South Africa

Polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) water electrolysis is an efficient and environmental friendly method that can be used for the production of molecular hydrogen of electrolytic grade using zero-carbon power sources such as renewable and nuclear. However market applications are asking for cost reduction and performances improvement. This can be achieved by increasing operating current density and lifetime of operation. Concerning performance Read More

Globally the accelerating use of renewable energy sources enabled by increased efficiencies and reduced costs and driven by the need to mitigate the effects of climate change has significantly increased research in the areas of renewable energy production storage distribution and end-use. Central to this discussion is the use of hydrogen as a clean efficient energy vector for energy storage. This review by experts of Task 32 “Hydrogen-based Energy Read More

To have a uniform distribution of reactants is an advantage to a fuel cell. We report results for such a distributor with tree-like flow field plates (FFP). Numerical simulations have shown that the width scaling parameters of tree-like patterns in FFPs used in polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFC) reduces the viscous dissipation in the channels. In this study experimental investigations were conducted on a 2-layer FF plate possessing a tree-li Read More

An underground mining ventilation testing facility (VTF) was designed and constructed at the HySA facility at the North-West University South Africa. The purpose was to evaluate risks associated with different hydrogen storage technologies in a confined environment. The work included initial calculations of hydrogen movement in specific spaces and the development of simulation tools to compare these modelled results with experimental work. For th Read More

Metal hydride (MH) thermal sorption compression is an efficient and reliable method allowing a conversion of energy from heat into a compressed hydrogen gas. The most important component of such a thermal engine – the metal hydride material itself – should possess several material features in order to achieve an efficient performance in the hydrogen compression. Apart from the hydrogen storage characteristics important for every solid H stora Read More

This paper reviews state-of-the-art developments in hydrogen energy systems which integrate fuel cells with metal hydride-based hydrogen storage. The 187 reference papers included in this review provide an overview of all major publications in the field as well as recent work by several of the authors of the review. The review contains four parts. The first part gives an overview of the existing types of fuel cells and outlines the potential of using metal h Read More

The goal of the EU Horizon 2020 RISE project 778307 “Hydrogen fuelled utility vehicles and their support systems utilising metal hydrides” (HYDRIDE4MOBILITY) is in addressing critical issues towards a commercial implementation of hydrogen powered forklifts using metal hydride (MH) based hydrogen storage and PEM fuel cells together with the systems for their refuelling at industrial customers facilities. For these applications high spe Read More

There exists no single optimal way for transporting hydrogen and other hydrogen carriers from one port to the other globally. Its delivery depends on several factors such as the quantity distance economics and the availability of the required infrastructure for its transportation. Europe has a strategy to invest in the production of green hydrogen in Africa to meet its needs. This study assessed the economic viability of shipping liquefied hydrogen (LH2 ) and hyd Read More

This paper reports on an experimental evaluation of the hydrogen separation performance in a proton exchange membrane system with Pt-Co/C as the anode electrocatalyst. The recovery of hydrogen from H2/CO2 H2/CH4 and H2/NH3 gas mixtures were determined in the temperature range of 100–160 ◦C. The effects of both the impurity concentration and cell temperature on the separation performance of the cell and membrane were further exami Read More

Liquid hydrogen carriers will soon play a significant role in transporting energy. The key factors that are considered when assessing the applicability of ammonia cracking in large-scale projects are as follows: high energy density easy storage and distribution the simplicity of the overall process and a low or zero-carbon footprint. Thermal systems used for recovering H2 from ammonia require a reaction unit and catalyst that operates at a high temper Read More

This paper performs a technoeconomic comparison of two hybrid renewable energy supplies (HRES) for a specific location in Ghana and suggests the optimal solution in terms of cost energy generation capacity and emissions. (e two HRES considered in this paper were wind/hydrogen/fuel-cell and wind/battery storage respectively. (e necessity of this study was derived from the rise and expansion of hybrid renewable energy supply in a decentralised netw Read More

