The reason why fuel cells have become popular is that they can effectively solve the problems of current internal combustion engines and electric vehicles, and can use valley electricity and electricity wasted to produce hydrogen to achieve this goal. energy storage.
This article is therefore divided into two parts, presenting respectively the role of hydrogen as energy storage and as a fuel cell.
In the energy storage part, we will first talk about the advantages of hydrogen: It has a wide range of sources, including industrial by-product hydrogen, hydrogen production from coal and natural gas. hydrogen production. The technologies are all mature, especially in industry. Hydrogen derived from coke oven gas is not used in the process and there were no chemical plantsnear. it was burned directly as fuel. Its use value is not higher than that of coal with the same calorific value, but when used as fuel for fuel cells, the rest is burned as fuel, which increases the value of the fuel. by-products. Wind power, hydro power and photovoltaic power all face the problem of unstable electricity production, sometimes high, sometimes low. The electricity produced cannot be used and can only be wasted.
Since the water electrolysis device generally has strong adjustment ability and fast response speed (but SOEC with higher efficiency requires high temperature and adjustment ability may be low), this part of the electricity can be used to electrolyze. water to produce hydrogen. Energy storage. At night, the thermal power stationsiques must operate with a reduced load due to low compliance. The reduction in load will deviate from the optimal operating conditions and the efficiency of electricity production will likewise decrease, if high efficiency operation is maintained, the increase in power produced due to the increase. the efficiency will be used for electrolysis. The production of hydrogen from water provides energy storage.
Ultimately, there is only one deciding factor when deciding to use hydrogen for energy storage... and that is money... Because there are many ways to store energy, and the one that pays the most is the best... As long as you can make money producing and storing hydrogen. To save the most money, power plants will adopt hydrogen-based energy storage solutions. If this is not possible, they will adopt solutionstions such as pumping water and. thermal storage for energy storage. If energy storage makes them lose money, the company will simply abandon energy storage.
If hydrogen fuel cells develop, then sales of high-purity hydrogen will be guaranteed, and there will be a greater likelihood that companies will choose hydrogen-based energy storage. 'hydrogen. Let’s talk about the downsides: Storage and transportation are the biggest issues. It should be difficult to find a gas more explosive than hydrogen in the world, so the safety requirements are high and there is also no gas lighter than hydrogen in the world. even if it is transported under high pressure, it also occupies a large volume due to the need for ultra high pressure transportation, the compressor requirements are also very high.
Therefore,The rayThe economical transport of hydrogen is very small and the areas where hydrogen is produced are generally far from the areas where hydrogen is used... It can be understood that if hydrogen is practical for storage and transportation , now Why do chemical plants that produce hydrogen byproducts wastefully burn valuable hydrogen instead of selling it to other chemical plants in need? Because transportation costs are so high that cabbages are sold at gold prices, chemical plants that need hydrogen typically choose to produce hydrogen on-site using methanol or natural gas. Therefore, although the actual cost of producing qualified hydrogen is very low, the difficulty lies in In terms of transportation and storage, even the use of wasted new energy electricity is almost free. hydrogen production also faces the problemThe problem of high transport and storage costs.
We all know that the fuel used in rockets generally refers to hydrogen and oxygen. If liquid hydrogen and oxygen are mixed and then ignited, the result will be spectacular. So do you think this explosive combination can be used in ordinary cars? Hydrogen is the most abundant element in the universe. It is found on land, in the ocean and in the air. We are exposed to hydrogen everywhere we go. Even though hydrogen exists in large quantities, it is very difficult to capture.
First, the plant extracts hydrogen frommethaneIn order to obtain hydrogen, they laid hundreds of kilometers of pipelines. Methane from natural gas bound for Russia is heated after a long journey. The interaction between water vapor and methane at 850 degrees Celsius produces hydrogen monoxidecarbon and carbon dioxide. The carbon dioxide is then filtered using a molecular filter. 99.99% of the natural gas is then cooled to minus 250 degrees Celsius and transported to the hydrogen vehicle factory. This is the General Motors laboratory in Germany. Scientists are developing hydrogen fuel cells. I would never expect this rubber stamp. The new energy rockets that will become the future will generate strong explosive enthusiasm by burning hydrogen and oxygen. This is very suitable for rushing into space, but not for rushing out.
Second, the fuel cell does not burn hydrogen. Instead, it uses hydrogen to produce electricity. Hydrogen and oxygen are injected into both ends of the battery, and the hydrogen is broken down. in electrical energy. In the ionic state, hydrogen ions want to be close toe oxygen, but the fuel cell doesn't let them get close easily, instead they force the hydrogen ions through the electrode plate to reach the other end. will move through the fuel cell and form an electric current. The only byproduct of this process is water, resulting in truly zero emissions. Since each fuel cell can only produce 0.7 volts of electricity, scientists stacked hundreds of fuel cells to generate enough electricity to drive a two-ton car at a speed of 160 kilometers per hour . They have invested over a billion euros in this technology and continue to waste money.
Third, after the factory installs the hydrogen fuel cell in the car, it must install the fuel tank filled with hydrogen in the car to prevent the masonry from leaking and causing udoes not explode. The fuel tank is made of a strong carbon fiber composite material. Once the fuel tank is installed, the hydrogen energy vehicle is ready to hit the road. The current price of gasoline is rising, and it may not improve until hydrogen vehicles really become popular.