Abstract
Hydrogen is an ideal energy carrier in future applications due to clean byproducts and high efficiency. However, many challenges remain in the application of hydrogen, including hydrogen production, delivery, storage and conversion. In terms of hydrogen storage, two compression modes (mechanical and non-mechanical compressors) are generally used to increase volume density in which mechanical compressors with several classifications including reciprocating piston compressors, hydrogen diaphragm compressors and ionic liquid compressors produce significant noise and vibration and are expensive and inefficient. Alternatively, non-mechanical compressors are faced with issues involving large-volume requirements, slow reaction kinetics and the need for special thermal control systems, all of which limit large-scale development. As a result, modular, safe, inexpensive and efficient methods for hydrogen storage are urgently needed. And because electrochemical hydrogen compressors (EHCs) are modular, highly efficient and possess hydrogen purification functions with no moving parts, they are becoming increasingly prominent. Based on all of this and for the first time, this review will provide an overview of various hydrogen compression technologies and discuss corresponding structures, principles, advantages and limitations. This review will also comprehensively present the recent progress and existing issues of EHCs and future hydrogen compression techniques as well as corresponding containment membranes, catalysts, gas diffusion layers and flow fields. Furthermore, engineering perspectives are discussed to further enhance the performance of EHCs in terms of the thermal management, water management and the testing protocol of EHC stacks. Overall, the deeper understanding of potential relationships between performance and component design in EHCs as presented in this review can guide the future development of anticipated EHCs.Graphic
Highlights
Energy is a significant vector in modern society, the unrestrained use of fossil fuels in the past few centuries has led to energy shortages along with global warming, air pollution and other environmental concerns
Reciprocating compressors are not efficient at high flow rates despite high flow rates being potentially achievable [28] depending on the number of cycles and the dimension of cylinders in which in addition to the weight of minimum mechanical compressors being normally heavy (200–400 kg), increases to cylinder dimensions can further lead to bulkier systems that can in turn increase internal forces
The use of electrochemical hydrogen compressors (EHCs) can allow for the extraction of hydrogen from gaseous mixtures in which current global hydrogen consumption is estimated at 50 Mt y−1, only ~ 4% is generated from electrolysis with the majority being produced from fossil fuels (~ 96%) along with small amounts from other sources such as medical and aerospace applications [76]
Summary
Energy is a significant vector in modern society, the unrestrained use of fossil fuels in the past few centuries has led to energy shortages along with global warming, air pollution and other environmental concerns To address these issues, the development of novel renewable energy technologies with abundant resources, wide distributions, renewability and environmental friendliness has become the best choice to reduce fossil fuel consumption. Hydrogen storage technologies are limited by several issues, including low volume energy density, low efficiency compression and high-cost pressure vessels. Alternative to the harsh requirements of liquefaction, direct compression is a more economical and convenient process in which associated hydrogen compressors are important for the development of hydrogen energy industry. EHCs can allow for the electrochemical compression of hydrogen with lower electric power consumption, reduced thermal loss and higher efficiency as compared with other non-mechanical hydrogen compressors as well as simple device designs, they have attracted significant attention in the last decade. This review will discuss the current components of EHCs with a focus on technological limitations and current performances and outline existing methods for performance improvements
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