New Delhi, 3nd May 2024: India is one of the key countries in the development of
hydrogen energy. The country is expected to produce at least 5 million tonnes
of pure hydrogen per year by 2030 and at least 25 million tonnes by 2050 will
be required to fuel transport, steel and ammonia production. However, to
achieve these goals, India needs innovative solutions to modernise production
and scale up green hydrogen applications.
The Hydrogen Technology Expo event
in Delhi brought together industry experts to discuss cutting-edge technologies
in the hydrogen and fuel cell industries. Nornickel presented its innovative
palladium-based developments to Indian experts, suggesting their developments
are capable of increasing the efficiency of green hydrogen production in the
country.
Nornickel is a leading supplier of
a wide range of base and precious metals that improve the efficiency of green
technologies. The chemical properties of palladium, a critical metal of the
future, are studied at Nornickel's Palladium Technology Centre. At the Delhi
event, company representatives spoke about the results of their tests and the
potential application of palladium products in the global hydrogen
industry.
Palladium has the unique ability
to split a hydrogen molecule into atoms that pass through the metal and are
then reunited into a molecule using the same palladium. Palladium is impervious
to other gases. This is why palladium membranes are used to produce ultra-pure
hydrogen. The diffusion of hydrogen in palladium allows easy gas recovery at a
relatively low temperature.
The palladium prototypes developed
by Nornickel have been successfully tested in Russia and have shown improved
performance compared to existing commercial analogues. For example, a catalyst
for an electrolyzer with 30% palladium increases its activity by a factor of
three, while the application of palladium in a tubular membrane has
demonstrated a fourfold increase in membrane throughput in the production of
ultra-pure hydrogen.
"In the hydrogen energy
industry, palladium-based catalysts show efficiency gains at every stage of the
production chain, in the electrolysis of hydrogen from water, in transport and
directly in the fuel cell. In turn, palladium membranes are used to purify and
produce ultra-pure hydrogen, which is needed for microelectronics, solar energy
and the production of artificial diamonds," explains Anna Karzhavina, Head
of Commercialisation of New Products at Nornickel.
Nornickel is open to working with
Indian companies involved in hydrogen production and consumption to implement
palladium-based prototypes to increase productivity and expand the use of green
hydrogen in India.