Mykhaylo Lototskyy

Manufacturing of Hydride-Forming Alloys from Mixed Titanium-Iron Oxide

Synthesis of TiFebased metal hydride-forming alloy from mixed titanium iron oxide (ilmenite, FeTiO3) was carried out by a two-stage reduction of the latter using H2 and CaH2 as reducing agents. The reversible hydrogen absorption capacity of the TiFe based material was about 0.5 wt. % H, that is significantly lower than the corresponding values (~1.8 wt. % H) reported in the literature. The main reason for that was in too high amount of oxygen present in the as-prepared TiFe alloy. Thus in order to improve the hydrogen absorption of the raw TiFe, the material was further alloyed together with Zr, Cr, Mn, Ni and Cu to yield an AB2 alloy. For the as-prepared AB2 alloy, the reversible hydrogen sorption capacity was about 1.3 wt. % H at P = 40 bar and >1.8 wt. % at P = 150 bar, which is acceptable for stationary applications. Finally, the material was found to be superior when compared to known AB2-type alloys, with regard to their activation and poisoning tolerance.

Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies at the Hydrogen South Africa (HySA) Systems Competence Centre

*Email: bgpollet@hysasystems.org The Hydrogen South Africa (HySA) programme is based upon the benefi ciation of South Africa’s large platinum group metal (pgm) resources. The present article summarises some of the progress by HySA Systems, one of the three Competence Centres under the HySA Programme, since 2008. Work has been carried out on membrane electrode assembly and stack development for high-temperature proton exchange membrane fuel cells (HT-PEMFCs) for use in combined heat and power (CHP) supplied by natural gas and hydrogen fuelled vehicle (HFV) applications. The emphasis is on improved carbon monoxide tolerance and simplifi ed heat and humidity management, allowing simpler fuel cell systems to be designed. Metal hydrides modifi ed with palladium are being explored as poisoning-tolerant hydrogen storage materials for stationary and special mobile applications, and metal organic frameworks (MOFs) modifi ed with platinum as light-weight hydrogen storage with a high hydrogen storage capacity. Lastly research into hydrogen purifi cation using Pd membrane reactors is focused on membrane support synthesis, hollow fi bre seeding and development of the plating procedure.