Steven Chiuta

HySA infrastructure center of competence: A strategic collaboration platform for renewable hydrogen production and storage for fuel cell telecom applications

The Department of Science and Technology of South Africa developed the National Hydrogen and Fuel Cells Technologies (HFCT) Research, Development and Innovation Strategy. The National Strategy was branded Hydrogen South Africa (HySA). HySA has been established consisting of three Competency Centres - HySA Infrastructure, HySA Catalyst and HySA Systems. The scope of the Hydrogen Infrastructure Competency Centre (HySA Infrastructure CoC, [1]) is to develop applications and solutions for small- and medium-scale hydrogen production and storage through innovative research and development. The aim of this paper is to present an overview of the HySA Infrastructure CoC projects related to renewable hydrogen and fuel cell applications. The presentation will discuss how the HySA Infrastructure could assist telecommunication industry with providing a potential strategic platform for developing and testing various hydrogen generating solutions for fuel cell applications specific to African conditions. More specifically, the following enablers will be discussed: existing active projects for hydrogen production: solar-to-hydrogen demonstrations based on PEM electrolysis, ammonia-to-hydrogen projects for telecom, advanced PEM electrolysis concepts (high-current density operation), hydrogen storage, safety and codes, as well as close proximity of HySA Infrastructure to Gauteng, an economical hub of South Africa, commercialization road map, activities towards establishing “Platinum Valley” SEZ (special economic zone for Pt-related activities).

A performance evaluation of a microchannel reactor for the production of hydrogen from formic acid for electrochemical energy applications

An experimental evaluation of a microchannel reactor was completed to assess the reactor performance for the catalytic decomposition of vaporised formic acid (FA) for H2 production. Initially, X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), elemental mapping using SEM-EDS and BET surface area measurements were done to characterise the commercial Au/Al2O3 catalyst. The reactor was evaluated using pure (99.99%) and diluted (50/50 vol.%) FA at reactor temperatures of 250–350°C and inlet vapour flow rates of 12–48 mL.min -1 . Satisfactory reactor performance was demonstrated at 350°C as nearequilibrium FA conversion (>98%) was obtained for all flow rates investigated. The best operating point was identified as 350°C and 48 mL.min -1 (pure FA feed) with a H2 yield of 68.7%. At these conditions the reactor performed well in comparison to conventional systems, achieving a H2 production rate of 11.8 NL.gcat -1 .h -1 . This paper therefore highlights important considerations for ongoing design and development of microchannel reactors for the decomposition of FA for H2 production.