Tetronics, a leader in plasma arc systems focused on decarbonising challenging industrial processes, has received a second contract award from the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ), funded through the Net Zero Innovation Portfolio (NZIP), for phase two of the UK Government’s Low Carbon Hydrogen Supply 2 competition (HYS2).
The £3.6 million contract for HYS2 phase two follows a successul seven-month project to research, design, build and trial a. Tetronics Hydrogen Plasmolysis (THP) system. This work demonstrated the benefits of plasma-assisted hydrogen production by achieving high yields with a lower electricity demand than the current electrolysis industrial benchmark.
The phase one trial plant achieved a specific gross energy requirement of 36 - 40 kWhe/kg hydrogen using a water-based electrolyte. This represents an improvement over commercial polymer exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells of approximately 40% and suggests that plasma could be instrumental in achieving a competitive, energy-efficient green hydrogen supply solution.
Tetronics believes that further benefits of its THP system – compared with current electrolysis technologies – include significant greenhouse gas reductions, improved competitivity at small and large scale, and smaller physical plant footprint for equivalent hydrogen production.
The primary aim of phase two is to design, build and test a plasmolysis demonstration plant whilst integrating the THP system into wider process units to produce hydrogen of a suitable purity, and Levelised Cost of Production, for end use at a near commercial scale. It will be specified to produce up to 7 kg/hr of hydrogen, with a 300 kWe power input, which will be delivered at a comparable scale to commercially available electrolysis plants. The THP plant will be designed to have a longer life cycle of circa 20 years instead of the 7 - 11 years average for PEM cells. The HYS2 demonstration plant will come online in 2H24 and, when combined with existing downstream treatment units, will feed a hydrogen burner meeting type 1, grade E, cat A requirements.
The HYS2 competition forms part of the Department’s £1 billion Net Zero Innovation Portfolio, which aims to accelerate the commercialisation of innovative clean energy technologies and processes through the 2020s and 2030s. More specifically, HYS2 aims to catalyse innovative solutions for hydrogen production, storage and transport applications – reducing costs and ensuring that the UK continues to develop technologies for a future hydrogen economy.