energies-logo

Journal Browser

Journal Browser

Advances in Hydrogen Production and Hydrogen Separation II

A special issue of Energies (ISSN 1996-1073). This special issue belongs to the section "A5: Hydrogen Energy".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 May 2023) | Viewed by 9969

Special Issue Editors

Department of Chemical Engineering, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, 100 Institute Rd, Worcester, MA 01609, USA
Interests: hydrogen production; hydrogen separation; membrane; chemical engineering; environmental science and sustainability
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Department of Chemical Engineering, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Worcester, MA 01609, USA
Interests: carbon capture; negative emissions; membrane and adsorption separation processes; nexus of energy and environment
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Hydrogen is broadly considered a clean energy carrier of the future due to its ability to produce energy without emitting pollutants when utilized. The current hydrogen market is globally valued at hundreds of billions of dollars per year, and it is expected to rise to trillions of dollars by 2050. In order to meet the current hydrogen global demand, different production technologies need to be considered, including electrochemical, thermochemical, photochemical, and photobiological methods. Some of these technical approaches are already commercialized, while others are at an earlier stage of development. Moreover, some technologies require separation coupled to purification methods due to the production of hydrogen-rich gases rather than solely high-purity hydrogen.

This Special Issue on “Advances in Hydrogen Production and Hydrogen Separation” welcomes original research involving numerical and experimental studies focusing on the latest developments in hydrogen production and separation technologies, covering a broad range of methods for the production of hydrogen from a variety of sources.

Topics include but not are limited to hydrogen production technologies, including chemical, biological, and renewable processes, and hydrogen separation methods.

Dr. Simona Liguori
Prof. Dr. Jennifer Wilcox
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Energies is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

 

Keywords

  • hydrogen production
  • hydrogen separation
  • chemical and fuel synthesis
  • membrane
  • membrane reactor
  • hydrogen renewable source

Published Papers (5 papers)

Order results
Result details
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

Jump to: Review

18 pages, 5117 KiB  
Article
Investigation of the Kinetics of Pressure Coal Char Hydrogasification
by Stanisław Gil, Wojciech Bialik, Piotr Mocek, Miroslav Rimár, Ján Kizek and Nikolas Polivka
Energies 2023, 16(13), 4937; https://doi.org/10.3390/en16134937 - 25 Jun 2023
Viewed by 739
Abstract
The authors of the study focused on the problem of hydrogasifying coal extracted from a particular location. Since hydrogen is transparent to radiation, it can only be heated by convection. To achieve this, we developed a swirler and utilized Fluent software (version 19.0) [...] Read more.
The authors of the study focused on the problem of hydrogasifying coal extracted from a particular location. Since hydrogen is transparent to radiation, it can only be heated by convection. To achieve this, we developed a swirler and utilized Fluent software (version 19.0) to simulate the primary flow vectors and the temperature distribution of hydrogen in the hydrogasification reactor. The process was carried out under varying conditions, including temperatures ranging up to 1173 K, pressures of up to 8 MPa, and gas flow rates between 0.5 and 5 dmn3 min−1. The results showed that the carbon reactivity of the char was high up to a certain level of carbon conversion. In this study, the kinetic equations of the hydrogasification process were developed based on the theory of active centers. The researchers also evaluated the kinetic constants at the maximum reaction rate for the analyzed chars. The analysis was conducted for four extreme cases of process parameters, which included temperatures of 973 and 1173 K as well as pressures of 6 and 8 MPa. The results showed that the maximum hydrogasification reactivity of chars could be accurately described using equations for both the first- and second-order reactions toward hydrogen. This was likely due to the use of a narrow pressure range of 6–8 MPa during the experiments. The kinetic equations developed in the study could be used to model the process on a technical scale. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Hydrogen Production and Hydrogen Separation II)
Show Figures

Figure 1

13 pages, 2563 KiB  
Article
Hydrogen Production System Using Alkaline Water Electrolysis Adapting to Fast Fluctuating Photovoltaic Power
by Xing Cao, Jingang Wang, Pengcheng Zhao, Haiting Xia, Yun Li, Liming Sun and Wei He
Energies 2023, 16(8), 3308; https://doi.org/10.3390/en16083308 - 07 Apr 2023
Viewed by 2454
Abstract
Using photovoltaic (PV) energy to produce hydrogen through water electrolysis is an environmentally friendly approach that results in no contamination, making hydrogen a completely clean energy source. Alkaline water electrolysis (AWE) is an excellent method of hydrogen production due to its long service [...] Read more.
Using photovoltaic (PV) energy to produce hydrogen through water electrolysis is an environmentally friendly approach that results in no contamination, making hydrogen a completely clean energy source. Alkaline water electrolysis (AWE) is an excellent method of hydrogen production due to its long service life, low cost, and high reliability. However, the fast fluctuations of photovoltaic power cannot integrate well with alkaline water electrolyzers. As a solution to the issues caused by the fluctuating power, a hydrogen production system comprising a photovoltaic array, a battery, and an alkaline electrolyzer, along with an electrical control strategy and energy management strategy is proposed. The energy management strategy takes into account the predicted PV power for the upcoming hour and determines the power flow accordingly. By analyzing the characteristics of PV panels and alkaline water electrolyzers and imposing the proposed strategy, this system offers an effective means of producing hydrogen while minimizing energy consumption and reducing damage to the electrolyzer. The proposed strategy has been validated under various scenarios through simulations. In addition, the system’s robustness was demonstrated by its ability to perform well despite inaccuracies in the predicted PV power. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Hydrogen Production and Hydrogen Separation II)
Show Figures

