New Energies, new possibilities

Eurotainer accelerates Norway’s hydrogen economy with Hexagon Purus hydrogen distribution solution

In support of Norway’s ambitious goal to become a low-emission society by 2050, Eurotainer, a global leader in tank container leasing, has partnered with Hexagon Purus, a world leading provider of zero-emission infrastructure and mobility solutions, to launch Type 4 hydrogen storage solutions. This marks the first time these advanced hydrogen storage systems will be available for leasing to industrial customers in Norway, including Norwegian Hydrogen.

Hexagon Purus will provide 380-bar hydrogen distribution systems, designed for the safe and efficient transportation of green hydrogen. These systems will be available through Eurotainer’s leasing network to support hydrogen transport for mobility and industrial applications across Norway and beyond, playing a key role in advancing the country’s hydrogen economy.

Among Eurotainer’s customers is Norwegian Hydrogen, already producing green hydrogen at its recently opened Hellesylt Hydrogen Hub, and with additional production facilities in development across the Nordics. The hydrogen produced will be distributed to a group of industrial customers, including construction company Veidekke which will use the green hydrogen to significantly reduce emissions on two of their asphalt production plants in the region. Some of the hydrogen will also be utilized by Vireon, a subsidiary of Norwegian Hydrogen, which aims to become the leading operator of hydrogen refueling stations for heavy transport in the Nordic region.

The new hydrogen storage systems, manufactured at Hexagon Purus’ facility in Weeze, Germany, will be delivered by the end of the year. This collaboration will further expand the distribution of green hydrogen, a key element in Norway’s transition to a sustainable, low-emission future.

Driving Energy Transformation

Nicolas Rougeron, General Manager Europe, Eurotainer says,

“We see immense potential in Norway and in broader European markets as hydrogen emerges as a critical solution for decarbonizing mobility and industry.

We’re delighted to now be able to offer a new hydrogen storage product to our customers that will enable them to decarbonize their operations,”

“After evaluating several Type 4 hydrogen storage providers, we selected Hexagon Purus for their proven track record and the exceptional quality of their products. We’re excited to have them as a reliable partner.”

Morten Holum, CEO, Hexagon Purus, added:

“Our hydrogen distribution modules offer the highest transport capacity at the lowest total cost of ownership, enabling efficient delivery of hydrogen from production facilities to industrial customers and refueling stations.

We are excited to support Eurotainer in making hydrogen more accessible for industrial and mobility applications.”

About the market

The industrial and mobility sectors account for close to 50% of annual carbon emissions globally, and hydrogen has an important role to play in reducing these emissions, particularly in hard-to-abate sectors. Hexagon Purus’ type 4 based hydrogen distribution system is the preferred technology for bulk distribution of hydrogen offering the highest capacity and the lowest total cost of ownership compared to traditional steel tube trailers. Making green hydrogen available for use in industrial processes and mobility is critical to reduce carbon emissions, and hydrogen is projected to supply up to 25% of the world’s energy needs by 2050.

Source: Hydrogencentral

Ohmium International has announced European CE mark approval for its Lotus 1.5 electrolyzer. The CE mark indicates that a product meets the European Union’s stringent safety, health, and environmental protection requirements, enabling distribution across the European Economic Area (EEA).

To achieve CE certification, the safety and quality compliance of Ohmium’s Lotus electrolyzer were thoroughly reviewed and documented. For this work, Ohmium applied ISO 22734 (‘Hydrogen generators using water electrolysis: Industrial, commercial, and residential applications’), an international standard that provides manufacturers with a clear set of robust requirements. The process included a detailed evaluation of the product design, components, and testing procedures, along with an assessment of Ohmium’s quality control procedures. Bureau Veritas (BV), a recognized notified body, conducted a review of the pressure equipment with a focus on its design and testing.

