Storing Excess Electricity as Hydrogen

While many utilities are evaluating trailerfuls of batteries for quick deployment of power into the grid, researchers at Idaho National Labs took a different tack. Understanding the potential of hydrogen for quick energy release, they worked on a way to store excess electricity in hydrogen form so it can be released back onto the grid when needed.

The team addressed the challenge by developing a new electrode material for an electrochemical cell that can efficiently convert excess electricity and water into hydrogen. When demand for electricity increases, the electrochemical cell is reversible, converting hydrogen back into electricity for the grid. The hydrogen could also be used as fuel for heat, vehicles or other applications. The results appeared online in the journal Nature Communications.

“The energy storage grand challenge, with its diverse research and development needs, gave rise to more opportunities for hydrogen,” said Dong Ding, a senior staff engineer/scientist and chemical processing group lead at INL. “We are targeting hydrogen as the energy intermediate to efficiently store energy.”

Ding and his colleagues improved one type of electrochemical cell called a protonic ceramic electrochemical cell (PCEC), which uses electricity to split steam into hydrogen and oxygen.

However, in the past, these devices had limitations, especially the fact that they operate at temperatures as high as 800 degrees C. The high temperatures require expensive materials and result in faster degradation, making the electrochemical cells cost prohibitive.

In the paper, Ding and colleagues describe a new material for the oxygen electrode—the conductor that facilitates the water splitting and oxygen reduction reactions simultaneously. Unlike most electrochemical cells, this new material—an oxide derived from a perovskite—allows the cell to convert hydrogen and oxygen into electricity without additional hydrogen.

Read the details of the solution and the full article at Cleantech Concepts.

Source: Idaho National Laboratory and Cleantech Concepts.

Tom Breunig is publisher and managing editor at Cleantech Concepts, focused on tracking cleantech R&D. He is also a technology scout for industrial investors.

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