Mumbai start-up, Serene Envirotech, launches table-top hydrogen electrolyzer, for medical use

Serene Envirotech, a Mumbai-based start-up, has launched a small-sized, table-top hydrogen elecrolyzer, which it calls ‘UdazH’. 

A report in the Business Line newspaper, quoting the company’s Chairman and Managing Director, Dr Babu Sudhakar, says that the machine is priced at Rs 80,000. The company intends to market it to doctors for hydrogen therapy. 

Hydrogen, the report says, has recently emerged as a very good anti-oxidant. It is completely non-toxic and, unlike oxygen, does not need medical supervision for administering it. 

UdazH can produce 300 ml of hydrogen a minute. It features a DuPont platinum membrane. 

             

                                                      Actor Bhagyashree, the brand ambassdor, with UdazH

Comment 

Serene Envirotech’s table-top hydrogen illustrates the feasibility of small electrolyzers than can be attached to rooftop solar plants. 

According to the report, the company claims that the equipment can produce 300 ml of hydrogen a minute. This translates to 1.2 kg an hour, which, at $ 5/kg, is worth $6, or Rs 450. 

If you assume that 1kg of hydrogen takes 55 kWhr of electricity. Making allowances for the small size of the product, let’s assume that it takes 65 kWhr to produce 1.2 kg. If sold to the grid, 65 units will at best fetch Rs 200. 

It makes sense for a rooftop solar plant owner to use any surplus electricity to produce hydrogen, rather than battle with the financially sick utilities for a better price for the power. Of course, self-consumption of the solar power is the best option because the owner can avoid purchasing electricity at the high utility tariffs. 

Serene Envirotech’s machine is not engineered for rooftop hydrogen production. Presumably, it can be tweaked for such an application, with further economic advantages.