Energy Engineering Fundamentals (ME-539) : Department of Mechanical Engineering IIT - (BHU)

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Energy Engineering

Fundamentals (ME-539)

Department of Mechanical Engineering


IIT-(BHU)

Convenor:
Prof. S.K. Shukla
Department of Mechanical Engineering
IIT (BHU), Varanasi-221005
Introduction

• Hydrogen (H2) is available in abundance in the


environment. It is associated with water, hydrocarbons and
other organic matters.
• Hydrogen is a versatile energy carrier with favorable
characteristics since it does not release any CO2 at the
point of use as a clean fuel or energy source, and can play
an important role in the transition to a clean and green
energy system.
• Hydrogen production technologies and based products
have gain significant progress in recent time.
Hydrogen Gas

• Lightest
• Most abundant
• Colorless
• Odorless
• Non-toxic
• Non-carcinogenic gas
• Not found by itself on Earth but it is available in molecular
form combined with another constituent as a compound
(e.g. water, methane)
Hydrogen Sources
Hydrogen is available from a variety of sources. The
percentage of hydrogen produced by different sources are
given below:
Comparison of Hydrogen gas
with other fuels
Demand and Supply
Methods for production of Hydrogen
1. Thermochemical Processes 3. Direct Solar Water Splitting
• Natural gas reforming (also Processes
called steam methane reforming • Photoelectrochemical (PEC)
or SMR) • Photobiological

• Biomass gasification
• Biomass-derived liquid
reforming
• Solar thermochemical hydrogen
(STCH)

4. Biological Processes
2. Electrolytic Processes • Microbial biomass conversion
• Electrolysis • Photobiological
Cont..

• There are numerous way to produce hydrogen, but the cost


involvement, safety factor, and effect on climate are few
important issues that decide the way of production.
• Water electrolysis: using any power source including wind,
solar, nuclear power.
• From natural gas, Steam-Methan reforming
• Gasification of Coal
• Converting biomass into gas or liquids and separating the
hydrogen
• Using microbes that use light to make hydrogen
Current scenario

• At present, however, just 2 per cent of the 600 billion cubic


meters of hydrogen manufactured each year around the
world is produced by water electrolysis, while 98 per cent
is produced from natural gas, with carbon dioxide as a
by-product.
• More than 90 per cent of this hydrogen is used as a
building block for fertilizers or is consumed within the oil,
refining and wider petrochemicals industry.
Steam-Methane Reforming

• In steam-methane reforming, high-temperature steam


(1,300°F to 1,800°F) under 3–25 bar pressure (1 bar = 14.5
psi) reacts with methane in the presence of a catalyst to
produce hydrogen, carbon monoxide, and a relatively
small amount of carbon dioxide.
• Natural gas is the main methane source for hydrogen
production by industrial facilities and petroleum refineries.
Electrolysis

• Electrolysis is a process that splits hydrogen from water


using an electric current.
• The process may be referred to as power-to-gas,
where power is electricity and hydrogen is gas.
• Electrolysis itself does not produce any byproducts or
emissions other than hydrogen and oxygen.
• The electricity for electrolysis can come from renewable
sources such as hydro, solar, or wind energy.
• If the electricity for electrolysis is produced from fossil
fuel (coal, natural gas, and petroleum) or biomass
combustion, then the related environmental effects and
carbon dioxide emissions are indirectly associated with
electrolysis.
The Process

• Using electricity to split water into hydrogen & oxygen.


Source of electricity can be fossil fuels, wind energy, solar
energy etc.
• Reaction takes place in electrolyzers.
• Decomposition of water (H2O) into oxygen (O2) and
hydrogen gas (H2) due to an electric current.
• Electrolyzer consist of an anode and cathode separated by an
electrolyte producing an electrically conducting solution
when dissolved in water
Chemical Reaction

Hydrogen gas produced at cathode (-


ve)
• Reduction reaction with electrons
from cathode given to hydrogen
cations
• 2H+(aq) + 2e- →H2 (aq)
Oxygen gas produced at anode (+ve)
• Oxidation reaction giving electrons
to the anode
• 2H2O (l) →O2 (g) + 4H+ (aq) + 4e-
• Overall Reaction : 2H2O (l) 2H2 (g) + O2 (g)
• Twice the amount of hydrogen molecules produced than
oxygen molecules
• Produced hydrogen gas has twice the volume of the
produced oxygen gas (assuming equal temp. and pressure
for both gases)
Type of Hydrogen

