Electrolytic hydrogen production, as a means of storing renewable energy and producing clean transportation fuel, faces considerable technological challenges to improve efficiency, economic value and potential for global integration. In conventional electrolysis, the water oxidation and reduction reactions are tightly coupled in both time and space, as they occur simultaneously at an anode and a cathode, placed together in the same cell. This coupling introduces operational challenges, such as product separation, and sets strict constraints on material selection and process conditions. We developed a novel way to decouple these reactions by dividing the process into two steps; an electrochemical step that reduces water at the cathode and oxidizes the anode, followed by a thermally-activated chemical step that reduces the anode back to its initial state by oxidizing water. This approach enables overall water splitting at low cell voltages in a membrane-free system. This allows us to produce hydrogen in a simple, cyclic, regenerative process with high efficiency, robustness, safety, and scale-up potential.
HYMEFCECS goal was to develop this innovative approach from lab tests towards commercialization. To achieve this goal, we consolidated our previous results and expanded them to demonstrate a broader range of functionality and operation. We carried out market research and mapped the technological challenges and opportunities in this field. This survey helped us to identify the potential advantages of our approach with respect to conventional electrolyzers. With this in mind, we constructed two prototype systems that demonstrate the main technological advantages of our approach; and integrated system that demonstrates commercial application at a technology readiness level of TRL 4, and a high-pressure cell that enables testing hydrogen production at high pressures (up to 100 bar) without compression. This is a unique advantage of the E-TAC process compared to other electrolyzers that a limited to rather low pressures (< 30 bar) and therefore they need expensive compressors to store the hydrogen in high-pressure gas cylinders. In addition to the technology development track, we also formed a business plan to commercialize our technology. This project consolidated our preliminary results and demonstrated the potential of our approach to become a game-changer in clean hydrogen production for various applications such as hydrogen refuelling stations and power-to-gas storage of renewable energies. Finally, it provided the foundation for lunching a start-up company called H2Pro that will commercialize our new water splitting technology.