Figure 1

15 pages, 2958 KiB  
Article
Assessing Different Inoculum Treatments for Improved Production of Hydrogen through Dark Fermentation
by Saleh Al-Haddad, Cynthia Kusin Okoro-Shekwaga, Louise Fletcher, Andrew Ross and Miller Alonso Camargo-Valero
Energies 2023, 16(3), 1233; https://doi.org/10.3390/en16031233 - 23 Jan 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1473
Abstract
Hydrogen gas (H2) is an energy carrier that does not generate carbon dioxide emissions during combustion, but several processes in use for its production demand high energy inputs associated with fossil fuels and greenhouse emissions. Biological processes, such as dark fermentation [...] Read more.
Hydrogen gas (H2) is an energy carrier that does not generate carbon dioxide emissions during combustion, but several processes in use for its production demand high energy inputs associated with fossil fuels and greenhouse emissions. Biological processes, such as dark fermentation (DF), have the potential to remove the dependency on fossil fuels in H2 production. DF is a process that encourages fermentative bacteria to ferment organic substrates to produce H2 as a truly clean energy carrier, but its success depends on removing the presence of competing H2−consuming microorganisms in the inoculum consortia. This paper addresses a strategy to enhance H2 production from different types of substrates by testing inoculum pre-treatment processes to inactivate H2−consuming bacteria, including acid-shock (pH 3), basic-shock (pH 10) and heat-shock (115 °C) methods. Digestate from anaerobic digesters processing sewage sludge was used to produce pre-treated inocula, which were subsequently tested in a batch bio-H2 potential (BHP) test using glucose as a substrate. The results show that heat-shock pre-treatment was the best method, reporting a H2 yield of 191.8 mL-H2/gVS added (the untreated inoculum reported 170.91 mL-H2/gVS added). Glucose conversion data show a high concentration of butyric acid in both treated and untreated inocula during BHP tests, which indicate that the butyrate pathway for H2 production was dominant; shifting this to the formate route could further enhance net H2 production. A standardised inoculum-conditioning method can help to consistently assess the biohydrogen potential of suitable feedstock for DF and maximise H2 yields. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Hydrogen Production and Hydrogen Separation II)
Show Figures

Figure 1

Review

Jump to: Research

21 pages, 3800 KiB  
Review
Green and Blue Hydrogen Production: An Overview in Colombia
by Sebastián Mantilla and Diogo M. F. Santos
Energies 2022, 15(23), 8862; https://doi.org/10.3390/en15238862 - 24 Nov 2022
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 3358
Abstract
Colombia, a privileged country in terms of diversity, availability of natural resources, and geographical location, has set a roadmap for hydrogen as part of the energy transition plan proposed in 2021. To reduce its emissions in the mid-term and foster its economy, hydrogen [...] Read more.
Colombia, a privileged country in terms of diversity, availability of natural resources, and geographical location, has set a roadmap for hydrogen as part of the energy transition plan proposed in 2021. To reduce its emissions in the mid-term and foster its economy, hydrogen production should be green and blue, with specific targets set for 2030 for the hydrogen costs and produced quantities. This work compares the state-of-the-art production of blue and green hydrogen and how Colombia is doing in each pathway. A deeper analysis considers the advantages of Colombia’s natural resources, the possible paths the government could follow, and the feedstock’s geographical location for hydrogen production and transportation. Then, one discusses what may be the next steps in terms of policies and developments to succeed in implementing the plan. Overall, it is concluded that green hydrogen could be the faster, more sustainable, and more efficient method to implement in Colombia. However, blue hydrogen could play an essential role if oil and gas companies assess the advantages of carbon dioxide utilization and promote its deployment. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Hydrogen Production and Hydrogen Separation II)
Show Figures

Graphical abstract

22 pages, 3060 KiB  
Review
A Game Changer: Microfluidic Technology for Enhancing Biohydrogen Production—Small Size for Great Performance
by Anita Šalić and Bruno Zelić
Energies 2022, 15(19), 7065; https://doi.org/10.3390/en15197065 - 26 Sep 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1503
Abstract
One of the approaches widely used today to intensify processes is their miniaturization. Small, compact, portable devices that can be used directly in the field will become popular in the near future. The use of microstructured devices is becoming more widespread in diagnostics, [...] Read more.
One of the approaches widely used today to intensify processes is their miniaturization. Small, compact, portable devices that can be used directly in the field will become popular in the near future. The use of microstructured devices is becoming more widespread in diagnostics, analytics, and production, so there is no doubt that the same approach is being applied to energy production. The question is whether it is possible to create an energy production system that has all the external characteristics of a miniaturized device but is sustainable, durable, environmentally friendly, based on renewable sources, and cost-effective. The first challenge is to choose a production route, an energy source that has the required characteristics, and then to adapt this production on a microscale. Among the different energy sources, biohydrogen meets most of the requirements. The carbon emissions of biohydrogen are much lower, and its production is less energy-intensive than conventional hydrogen production. Moreover, it can be produced from renewable energy sources. The challenge today is to make this process sustainable due to the low substrate conversion, production rate, and yield. Microfluidic systems are one of the technologies that could address the above shortcomings of the current biohydrogen production processes. The combination of microdevices and biohydrogen production opens up new possibilities for energy production. Although this area of research is growing, the focus of this review is on the possibility of using microfluidics for biohydrogen production. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Hydrogen Production and Hydrogen Separation II)
Show Figures

Figure 1

Back to TopTop