Scientist develops new electrocatalytic method for producing ammonia

A scientist at the Institute of Nano Science and Technology (INST), Mohali, Punjab, has developed a electrocatalytic method of producing ammonia.

The traditional way of producing ammonia is by the age-old Haber-Bosch process, which calls for high temperature and pressure and emits lots of carbon dioxide. Electrochemical methods of producing ammonia are carbon-free, but they yield uneconomically low amount of ammonia, because the production of ammonia is accompanied by the release of hydrogen gas.

A team led by Dr. Ramendra Sundar Dey of INST has found a way around this problem. The process developed by the team supresses hydrogen production and hence gives out more ammonia. 

The new process is called interface engineering. It interfaces nanoporous gold (NPG) with Tin sulfide (SnS₂) and extensively investigated the alteration in the electronic band structure of the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) with high Faradaic efficiency of 49.3 % for ammonia synthesis. This is, till date highest among all the SnS₂ based and interface engineering-based materials for NRR.

“Our research approach could pave path for the development of a catalyst, which would act well as an HER suppressant and is capable to compete with several high-performance catalysts to achieve a high Faradaic efficiency for NRR,” added Dr. Ramendra Sundar Dey.

For those who want to know more technical stuff about the process here is an extract from the government press release.

For any electrocatalytic process, the conductivity and d-band centre of the semiconductor could be improvised by interfacing the same with a metal.  

The synthesis of NPG@SnS₂ firstly involved cleaning of glass substrates successively with IPA, water, and acetone to do away with any kind of aerial impurity. This step was followed by the acid etching of the gold−silver alloy to obtain nanoporous gold (NPG), which was then transferred onto the glass substrates. This layer was coated with 100 nm thick Sn layer, which was then subjected to sulphurization in Ar atmosphere to obtain the semiconducting SnS₂ layer over NPG and a metal−semiconductor interface at their junction.

INST team believes that the progress represented in this work is of immense importance to fine-tune the electronic properties of a semiconducting material with a suitable metal-semiconductor heterojunction according to the demands of the electrocatalytic process. The interfacial engineering strategy of catalyst development adopted in this work could be potentially used to achieve high Faradaic efficiency for electrochemical nitrogen reduction reaction by suppressing its competitive counterpart, that is, hydrogen evolution reaction (HER).

The scientists are yet try for industrial-scale ammonia synthesis with this material. But if the Faradaic efficiency for ammonia synthesis is considered, then this material can be surely worked upon for industrial preparation of ammonia.

IISc scientist develops nanomaterial based sensors to sniff out hydrogen leaks

A scientist at the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, has developed a device for sensing hydrogen gas leaks. Though, he has developed this for India's space agency, ISRO, it has applications wherever there could be a hydrogen leak.

Such as in fuel cells.

Prof S Venugopal, Associate Professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering, IISc, uses nano palladium for his sensors. In the nanoscale, palladium particles absorb hydrogen gas to form palladium hydride, which causes them to swell up, says an article in IISc's in-house magazine, Kernel. 

This increase in volume makes the nanoparticles forge new electrical connectios with neighboring particles, resulting in a decrease in resistance. The decrease in resistance in turn increases current, which can be detected, measured.

Though a device has been developed in the labs, it is still work-in-progress. Professor Venugopal is currently optimising these sensors so that they work at room temperature. He is also working on processes to manufacture these sensors on large scale.

The article says: A nanomaterial is any substance that has at least one dimension in the nanoscale – which is a thousand times smaller than the microscopic scale and just about one billionth of a metre. S Venugopal, Associate Professor at the Department of Chemical Engineering, explains why the application of such materials is game-changing: “For gas-sensing applications, the use of metallic nanomaterials is mainly driven by their large surface area. Whenever you want to sense a gas, the molecules of the vapour need to interact with the solid or liquid phase of the sensor, and the extent of the interaction is determined by the interfacial area. As nanoparticles give us a very large interfacial area, they are ideal candidates for gas-sensing.”