“Unified safety standards facilitate the adoption of green hydrogen projects around the world,” said Dr. Chock Karuppaiah, Ohmium CTO. “Ohmium is proud to apply our electrochemical, technical, and practical expertise to the development of these standards. We were among the leading industry stakeholders involved in the development and maintenance of ISO 22734, and also contributed to the development of the US and Canadian binational standard for the design of hydrogen electrolyzers, adopted in 2023.”

“Ohmium is committed to helping customers around the world transition to green hydrogen quickly, easily, and cost-effectively,” said Arne Ballantine, Ohmium CEO. “CE mark approval is an important milestone for quality and safety assurance, and also streamlines regulatory inspection and installation, making it even easier for our customers to achieve their goals.”

Source: Hydrogentechworld

• Compressed-air-free, homogeneous micro-quantity lubrication
• New spray.xact reflection with extended spray width for bipolar plates and ultra-thin sheets
• spray.xact c spray lubrication for demanding applications

Resource-efficient technology for stamping and forming: technotrans is introducing the new generation of its compressed-air-free spray lubrication systems at this year’s EuroBLECH. The focus is on the new spray.xact reflection with an extended spray width. The patented reflection method enables homogeneous micro-quantity lubrication of significantly less than 0.5 millimeters per square meter on ultra-thin sheets and coils. This makes the system ideal, among other things, for processing bipolar plates for hydrogen production.

“We are consistently expanding our solutions portfolio and the application possibilities of our systems – with a clear focus on sustainability and real added value for users,” says Hary Kosciesza, Business Development Manager at technotrans. “With the new spray.xact reflection, we not only meet the growing demands of the industry but also set benchmarks in resource-efficient micro-quantity spray lubrication.”

Until now, the spray.xact reflection was available with two valves and a spray width of 200 millimeters. In the new generation, the system is now equipped with additional valves and a significantly larger spray width. The special feature of the system is its patented process: The spray streams from above and below are reflected via a surface. This allows micro-quantities of significantly less than 0.5 millimeters per square meter to be applied to workpieces. The spray.xact reflection not only operates energy-efficiently without the use of compressed air but also conserves resources as a closed-loop solution: The medium that runs off the surface is collected in an integrated tray and fed back into the system. Applications include the processing of very thin bipolar plates for hydrogen production.

Combining reliability and efficiency

In addition to this innovation, technotrans is presenting its proven spray lubrication systems for various applications. The spray.xact c, available with a double-walled housing construction, offers customers a durable system for demanding applications with a spray width of up to 2,000 millimeters. For simple metal applications, technotrans offers the spray.xact easy, an economical solution with adjustable oil type and quantity. Thanks to patented nozzle technology, the spray.xact metal enables micro-quantity lubrication without the use of compressed air, allowing high-viscosity oils and emulsions to be evenly applied to sheets and strips.

All technotrans solutions operate without compressed air, using high-frequency pulsating valves to deliver precise oil application. No extraction system is required, and no oil is wasted, which could otherwise accumulate in the production environment. As a result, cleaning and maintenance efforts for the machines are reduced to a minimum.

Source:  Fuel Cells Works

By reducing iridium usage through advanced nanofiber and ALD coating innovations, Smoltek Hydrogen and SparkNano pave the way for cost-effective, large-scale green hydrogen production.

Smoltek Nanotech Holding AB (publ) ("Smoltek" or the "company") announces that the group company Smoltek Hydrogen, together with the Dutch ALD coating company SparkNano, publishes a white paper and holds a joint webinar on the synergies that the two companies' technology creates. By covering Smoltek's carbon nanofibers with an extremely thin and conformal coating of precious metals, the consumption of iridium in an electrolyzer cell can be reduced by 95 percent. Fabian Wenger, Head of R&D at Smoltek Hydrogen, will participate in a joint webinar on September 25 to discuss the collaboration, the technology and its potential for large-scale green hydrogen production.