Efficiently predicting and understanding refuelling patterns in the context of HFVs is paramount for optimising fuelling processes infrastructure planning and facilitating vehicle operation. This study evaluates several supervised machine learning methodologies for predicting the refuelling behaviour of HFVs. The LightGBM model emerged as the most effective predictive model due to its ability to handle time series and seasonal data. The selected model int Read More

The depletion and overuse of fossil fuels present formidable challenge to energy supply system and environment. The human society is in great need of clean renewable and sustainable energy which can guarantee the long-term utilization without leading to escalation of greenhouse effect. Hydrogen as an extraordinary secondary energy is capable of realizing the target of environmental protection and transferring the intermittent primary energy to Read More

An equilibrium-based steady-state simulator model that predicts and optimizes hydrogen production from steam gasification ofbiomass is developed using ASPEN Plus software and artificial intelligence techniques. Corn cob’s chemical composition wascharacterized to ensure the biomass used as a gasifier and with potential for production of hydrogen. Artificial intelligence is usedto examine the effects of the significant input variables on response variable Read More

The growing demand for energy and the need to reduce the carbon footprint has made green hydrogen a promising alternative to traditional fossil fuels. Green hydrogen is produced using renewable energy sources making it a sustainable and environmentally friendly energy source. Solid-state hydrogen storage aims to store hydrogen in a solid matrix offering potential advantages such as higher safety and improved energy density compared to tr Read More

Hydrogen and electricity derived from renewable sources present feasible alternative energy options for the decarbonisation of the transportation and power sectors. This study presents the utilisation of hydrogen generated from solar and wind energy resources as a clean fuel for mobility and backup storage for stationary applications under economic and environmental uncertainties. This is achieved by developing a detailed technoeconomic model of an i Read More

In this paper an overview of commercial hydrogen separation technologies is given. These technologies are discussed and compared—with a detailed discussion on membrane-based technologies. An emerging and promising novel hydrogen separation technology namely electrochemical hydrogen separation (EHS) is reviewed in detail. EHS has many advantages over conventional separation systems (e.g. it is not energy intensive it is environ Read More

Green hydrogen presents a promising solution for decarbonisation but its widespread adoption faces significant challenges. To meet Europe’s 2030 targets a 250-fold increase in electrolyser capacity is required necessitating an investment of €170-240 billion. This involves constructing 20-40 pioneering megaprojects each with a 1-5 GW capacity. Historically pioneering energy projects have seen capital costs double or triple from initial estimates wi Read More

Hydrogen is a crucial energy carrier for the Clean Energy Sustainable Development Goals and the just transition to low/zero-carbon energy. As a top CO2-emitting country hydrogen (especially green hydrogen) production in South Africa has gained momentum due to the availability of resources such as solar energy land wind energy platinum group metals (as catalysts for electrolysers) and water. However the demand for green hydrogen in South Afric Read More

The transition to a hydrogen-based economy presents a promising solution to the challenges posed by unsus tainable energy systems and reliance on fossil fuels. This comprehensive review explores various hydrogen production methods emphasizing their technological advancements sustainability implications and future prospects. Beginning with an overview of hydrogen’s significance as a clean energy carrier the review examines key production metho Read More

One of the biggest global challenges we are facing today is the provision of affordable green and sustainable energy to a growing population. Enshrined in multiple United Nation Sustainable Development Goals – Goal 7: Affordable and Clean Energy; Goal 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities; Goal 12: Responsible Consumption and Production and Goal 13: Climate Action – as well as at the core of the Paris Agreement it is our task as scientists and Read More

Hydrogen production from renewable energy sources has the potential to significantly reduce the carbon footprint of critical economic sectors that rely heavily on fossil fuels. Liquid organic hydrogen carrier (LOHC) technology has the capability to overcome the limitations associated with conventional hydrogen storage technologies. To date dibenzyltoluene and benzyltoluene are the benchmark LOHC molecules due to the unique hydrogen stora Read More