15 percent green hydrogen blend with piped CNG planned, says report

The Business Line newspaper reports that the government is planning to blend 15 per cent green hydrogen with piped natural gas (PNG) for domestic, commercial and industrial consumption. The move is in line with India’s ambitious targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and becoming carbon neutral by 2070. This initiative will be part of the government’s National Hydrogen Energy Mission aimed at generating hydrogen from green power sources.

“Government plans to float bids for manufacturing green hydrogen, which will be supplied to fertiliser units and petroleum refineries. Similarly, the plan is also to supply green hydrogen for PNG. The government will offer free transmission (of power) for this like in the case of RE. The objective is to blend 15 per cent green hydrogen with PNG, as it is technically viable. Beyond this, the gas pipeline would have to be refurbished,” the report says, quoting an unnamed official explained.

Comment

As mentioned elsewhere in this blog, the submission of the report on the running of 50 hydrogen-doped CNG business by the Indian Oil Corporation to the Supreme Court, is eagerly awaited. 

IOC has been running 50 such buses at the direction of the apex court for some time now. The experience gained there will provide a ready template for a rollout of hydrogen doped gas for transportation.

Also, IOC has been working on material for both hydrogen pipelines as well as cylinder. Indeed, many higher educational institutions are researching into that too. 

So, the government's thinking for a 15 per cent blend of green hydrogen is apporpriate for the current times. 

Hygenco on a recruitment spree

 

Hygenco is hiring big. ‘The Hydrogen Company’, as it describes itself, has called for applications for a range of management positions, such as, senior managers in charge of various functions, business development managers, vice presidents and so on. There is also a post described as ‘Process-cum-Proposal' manager and a Vice President – Renewables Solutions Design and Planning. 

So, what is Hygenco? 

Little is available readily, but the company's website describes itself as a “backed by Vivaan Solar”, which is “a leading solar developer and renewables EPC player in India.” The company is based in Gurugram, Delhi.  

Hygenco “aims to be a global leader in deploying green hydrogen and green ammonia powered industry solutions.” 

“We develop and deploy scaled-up commercially attractive green hydrogen and green ammonia production asset,” it says. 

It further states that it has been founded by professionals with combined international experience of over 50 years in renewable, industrial enginering, industrial gases and project finance. 

Vivaan Solar is a solar EPC company and has put up multiple small-to-medium size solar plants across the country for clients. The company is part of the Banco group, which is better known for its engine cooling products. 

Going by its recruitment spree, it appears that Hygenco is well-funded. 

This blog will get more details about the company soon. 

Next Budget will have something on hydrogen-powered trains

The Swarajya magazine has reported that the forthcoming Budget (February 1) will have something for hydrogen-powered trains.

Quoting a 'senior railway official', the news report says that "plans are afoot" for the induction of light-weight aluminium coaches and hydrogen-powered trains. The report also mentions that the Indian Railways is interested in hyperloop technology for high-speed transport. 

The report doesn't have more details, but it may be remembered that in August 2021, the Indian Railways Organisation of Alternate Fuel (by the way, so many people in India use 'alternate' when they mean 'alternative', even though the two words have completely different meanings) had issued a tender inviting bids for running a two Electric Multiple Unit (EMU) train between Sonipat and Jind in north India, a distance of 89 km.

                               Alstom's Corodia iLint train in France is the only train today that runs on hydrogen

"Two hybrid locos will be subsequently converted on the basis of hydrogen fuel cell power movement, with no change in the driving console," the Railways had said. It said that the project would be completed by March 2024. 

Comment

Hydrogen (Fuel Cell) powered trains will be most certainly high on the government's agenda because it can provide a big demand push. It is easy for the government to get its own department --the Indian Railways -- to drive (pun intended) hydrogen in India. The Indian Railways, which is not a company but a part of the government gets its funds from the national Budget. A large demand from the Railways will provide the scale effect to bring down costs of green hydrogen.

