As largest hydrogen production country in the world, China developing hydrogen energy industry has privileged advantages and instant demands. China hydrogen output is large, economic efficiency is good and distribution is wide, developing hydrogen energy industry not only can adjust China energy structure, reduce dependence on oil import and ensure national energy, but also assisting construction of green and clean low-carbon society and realizing sustainable development.
With the technical difficulties of hydrogen energy industrial chain one after another being conquered, standard formulation units one after another release hydrogen energy related national standards, hydrogen energy industry is now walking from demonstration stage to marketization.
As main producer and user of hydrogen, traditional chemical enterprises have large amount of industrial byproduct hydrogen been burnt as fuels, which is low-efficiency, even directly release to the air. How do traditional chemical enterprises participate in FCV fuel hydrogen supply chain is a hydrogen resource high-efficiency utilization new path.
ASIACHEM <China Hydrogen Energy Industrial Chain Annual Report 2019> data shows that, in 2022, China has 135kt (about 1.5bnm3) industrial byproduct hydrogen can be utilized. If a fuel cell car hydrogen consumption is 1-1.25kg/100km and runs 100km everyday, then, these industrial byproduct hydrogen amounts can supply 330k fuel cell cars.
So, what are differences between industrial hydrogen and fuel cell used hydrogen?
Brand new fuel cell used hydrogen national standard GB/T 37244-2018 <Fuel Specification for Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell Vehicles – Hydrogen> will start implementation from Jul 1, 2019, which proposed conception of fuel hydrogen. This standard ruled terms and definitions of PEMFC vehicle used fuel hydrogen, hydrogen purity, requirement of impurity content in hydrogen and its analysis and test method etc. and suit for the per-fluorinated sulfuric acid PEMFC vehicle used fuel hydrogen’s quality requirement.
Fig 1: Hydrogen quality requirement in GB/T 37244-2018 <Fuel Specification for Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell Vehicles – Hydrogen>
There have big differences compare with industrial hydrogen and fuel hydrogen on quality requirement, as the Fig shown below, impurity contents of industrial high pure hydrogen cannot meet requirement of fuel hydrogen. Hydrogen purity of fuel hydrogen is not even pure hydrogen. What industrial hydrogen focuses on is purity of hydrogen, fuel hydrogen, however, is contents of specified impurity. Thus, industrial hydrogen does not equal to fuel hydrogen.
Fig 2: Differences between industrial hydrogen and fuel hydrogen on hydrogen quality requirement
Large industrial hydrogen amount, good economic efficiency and wide distribution can solve fuel hydrogen faced problems of expensive price, long transportation distance and high storage and transportation cost perfectly. The problem is, how to change industrial hydrogen to fuel hydrogen, to meet fuel hydrogen severe requirements to those specific impurities?
Rely on strong scientific research strength of Beijing University and Tsinghua University and advantages on industry-academia-research, targeting on fuel hydrogen, Jaran Hydrogen researched ‘Modular Directional Purification (MDP) Technology’, after MDP purification, industrial hydrogen can perfectly meet requirement of quality of fuel hydrogen, the purity and each impurity content of hydrogen meet GB/T 37244-2018 <Fuel Specification for Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell Vehicles – Hydrogen> and can widely apply to rich hydrogen in chlor-alkali, coke oven gas, arenes reforming, PDH, coal chemical, MTO and synthetic ammonia etc. chemical fields.
Fig 3: Modular Directional Purification (MDP) Sketch Map
MDP technology bases on composition of impurities to do directional analysis, optimizing and selecting removal materials and methods and removal order of impurities. There are 3 major impurities in hydrogen: organic and easy to absorb (formaldehyde, formic acid and hydrocarbons), inorganic and easy to absorb (NH3, H2S, SO2 and halide), and weak to absorb (O2, N2, CO and Ar). Like a doctor, MDP technology first diagnoses the raw feed hydrogen and judges the impurities specifications and concentrations inside; then, base on diagnosis result, selecting related removal scheme. To those which are weak to absorb, each impurity has special-used absorb to do corresponding remove, and hydrogen after this procedure, O2 content is less than 1ppm, CO content is less than 0.1ppm and N2 content is less than 10ppm. To impurities which are easy to absorb, according to impurity specification or pH to select specified absorbent or catalyst to realize optimized removal. MDP technology has characteristics of ‘2-Low and 1-High’: After purification, hydrogen hazardous impurity content is low; purification cost is low, hydrogen yield is high, perfectly matches industrial hydrogen which purity reaches 99% after PSA and further purifies to fuel hydrogen.
Born of MDP technology will bring hydrogen energy industry with huge revolution, and create conditions for traditional chemical enterprises participating in supply chains of fuel hydrogen, meanwhile, it also provides FCV industry development faced several problems with new solutions:
1. Hydrogen quality is not ‘high’ enough: Fuel cell requirement to hydrogen is very high, ‘delicate’ fuel cell is easily to have performance decrease or discarded due to existence of impurities in hydrogen. In hydrogen source and terminal application, through MDP, after directional remove each kind of impurity in hydrogen, hydrogen purity and each impurity content meet GB/T 37244-2018 <Fuel Specification for Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell Vehicles – Hydrogen>, hydrogen quality is no longer a problem which FCV needs to worry about during using process.
2. Hydrogen price is not ‘low’ enough: Sources of industrial hydrogen are mainly divided into industrial hydrogen production and associated rich-hydrogen. Industrial hydrogen production is a hydrogen production which targets at meeting industrial production, which output is large and cost is quite low. In many industrial production processes, there also exist associated rich-hydrogen in tail gas and waste gas, these kind of hydrogen or been burnt as fuels, or been low-efficiency utilized, or been directed emission, through MDP, purifing associated rich-hydrogen and using in the FCV, realizes ‘zero carbon hydrogen production’, economic and high-efficiency. Using MDP, obtain qualified fuel hydrogen from industrial hydrogen, will largely decrease FCV used hydrogen.
3. Hydrogen source distance is not ‘near’ enough: wide suitability of MDP makes more hydrogen sources can apply to FCV, widely broaden paths of FCV obtaining hydrogen sources. Hydrogen refueling stations do not need to ‘seek far and wide for what lies close at hand’ - obtain high-quality FCV used hydrogen, nearby utilize multiple hydrogen source after MDP purification can meet the fuel hydrogen quality requirement, largely decrease storage and transportation cost.
Application of MDP technology provides hydrogen fuel cell industry solving hydrogen quality, hydrogen price and hydrogen storage and transportation with new paths, makes fuel cell used hydrogen safe, pure, economic, diversification, also create conditions for traditional chemical enterprises realizing hydrogen innovative & high-efficiency utilization and participating in supply chain of fuel hydrogen.
