Researchers Use Sea Water To Produce Green Hydrogen At Almost 100% Efficiency
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Hydrogen Fuel News.
This paragraph gives more details.
“We have split natural seawater into oxygen and hydrogen with nearly 100 percent efficiency, to produce green hydrogen by electrolysis, using a non-precious and cheap catalyst in a commercial electrolyser,” explained Professor Shi-Zhang Qiao, project leader at the School of Chemical Engineering at the University of Adelaide.
They use what is called a Lewis acid catalyst.
In the late 1960s, I worked for ICI in Runcorn.
Most of the hydrogen they needed was produced from brine by the large Castner-Kellner process, which may have been green, but was filthy, as it used a lot of mercury.
ICI also had an older and cruder process, which produced hydrogen and oxygen, by electrolysing brine, in a simple cell.
- These cells had a metal tub, with a concrete lid.
- Two electrodes passed through the lid.
- The lids quickly degraded and cells were rebuild regularly.
- But it did produce medical grade sodium hydroxide.
Legend also had it, that the salt that collected around the lid was pure enough to use in the canteen.
In Torvex Energy, I describe a company in Stockton which is also going the sea water electrolysis route.
Having seen, its Victorian ancestor in operation, I believe that sea water electrolysis has possibilities to make hydrogen efficiently.
Catalyst Capital Makes First Move In GBP 300m Battery Storage Strategy
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Renewables Now.
This is the first paragraph.
Fund manager Catalyst Capital has acquired a site to build a 100-MW battery in Yorkshire, northern England, in the first of a series of planned deals under a GBP-300-million (USD 406.1m/EUR 358.9m) strategy to develop diversified UK battery energy storage systems (BESS) facilities.
£300 million, says to me that the finance industry, now finds battery storage to be a worthwhile investment.
Skelton Grange Power Station
This Google Map shows the location of the Skelton Grange power station site, where the battery will be developed.
And this second Google Map shows the site in more detail.
Note that there is still a sub-station on the site.
The article states that planning permission was received in 2021 and they hope to have the facility on-line in the first quarter of this year.
That appears quick to me. Is it because the electrical connection already in situ?
It should also be noted, that the battery output of 100 MW is much less than that of the former coal-fired power station in the mid-1980s, which was at last 480 MW.
I also wonder, if the site could host a hydrogen fuelling station for buses.
- It is not far from the centre of Leeds.
- It has a good connection to the National Grid.
- An electrolyser like the one built by ITM Power at Tyseley Energy Park uses 3 MW of electricity to produce around 1.5 tonnes of hydrogen per day.
I also feel that the site could host a wind turbine up to about 10 MW.
Conclusion
Catalyst Capital seems to have made a big entry into the market. They won’t be the last to do this, as the returns are there and the battery storage is needed.
The Anonymous Widower 