Oil India opts for AEM tech for pilot G-H2 plant in Assam

The news agency, Press Trust of India, has reported that Oil India Ltd, the state-owned upstream oil company, will set up a pilot plant to manufacture green hydrogen at its Jorhat oilfield in Assam. The plant will use AEM technology.

This, PTI said, was revealed by the company's Director(Operations), Pankaj Kumar Goswami, on the occasion of the ground-breaking (bhoomi puja) ceremony for the project.

The proposed plant is small--100 kW, but is only a pilot plant. 

Goswami has said that the hydrogen generated by the plant would be blended with natural gas using the existing infrastructure.

Comment

Blending hydrogen with natural gas for use in automobiles is the intermediate step, before the world moves to fuel cells. The other govt-owned company, Indian Oil Corporation, is just about to submit its report on the running of 50 hydrogen-doped natural gas buses to the Supreme Court of India, which had tasked the company with the job, earlier.

Once the Supreme Court reviews it, its views will sure be woven into government policy. Buses currently running on CNG will be pepped by a dose of hydrogen.

Oil India Ltd is apparently gearing itself up for that situation. Its choice of AEM technology is also laudable because while AEM might be a few years away, it is the technology of the future.

The connection between dollar-denominated tariffs and green hydrogen

It is no secret that the cost of capital in India is extremely high. A lucky borrower will pay 9 per cent for his loan after offering much as security. 

If you want to bring down the cost of green hydrogen, you must bring down the cost of solar power. (Today, solar power based electrolysis is the most within-reach technology for green hydrogen.)

If you must bring down the cost of solar power, you must bring down the cost of capital. Large pools of international capital are waiting to get into India. Accessing them will bring down the cost of capital. 

However, international investors have some concerns. Construction risk is not an issue, operational risk is not a deal-breaker either. But regulatory risk -- the risk of sudden and crazy regulations -- is a big risk, but investors are learning to live with it, perhaps by spreading themselves across the country, because regulatory risk is more a state-related one, rather than of the federal government.

The one risk that has to be dealt with is the currency risk. If your returns are in rupees and these rupee returns must be converted into dollars for repatriation, and if the rupee depreciates against the dollar (as it typically does), then your rupees will buy you fewer dollars.

This is why experts like Ahmad Chatila, the former founder and CEO of SunEdison, who today has investments in a series of companies with large footprint in India, call for dollar-denominated solar tariffs. Chatila made a strong pitch for this in an interview to the Business Line newspaper. 

“You are anyway buying oil in dollars,” he said to the newspaper, pointing out that India’s oil bill would rise from $160 billion now to $250 billion by 2035. “When you import anything, you are reducing the GDP of your country.” Dollar-denominated tariff would effectively mean that “you are paying yourself the dollars”.

Chatila feels that given the climate action imperatives and the fact that India (and other developing countries) will have no option, unless helped, but to emit greenhouse gases as they develop, developed countries would necessarily invest in India in green sectors, because otherwise, global emissions cannot be tamed. Dollar-denominated tariffs would galvanise FDI flows into India.

Chatila also recommends that the government fix interim targets for hydrogen, renewable energy, again to provide visibility to foreign investors. He feels that hydrogen is India’s chance to be what the US is today, in energy.

National Hydrogen Mission document can be expected in 2-3 weeks, say sources

The much-awaited National Hydrogen Mission document can be expected to be brought out in 2-3 weeks time, a source in the Ministry of Power have told this blog. The source has asked not to be named.

What is clear is that the government is assidiously working on the Mission document, as many sources both from the government and the industry have told this blog. 

The PV Magazine recently reported that the draft of the document is currently under inter-ministerial consultations. 

The magazine's correspondent, Uma Gupta, quotes the Power Minister, R K Singh, as saying that the document is under inter-ministerial consultations. 