Smoltek Hydrogen's unique innovation – a porous transport electrode designed for the anode in PEM electrolyzers – solves one of the biggest technical challenges in the green hydrogen industry: the high cost and limited availability of iridium, used as catalysts in PEM electrolysis. With SparkNano's advanced ALD coating technology, for platinum and iridium, a dramatic reduction of precious metals is enabled while maintaining performance and stability.

“With our carbon nanofibers and their ALD coating technology, we can together lower costs and reduce the use of rare precious metals and make green hydrogen available on a large scale”, says Fabian Wenger, Head of R&D at Smoltek Hydrogen.

Revolutionizing reduction of iridium usage 

With the ALD (Atomic Layer Deposition) coating technology, platinum is spread extremely evenly over Smoltek's carbon nanofibers, which provides conformal corrosion protection and protects the carbon nanofibers, which are then coated with an ultra-thin layer of iridium.

This enables the consumption of iridium to be reduced by up to 40 times compared to conventional coating methods. The combination of Smoltek's nanofibers and SparkNano's ALD technology also enables more efficient electron transfer pathways, increasing the overall catalytic activity of the electrolyzer cell. The ALD technology also improves the stability of the catalyst, which is a big step forward for the sustainability of green hydrogen technology.

A solution for large-scale production of green hydrogen 

Smoltek Hydrogen's innovative nanomaterials have been shown in long-term studies to work very well in PEM electrolyzers. Fraunhofer ISE, a leading German research institute, identified in October 2021 that iridium coatings below 0.4 mg/cm² are a must for large-scale production of PEM electrolyzers. This technology can thus pave the way for a faster expansion of green hydrogen production, which is crucial for the transition to fossil-free industrial processes.

“SparkNano is a Dutch company, partly owned by the French gas company Air Liquide. SparkNano's spatial ALD technology enables precise coatings of super-thin material films at higher speeds than older ALD technologies, which is a big advantage now that we start scaling up to larger volumes”, says Ellinor Ehrnberg, CEO of Smoltek Hydrogen

Source: FCW Team

触媒のように使える還元剤を新開発

出光興産、東京大学、大阪大学、産業技術総合研究所は2024年7月4日、常温常圧環境下でアンモニア（NH3）を空気中の窒素（N2）と水（H2O）と電力から連続的に合成する技術で、競合のアンモニア生成速度を20倍上回る世界最高性能を達成したと発表した（図1）。今後、2028年度までにシステムの規模を拡大すると同時に生産効率をさらに高める研究開発を進め、その後は社会実装に向けた開発をして、2032年度に1000トン/年規模のアンモニア生産を目指すとしている。

図1　競合に対して約20倍のアンモニア生成速度を実現

報告例1は2020年、報告例2は2023年でいずれも中国科学院の研究者の論文（出所：出光興産）

[画像のクリックで拡大表示]

　アンモニアは100年余り前にドイツで水素（H2）と空気（実際には窒素ガス）から合成する技術「ハーバー・ボッシュ（HB）法」が開発されたことで、低コストで量産できるようになった。それを肥料に用いることで食料の生産量が飛躍的に高まり、世界の人口の急速な増加につながった。ただし、HB法には、

（1）高温高圧を必要とし、結果として装置が超大型になる

（2）水素は別途、生産または調達する必要がある

（3）（2）の水素を生産する過程で、少なくともこれまでは大量の二酸化炭素（CO2）を排出していた

といった課題があった。

　こうした背景から、出光興産などは新エネルギー・産業技術総合開発機構（NEDO）のグリーンイノベーション基金事業の委託業務として、常温常圧でしかも、水素の生産や調達を必要としないアンモニア合成法の開発を進めている。

出光などが「世界最高性能」、常温常圧で水素不要のアンモニア合成 | 日経クロステック（xTECH） (nikkei.com)

240704.pdf (idemitsu.com)

燃料アンモニアサプライチェーンの構築 | NEDO グリーンイノベーション基金