Green Hydrogen Plant
Hydrogen production
in Poland
Poland is the 3rd largest producer of hydrogen in the European Union after Germany and the Netherlands, and we produce 1.3 million tons of it. Unfortunately, it is gray hydrogen, i.e. produced by steam reforming, which produces up to 12 kg of CO2 when producing 1kg of hydrogen, resulting in as much as 15.6 million tons of CO2 being released into the atmosphere.
Market structure hydrogen application
Polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) electrolyzer
PEM electrolyzers (polymer electrolyte membrane or proton exchange membrane) differ from the alkaline electrolyzer technology described above in the type of electrolyte used. In this case, it is a solid polymer. Such an electrolyzer uses only deionized water, with no additional electrolyte. The electrodes adhere tightly to the electrolyte forming a separating membrane. During electrolysis, oxygen and hydrogen ions, or protons, are produced at the anode. The latter are transported across the membrane and at the cathode combine with electrons to form hydrogen.
The use of PEM technology for water electrolysis has a number of advantages, which include the ability to achieve high current density and efficiency, and in addition, the use of deionized water produces hydrogen with a high level of purity. Their disadvantages, however, are the high cost of their constituent materials and the need to use high-purity water, which is also expensive to obtain.
Hydrogen applications – fuel cells
Transformation of hydrogen as an energy carrier
Ammonia production
process
Green ammonia is produced with hydrogen separated from water by renewable electricity, or more precisely, when hydrogen ions reach the cathode, they displace the lithium atoms in each lithium nitride molecule, forming NH3.
Haber and Bosch method
The process takes place in three stages:
- nitrogen and hydrogen go into a compressor, where they reach a pressure of several hundred atmospheres,
- the gases reactin a converter containing a catalyst (metallic iron with promoters),
- the gases flowing out of the converter are cooled to -50 °C; the purpose of this operation is to condense the ammonia from the post-reaction gas mixture – unreacted nitrogen and hydrogen remain in the gas phase under these conditions.
The lower the temperature and higher the pressure, the higher the equilibrium ammonia content of the mixture. However, lowering the temperature results in a decrease in the rate of ammonia formation, so it is necessary to find the optimum temperature at which an acceptable rate of ammonia formation and efficiency of this reaction are obtained. In industrial practice, this reaction is carried out at pressures ranging from 200 to 400 atmospheres and temperatures varying between 400 and 650 °C.
Green hydrogen plant
Hydrogen as energy storage
Selling hydrogen as a product
Transport and distribution of green ammonia
Ammonia as a product is a raw material whose price is dynamically increasing in value. The reason for the price increase is the closure or reduction of production by European fertilizer factories. This situation is a consequence of the drastic increase in the price of natural gas, which is needed in the process of making fertilizers