The Mission document is expected to come out with a scheme for indigenous manufacturing as well as R&D projects for electrolysers. It will also formally announce the mandate green hydrogen purchase obligations for specified sectors--expected to be refineries and fertilizers, initially.

Gupta quotes Minister Singh as saying that a green hydrogen project with a production capacity of one tonne per day has been established at Bikaner, Rajasthan, under the private sector. Further, under a Research and Development project supported by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, a 5 Nm3/h (normal cubic meter per hour) green hydrogen production plant based on solar energy-powered electrolysis has been established at the National Institute of Solar Energy, Gurugram. 

Hyderabad-based start-up, Nanosol Energy, unviels PEM electrolyser prototype

 A Hyderabad-headquartered start-up called Nanosol Energy Pvt Ltd has unveiled a prototype of its indigenously-developed PEM electrolyser. However, apart from a terse announcement about it, there are no further details available at the moment.

However, the company has put out the following photograph of its product.

Nanosol was incepted in December 2020 with a capital of Rs 100,000. It counts Naga Mahesh Kummara and Sankararao Mutyala, its directors, as its key management personnel. 

Hydrogen NewsGrabber will track the company and soon provide details of its operations, plans.

NTPC chooses Bloom Energy for supply of electrolyser

India’s largest power company, NTPC, has chosen Bloom Energy (India) Pvt Ltd., wholly owned subsidiary of California based Bloom Energy, for the supply of electrolysers.for the country’s first green hydrogen-based energy storage deployment.

The initial collaboration between NTPC and Bloom Energy India is expected to serve as a foundation for expanded future cooperation, says a press release from Bloom.

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The collaboration will utilize Bloom Energy’s solid oxide, high temperature electrolyzer to generate green hydrogen from renewable electricity produced by a nearby floating solar farm. The hydrogen will then be converted into carbon neutral electricity without combustion through Bloom Energy’s hydrogen fuel cells to power NTPC’s Guest House, a local accommodation intended for use by NTPC employees and guests. The project is expected to commence in 2022 in Simhadri, Visakhapatnam, India.

The solar farm coupled with Bloom Energy’s electrolyzer and hydrogen fuel cells is intended to operate around the clock. At scale, the combination could enable long duration clean energy storage and resilient power for businesses, residential neighborhoods, dense urban areas, and remote and island communities.

“The powerful combination of Bloom’s high-efficiency electrolyzers and fuel cells enables the highest possible round trip efficiency with green hydrogen for energy storage,” the release says.

The release says that Bloom Energy’s high-temperature electrolyzer produces hydrogen more efficiently than low-temperature PEM and alkaline electrolyzers. Because it operates at high temperatures, the Bloom Electrolyzer requires less energy to break up water molecules and produce hydrogen. Electricity accounts for nearly 80 percent of the cost of hydrogen from electrolysis. By using less electricity, hydrogen production becomes more economical and will accelerate adoption.

Bloom Energy Servers – solid oxide fuel cells that combine ambient air with a fuel source, such as natural gas, biogas, hydrogen, or a blend of fuels – produce electricity through a non-combustion electrochemical reaction, resulting in reduced carbon emissions, harmful air pollutants, and water use compared to grid alternatives. When hydrogen is used as a fuel source, Bloom Energy Servers emit zero carbon.

Many takers for Sentient Lab's hydrogen, fuel cell technology, says Ravi Pandit

Many companies have come forward to licence two home-grown technologies of Sentient Labs, a research company incubated by the NSE-listed KPIT Technologies.

Sentient recently unveiled a technology for producing green hydrogen, from biomass, the heart of which is to use microbes to decompose cellulosic biomass into hydrogen. 

And, on Wednesday, Sentient demonstrated a bus that runs on fuel cells developed jointly by Sentient and the government-owned National Chemical Laboratories.

Both the developments have been covered by this blog. 

