Cutting-Edge Solutions for Green Hydrogen Purification
Donaldson enhances hydrogen purification with advanced filtration and drying systems, improving cost-efficiency and safety while supporting sustainable energy efforts with proven performance in demanding applications.
An increasingly desirable, yet still quite expensive – method of promoting clean energy and sustainability credentials, the green hydrogen market first received the benefits of Donaldson’s state-of-the-art technology and extensive knowledge around three years ago. And, having produced drying systems for other special gases since the early 90s, the company’s credentials in this field are abundant.
“With over 11 decades of experience in filtration and three decades in drying solutions for compressed air and special gases, our transition into hydrogen purification was a smooth and natural progression,” explains Sabine Artuso, Product Manager for Special Gases at Donaldson. “We support suppliers of hydrogen derived from biomass/waste/water electrolysis as well as various other customers including gases and compressor manufacturers, hydrogen fuel station manufacturers, plant builders and engineering officers/planners.”
“We have recently signed up another major customer, with whom we’ll co-operate closely to tailor our solution to their precise requirements and help them achieve the maximum energy efficiency and productivity.”
The purification process
Using renewable energy sources to power the electrolysis process, as well as biogas reforming and fermentation of waste streams, green hydrogen production has a potentially huge role to play in tackling the climate crisis. An extremely high level of purity is required to avoid the entire process needing to be repeated, and this is where Donaldson’s expertise is especially invaluable.
Applied downstream of any type of electrolysis processes, the company’s available technologies include deoxidisers (De-Oxo) and dryers to consistently achieve a pure hydrogen with high product quality.
Receiving cooled hydrogen with oxygen concentrations of up to 4,000ppm, Donaldson’s new de-O2 (De-Oxo) unit can remove oxygen molecules at flow rates of 60 to 20,000 Nm3/h, reducing the risk of explosion by creating a purity down to 2ppm residual oxygen.
Also new is its heat-regenerated HRC-T H2 adsorption dryer, which dries and filters the highly humid gas. It is an efficient hydrogen drying process as the desiccant regeneration process is not consuming any hydrogen gas or purge gases in a closed-loop system. This not only delivers reduced operating expenses, but also simplified maintenance and high operational safety – as no explosive gas is vented into the environment.
“Our dryers are based on technologies we’ve been working with for years, so our experience gives us a major advantage in terms of expertise and supporting the most efficient purification process,” explains Sabine.
Filter housings and elements designed to fulfill the specifications for hydrogen purification
Other proven Donaldson technologies are in evidence from the oxygen elimination and cooling water stages to the later high-pressure hydrogen filtration and oil-removal stages.
“We can suggest the ideal filtration for particles and humidity for fluid group 1, helping to ensure compliance with the relevant regulations for each specific area, such as ATEX zones,” adds Sabine. “We can also remove oil at each stage with various filters, regardless of whether the customer prefers low pressures or working at up to 500 bar.”
Even that figure can be extended if required, however, as Donaldson collaborates closely with the customer right from the outset, specifically selecting and integrating every component to suit each installation and deliver the most efficient, cost-effective setup possible.
“We see from the market that there is a need for solutions offering repeatable design, installation, maintenance and usage processes,” concludes Sabine. “We can support this and contribute to the growth of this sector through our adaptability as a single source provider of filtration solutions for the alternative power industry.
“Our filter range has rapidly evolved over the years, culminating in a huge and continually growing portfolio that we can efficiently adapt for new markets such as green hydrogen, biogas, CCS and Power to X. This can be a dangerous sector to be involved in but collaborating with experienced and knowledgeable partners will help mitigate those risks. Customers can be assured that our components, from the smallest filter to the advanced adsorption dryer, have been thoroughly tried and tested in other demanding applications before undergoing specific adaptations that will help to ensure optimum safety and performance.”
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