AFT’s solution to prevent corrosion and reduce costs
As the green hydrogen production industry grows, the challenges of keeping costs down become apparent. The corrosive qualities of pure hydrogen and oxygen gases both pose challenges in the production and storage of green hydrogen, which is where industrial coating solutions can help reduce reliance on fossil fuels.
The Challenge
We were approached by a leading manufacturer of Membrane Free Electrolysers (MFE) for green hydrogen production. The customer’s MFE provides a solution to hydrogen generation that is both unique and patented.
The customer needed a coating solution for their MFE that was not just resistant to the corrosive process fluids that are involved in the hydrogen evolution reaction and oxygen evolution reaction, but would also resist the inevitable abrasion and delamination.
MFEs use cryogenic gas separation to deliver pure hydrogen and oxygen gases as separate usable gases. As hydrogen produced and pure oxygen will both seriously impair stainless steel’s corrosion resistance, a Fluoropolymer coating was needed in order to protect the metal from the corrosive effects of the gases during the electrolysis process.
The right coating solution would maximise the service life of the equipment and further enhance the green credentials of the technology without the need to replace the stainless steel materials of the hydrogen processing stack with complex alloys which would have increased the cost and reduced the viability of the technology. This would also contribute to reducing dependence on fossil fuels while improving energy conversion efficiency.
The Solution
The coating needed to be durable enough to offer severe chemical resistance, as well as being abrasive resistant, and we had to work out the best level of coating thickness to come up with the perfect solution.
As always, we worked with our customer to provide a tailor made solution to the challenge. Our technical team developed the best solution to protect the stainless steel materials of the hydrogen processing stack during the hydrogen evolution reaction. This helped in reducing greenhouse gas emissions by optimising the overall production process for green hydrogen production using renewable energy sources.
The Result
MFE’s remain very much in their infancy however AFT Fluorotec has a number of solutions on test, each delivering past expectations. As this industry continues to grow and the range, diversity and complexity of coating solutions, our offer will continue to evolve and meet the ever diverging demands to a sustainable renewable future, contributing to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions through innovative technologies in green hydrogen production.
AFT Fluorotec is proud to announce its participation at the prestigious Hydrogen Technology Expo Europe - read our latest article.