• The organizations and industries categorize or define


hydrogen according to the energy sources for its
production. For example,
• Hydrogen produced using renewable energy might be
referred to as renewable hydrogen or green hydrogen.
• Hydrogen produced from coal may be called brown
hydrogen.
• Hydrogen produced from natural gas or petroleum might
be referred to as grey hydrogen.
• Brown or grey hydrogen production combined with carbon
capture and storage/sequestration might be referred to
as blue hydrogen.
National Hydrogen Mission
• Current levels of demand and production of Hydrogen is quite
low in India.
• According to a report by The Energy and Resources Institute
(TERI), Hydrogen demand in India was mostly specific to
ammonia production and for special refineries that needed
hydrogen gas.
• A total demand of 6 million ton per year was noted by TERI in
2020.
• But most of the production of Hydrogen in India was through
steam methane reforming of natural gas, which results in carbon
emissions as a byproduct essentially negating the environmental
impact of using this kind of Hydrogen.
• The 1-1-1 target for Green Hydrogen: Target is to achieve $1
per 1 kilogram in 1 decade –,"
Need of Hydrogen energy
Production
Infrastructure Utilization
(Green
(Storage) (Transport)
hydrogen)

Fuel Cell
Fuel Cell
• Fuel cells are electrochemical cells consisting of two electrodes
and an electrolyte which convert the chemical energy of
reaction between fuel and oxidant directly into electrical
energy.
Working Principle
• A fuel cell is composed of an anode, cathode, and an
electrolyte membrane. A typical fuel cell works by passing
hydrogen through the anode of a fuel cell and oxygen
through the cathode. At the anode site, a catalyst splits the
hydrogen molecules into electrons and protons.
• The protons pass through the porous electrolyte
membrane, while the electrons are forced through a circuit,
generating an electric current and excess heat. At the
cathode, the protons, electrons, and oxygen combine to
produce water molecules.
• Addressing critical climate challenges issue as there are no
carbon dioxide emissions.
Type of fuel cells

• Fuel cells are classified primarily by the kind of electrolyte


they employ.
• This classification determines the kind of electro-chemical
reactions that take place in the cell, the kind of catalysts
required, the temperature range in which the cell
operates, the fuel required, and other factors.
• These characteristics, in turn, affect the applications for
which these cells are most suitable.
Cont..

• POLYMER ELECTROLYTE MEMBRANE FUEL CELLS


• DIRECT METHANOL FUEL CELLS
• ALKALINE FUEL CELLS
• PHOSPHORIC ACID FUEL CELLS
• MOLTEN CARBONATE FUEL CELLS
• SOLID OXIDE FUEL CELLS
• REVERSIBLE FUEL CELLS
PEM
• Polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cells—also called
proton exchange membrane fuel cells—deliver high power
density and offer the advantages of low weight and volume
compared with other fuel cells.
• PEM fuel cells use a solid polymer as an electrolyte and
porous carbon electrodes containing a platinum or platinum
alloy catalyst.
• PEM fuel cells operate at relatively low temperatures,
around 80°C.
• PEM fuel cells are particularly suitable for use in vehicle
applications, such as cars, buses, and heavy-duty trucks.
Energy Conversion

Ordinary Combustion process of fuel is

Combustion
Fuel Oxygen Heat
product

The Fuel cell process

Oxidation Electricity
Fuel Oxygen
Product
Advantages of Fuel Cells
1. High efficiency of energy conversion (approaching 60%) from
chemical energy to electrical energy.
2. Fuel cells have lower or zero emissions compared to
combustion engines.
3. Fuel cell power can reduce expensive transmission lines &
minimize transmission losses for a disturbed system.
4. Fuel cells are less polluting. The chemical process involved in it
is clean. It does not produce polluting exhaust. Mostly the
byproducts are water & waste heat, which are environmentally
acceptable when hydrogen & air are used as reactants.
5. As there are no moving parts, fuel cells operate silently and with
extremely high reliability.
Disadvantages of Fuel Cells

• High initial cost.


• Life times of the cells are not accurately known.
• Large weight and volume of gas fuel storage system.
• High cost of pure hydrogen.
• Hydrogen can be stored in lesser volume by liquefaction
but liquefaction itself require 30% of the stored energy.
• Lack of infrastructure for distributing hydrogen.
Applications of Fuel Cells

• The first commercial fuel cell was used by NASA in space


program to generate power for satellites and space
capsules.
• Fuels are used for primary and backup power for
commercial, industrial and residential buildings in remote
and inaccessible area.
• They are used to power fuel cell based vehicles including
automobiles, aero planes, boats and submarines.

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