we want to use hydrogen as an energy source, it will never be used up. Consequently, various industrial and public actors support hydrogen as source of clean energy. The problem is getting hydrogen.
Humans have been getting hydrogen for use as fuel for a long time. raw materialsin the manufacture of products or other materials such as glass, as a refrigerant, in pharmaceutical industry, in food products, in various chemical industries … And, of course, as a source of energy. But not all hydrogen production methods they are clean. Hence the colors assigned to hydrogen.
grey, green or blue hydrogen
The so-called gray hydrogen or black hydrogen is obtained from fossil fuel. Therefore, it is associated with that color. It is used in refineries, in the manufacture of fertilizers, etc. Usually extraction from natural gas. And the consequence of obtaining hydrogen from this source is that produces carbon dioxide. Terrible CO2 that gives us so many headaches.
Then we have green hydrogen. It is becoming an alternative to fossil fuels, at least in industrial sectors. The green thing comes to him formed from water. It is extracted through a process called electrolysis. It is clean because it does not produce waste. But you need electricity to carry out this electrolysis. The main thing is that this source of electricity is clean, that is, through wind or sun.
call blue hydrogen it is the evolution of gray or black hydrogen. It is extracted from natural gas, but in the process some of the carbon dioxide is captured so that it doesn’t get dirty. It is not as green as green hydrogen, but is less polluting than its gray brother. And if we don’t have enough flowers, we can also talk about purple or pink hydrogen. This is the one that occurs when hydrogen is produced by electrolysis of water in nuclear power plants. It is as clean as green energy since the system does not produce waste. And besides, it uses the power supply without interrupting your normal work.
Texas golden hydrogen
What about golden hydrogen? article Wired gives us some clues in the form bacteria and nutrients who care about work. And as a workplace the holes that once were oil rigs. Now they are not used, because they have run out or it is not worth continuing to dig. And since the environmental impact is already done, second life for this type of objects he can amortize them for the good of the planet and for the good of all.
In particular, microbes recycle hydrocarbon residues. Everything that could not be extracted or used, but what was left. The result: hydrogen and CO2. But while this process is in the testing phase. Responsible person Cemvit Factory, a biotechnology company based in Texas, one of the US states with the most oil wells. Some of them are already out of use.
Responsible for Cemvit Factory they say that the process of obtaining golden hydrogen it’s profitable, since a lot of hydrogen is obtained with a small amount. In addition, they use already abandoned facilities, which is unlikely to require investment in the creation of specific hydrogen production plants. What about CO2 produced? The answer is that it can be stored underground, recycled by other types of microbes, and/or commercialized for this CO2.
The tests carried out by this company and announced at the end of September gave good results. But there is still too much to be done. Let’s see if in a few years the so-called golden hydrogen will become viable and serious alternative to generate electricity or move aircraft or ships using hydrogen.
Golden hydrogen of Valencia
But more companies and researchers are working on golden hydrogen. For example, in Valencia, Spain. researchers Institute of Chemical Technology CSIC and Polytechnic University of Valencia announced this spring that they had created a golden hydrogen generator. And his work appeared in The science. Based proton ceramics. And to be scalable and modular. In other words, it can be made in different sizes to suit the needs of different calibers.
In particular, it is an “electrified reactor for produce hydrogen in a more sustainable way and energy efficient. “36 individual ceramic membranes in a scalable modular generator that produces hydrogen from electricity and various fuels with almost zero energy loss. It has been shown for the first time that this technology makes it possible to produce hydrogen on an industrial scale.”
The note continues. “Fuel can be ammonia, natural gas, biogas or other molecules with hydrogen. The project allowed the electrified reactor to be scaled up to a production of about half a kilo of pressurized hydrogen per day electrocompression method with very high purity and maximum energy efficiency exceeding 90%. Another advantage is that the resulting CO2 is not emitted into the atmosphere. “It is turned into a pressurized stream to be liquefied and transported for later use or storage, allowing for decarburization.”
The next step will be to put the knowledge gained into practice and scale it up for the production of golden hydrogen on an industrial scale. Something that doesn’t have to be very far in time, as the research team expert support and financial resources from energy companies such as Shell, ExxonMobil, Total Energy, Equinor, ENGIE, Saudi Aramco D gass again.
Source: Hiper Textual
