MechChem Africa December 2018

Key to a sustainable future: advanced water electrolysis

Philipp Nellessen, CEO of thyssenkrupp Industrial Solutions South Africa and Sami Pelkonen CEO of the company’s Electrolysis & Polymers

D eveloped by experts from thys- senkrupp, industrial scale water electrolysis is a key technology for renewables’ integration for large projects – and it is now locally avail- able. This world-leading electrolysis solution makes large-scale hydrogen production from electricity economically attractive. By splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen, the technology delivers ‘green’ hy- drogen, a clean, CO 2 -free energy carrier. The only inputs needed are water and renewable electricity from wind, hydropower or photo- voltaics.Makingoptimal useof renewable en- ergy sources, ‘green’ hydrogen production is ideal for long-termenergy storage, hydrogen mobilityandother applications. Theadvanced water electrolysers feature an innovative cell designwith an especially large active cell area of 2.7 m². By further optimising the proven ‘Zero-Gap’ electrolysis technology, which leaves virtually no gap between the mem- brane and electrodes, very high efficiencies of more than 82% are achieved. Pelkonen says: “With our water electroly- sis process, we have successfully brought a technologytomarketmaturity,whichisofma- jor significance for the energy transition. We Technologies business unit, talk about electrolysis and its role in the renewable energy sector.

A thyssenkrupp 1.2 MWwater electrolysis plant, which features an advanced cell design with an especially large active cell area of 2.7 m².

are now able to offer our

havedesignedourproducttomeetourclients’ most important demands: Easy to deliver and install, highly efficient, withminimised invest- ment and operation cost. And we have an industrial-scale supply chain of 600 MW per year already in place,” says Roland Käppner, head of energy storage and hydrogen at thys- senkrupp Uhde Chlorine Engineers. Within theCarbon2Chem ® project, one of theglobal flagshipprojects for carbon-neutral value chain, an advanced alkaline water elec- trolysis by thyssenkrupp has already been commissioned successfully. Itwill provide the necessary hydrogen for producing chemicals from the flue gas of a steel plant. Hydrogen is not only a clean energy car- rier, whether for long-term energy storage in the gas grid or for clean fuels for fuel cells in vehicles, when produced from renewable energy, it can make the production of key chemicals sustainable. One good example is ‘green’ ammonia: With water electrolysis technology and its world-class ammonia process, thyssenkrupp can deliver integrated plants that can produce ammonia from noth- ing but water, air and energy from sunlight or wind. The ammonia can be further processed into fertilizers. Nellessen adds: “While renewables still form a small percentage of the South African energy landscape, this ground breaking technology is a potential fundamental build- ing block to a variety of renewable energy initiatives that are currently on the country’s integrated energy agenda.” In addition, as a specialist in chemical plant engineering and construction, thyssenkrupp can realise additional value chains, for ‘green’ methanol, for example, which enables carbon to be recycled into a sustainable fuel. Further ‘power-to-gas’ solutions include methana- tion for the production of synthetic natural gas (SNG). “As the starting point for all these solu- tions, water electrolysis by thyssenkrupp can help toconvert today’s carbon-based industry intoamore sustainable, climate-friendlyone,” Nellessen concludes. q

customers a wealth of sustainable solutions, whichwill help to bridge the gap between re- newableenergyproductionandconsumption. Green hydrogen as a clean, CO 2 -free starting point can be used in a variety of ways: for energy storage, mobility, and the production of sustainable chemicals.” Philipp Nellessen, CEO at thyssenkrupp Industrial Solutions Sub-Sahara Africa adds, “This thyssenkrupp technology has also been developed in pre-fabricated skid mounted standard modules, which is a huge advan- tage for us. We can deploy these modules anywhere on the continent at minimal con- struction risks.” The modules easily add up to the desired project size, potentially into the hundreds of megawatt range. The patented design is based on thyssenkrupp’swell proven, leading electrolysistechnologies.Todate,Groupcom- pany thyssenkruppUhdeChlorine Engineers has successfully completed more than 600 electrochemical plants worldwide. “Based on decades of experience in de- veloping and building electrolysis plants, we

thyssenkrupp has further optimised its proven ‘Zero-Gap’ electrolysis technology, which leaves virtually no gap between the membrane and electrodes for efficiencies of more than 82%.

20 ¦ MechChem Africa • December 2018