And now, Pune-based Sentient's Chairman, Ravi Pandit, told the Business Line newspaper today many companies have lined up to licence both the technologies. 

The hydrogen manufacturing technology is good to go straight away into manufacture, while the fuel cell buses need to be tweaked to suite the particular type of vehicle into which it would be fitted.

You may read the Business Line report here.

Pandit has also said that Sentient is working on two other technologies for hydrogen production--electrolysis and pyrolysis. He did not give more details.

More

Sentient Labs announces hydrogen fuel cell bus

 

Sentient Labs unveils India's first indigenous hydrogen fuel cell bus

 

Sentient Labs, an R&D innovation lab, building on technologies incubated by KPIT Technologies Ltd, demonstrated India’s first truly indigenously developed Hydrogen Fuel Cell Bus. The Hydrogen Fuel Cell Technology has been developed in collaboration with CSIR (Council of Scientific and Industrial Research)-NCL (National Chemical Laboratory) and CSIR-CECRI (Central Electrochemical Research Institute).

 

Sentient Labs' vision is to build technology solutions for the sustainable mobility with a current emphasis on hydrogen powered technologies. It has identified bottlenecks in battery technology, fuel cell technologies, and technologies for hydrogen generation. Recently Sentient had announced the world’s first technology that generates hydrogen directly from agricultural residue for use in fuel cell-powered vehicles. This technology adds to the line-up of efforts around sustainable mobility.

In addition to the hydrogen fuel cell technology, Sentient Labs also indigenously designed and developed from ground up other key components like Balance of Plant, Powertrain, and Battery pack. All of these components have been deployed on a 9-meter, 32-seater, air-conditioned bus. This is designed to provide a range of 450 kms while utilizing 30 kgs of Hydrogen. A modular architecture allows for changes in the design to suit requirements of range and operating conditions. 

 

The fuel cell utilizes Hydrogen and Air to generate electricity to power the bus. The only effluent from the bus is water, therefore making it possibly the most environmentally friendly mode of transportation. For comparison, a single diesel bus plying on long distance routes typically emits 100 tons of CO2 annually and there are over a million such buses in India.

 

Putting both the technologies by Sentient together can be an environment friendly and economically attractive proposal. While hydrogen generation technology can provide an alternative source of revenue to farmers, replacing diesel buses with Hydrogen Fuel Cell buses will improve air quality drastically and also reduce oil import costs.

 

Sentient Labs is passionate to support the India’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for transportation by providing clean and smart technologies.

 

Mr Ravi Pandit, Chairman of Sentient Labs, said, "We are proud to launch an indigenously developed hydrogen fuel cell power bus. A strong technical team along with CSIR-NCL worked on several technology components. This will go a long way in powering Hydrogen Mission, AatmaNirbhar Bharat and importantly sustainable mobility. We envision that the solution will see wide-spread adoption powered by several partnerships. Our efforts will also be pivotal in enabling vehicle makers and suppliers to build a net-zero carbon path in India."

 

Dr. Raghunath Mashelkar, Member of Board of Directors, Sentient Labs, said “World over, efforts related to green hydrogen revolution are on, but Sentient Labs stands out. At Sentient, challenges that are core to India are understood, and solutions are developed. Digitization, decentralisation and decarbonization is what India needs for sustainable mobility and these innovations from Sentient will go a long way.”

NTPC awards India’s first Green Hydrogen Microgrid Project

 

-The project will be one of world’s largest Green Hydrogen Microgrid Project

NTPC Ltd, India’s largest integrated energy company has awarded project of ‘Standalone Fuel-Cell based Micro-grid with hydrogen production using electrolyser’ at NTPC Simhadri (Andhra Pradesh). This will be India’s first Green Hydrogen based Energy Storage Project and one of world’s largest. It would be a precursor to large scale hydrogen energy storage projects and would be useful for studying and deploying multiple microgrids in various off-grid and strategic locations of the country, NTPC has said in a statement.

The hydrogen would be produced using the advanced 240 kW Solid Oxide Electrolyser by taking input power from the nearby Floating Solar project. The hydrogen produced during sunshine hours would be stored at high pressure and would be electrified using a 50 kW Solid Oxide Fuel Cell. The system would work in a standalone mode from 5 PM to 7 AM. 

This unique project configuration is designed in-house by NTPC. This unique project for India would open doors for decarbonising the far-off regions of the country like Ladakh, J&K etc., hitherto dependent on diesel generators. The project is in-line with the vision of the Hon’ble Prime Minister for becoming carbon neutral by 2070 and making Ladakh a carbon-neutral territory. 

NTPC ltd  present installed capacity is 67,907.5 MW (including 13,425 MW through JVs/Subsidiaries) comprising of 47 NTPC stations (23 coal-based stations, 7 gas-based stations, 1 hydro station, 1 small hydro, 14 solar PV and 1 wind-based station) and 26 joint venture stations (9 coal based, 4 gas based, 8 hydro, 1 small hydro 2 wind and 2 solar PV).

BPCL chooses BARC's alkaline electrolysers for hydrogen

India's state-owned refiner, Bharat Petroleum Company Ltd (BPCL), has chosen the alakaline electrolyser technology of Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) to set up hydrogen production units at its refineries, the Mint newspaper has reported. 

The newspaper quotes BPCL's Chairman and Managing Director, Arun Kumar Singh, as saying, "We have been extensively leveraging technology in all our activities. Today, through collaboration with BARC, we intend to scale up Indigenous Alkaline Electrolyzer Technology and look forward to commercializing it for large use especially in Refineries." It is not clear as to how the choice of BARC's electrolyser would fit in with the plan to tender out for electrolysers.

BPCL, a company that the government has said it would privatize, has committed itself to becoming net-zero emissions by 2040.

Comment

Singh had earlier told the Economic Times newspaper that BPCL would tender out for 20GW of electrolysers. This blog had earlier reported on that development.

BARC, India's state-owned atomic research laboratory, had earlier offered its alkaline electrolyser technology for licensing. This blog reported on September 12 that BARC was asking for a payment of $13,600 plus 2 percent royalty on sales for those who wished to buy this technology from it. 

It is well-known that alkaline technology, though cheap, is out of fashion these days because of perceived safety concerns. The proton exchange membrane (PEM) technology is the prefered one today, but the anion exchange membrane, still under development, shows promise. Why any company would want to rush into alakaline technology is an open question. 

Sentient Labs develops technology for hydrogen from anaerobic digestion of biomass

Sentient Labs, an R&D and Engineering Lab incubated by the BSE-listed KPIT Technologies, has developed a technology for producing hydrogen from agricultural residue. It has done so in collaboration with the Agharkar Research Institute, based in Pune. 

The technology features anaerobic digestion of biomass; the feedstock can be any agricultural residue such as rice straw, wheat straw, sugarcane tops, sugar industry waste such as press-mud and bagasse, food industry waste and cultivated biomass. 

The process of Hydrogen generation through anaerobic digestion is like bio - methanation process which is a commercially matured technology for bio-CNG generation, says Sentinel Labs. 

Agricultural residue is lignocellulosic in nature and typically requires a thermochemical pre-treatment process to break down the lignocellulosic structure to make it amenable to microbial digestion. This technology developed by Sentient Labs and ARI has overcome this challenge. The technology comprises a two-stage process which uses a novel microbial consortium extracted from a natural source.  

The process generates Hydrogen in the first stage, followed by methane in the subsequent stage, which further can be utilized to generate additional Hydrogen by steam methane reformation. The technology is thus 25% more efficient when compared to conventional anaerobic digestion processes. 

The effluent of the process also is rich in nutrients and is an ideal organic fertilizer for plants. The undigested solids in the process can be used as soil conditioners which help in maintaining the fertility of the soil in fields.