A SEMINAR REPORT

ON
HYDROGEN ENERGY AND ITS FUTURE

Submitted To
Mr. AMARDEEP
Assistant Professor
Department of ME & AU Engineering

Submitted By
SM SHAHTAJ AKHTAR
BACHELOR OF TECHNOLOGY
IN
AUTOMOBILE ENGINEERING

DEPARTMENT OF ME & AU ENGINEERING

IEC College of Engineering & Technology
Greater Noida (UP) India 201301
2016-2017
 CONTENTS
SNO. TOPIC PAGE NO.
1. Introduction 3
2. What is hydrogen 4
3. Production 9
4. Storage 12
5. Relevance 17
6. Fuel cell 19
7. Hydrogen as Fuel 22
8. Economic aspect 23
9. Advantages 24
10. Challenges 25
11. Conclusions 26
INTRODUCTION
Energy is a key element of the interactions between
nature and society and is considered a key input for the
environment and sustainable development.
Environmental and sustainability issues span a
continuously growing range of pollutants, hazards, and
eco-system degradation factors that affect areas
ranging from local through regional to global. Some of
these concerns arise from observable, chronic effects
on, for instance, human health, while others stem from
actual or perceived environmental risks such as
possible accidental releases of hazardous materials.
Many environmental issues are caused by or related to
the production, transformation and use of energy, for
example, acid rain, stratospheric ozone depletion, and
global climate change. Recently, a variety of potential
solutions to the current environmental problems
associated with the harmful pollutant emissions has
evolved. Hydrogen and fuel cells are seen by many as
key solutions for the 21st century, enabling clean
efficient production of power and heat from a range of
primary energy sources. The High Level Group for
Hydrogen and Fuel Cells Technologies was initiated in
October 2002 by the Vice President of the European
Commission, Loyola de Palacio, Commissioner for
Energy and Transport, and Mr Philippe Busquin,
Commissioner for Research. The group was invited to
formulate a collective vision on the contribution that
hydrogen and fuel cells could make to the realization of
sustainable energy systems in future.
This final report has been produced as a follow-up to
the summary report presented at the conference The
hydrogen economy. A bridge to sustainable energy
held in Brussels on 16-17 June 2003.
The terms of reference for the group requested the
preparation of a vision report outlining the research,
deployment and non-technical actions that would be
necessary to move from todays fossil-based energy
economy to a fuel cell based economy.

What is Hydrogen?
Hydrogen is the simplest, lightest and most abundant
element in the universe, making up 90% of all matter. It
is made up of just one electron and one proton and is,
therefore, the first element in the periodic table. In its
normal gaseous state, hydrogen is odourless, tasteless,
colourless and non-toxic. Hydrogen burns readily with
oxygen, releasing considerable amounts of energy as
heat and producing only water as exhaust:
2 H2 + 02 2 H20
When hydrogen burns in air, which is made up mostly
of nitrogen, some oxides of nitrogen contributors to
smog and acid rain are formed. Hydrogen is highly
flammeable with a high flammability range, burning
when it makes up 4% to 74% of air by volume. It has a
high energy content by weight nearly three times that
of gasoline, for example. By contrast, hydrogen has a
low energy density by volume at a standard
temperature and atmospheric pressure. One gram of
hydrogen gas at room temperature occupies about 11
litres of space. Storing the gas under pressure or at
temperatures below minus 253 C, at which point it
turns into a liquid, raises its volumetric density.
Hydrogen is a carrier of energy, not a source (Box 1). It
does not exist in a natural state on earth and must be
manufactured using a hydrogen-rich compound as the
raw material. Today, hydrogen is produced mainly
through steam reforming of natural gas, but it can be
extracted from other hydrocarbons by reforming or
partial oxidation. A major shortcoming of the processing
of hydrocarbons is the resulting emissions of carbon
dioxide and airborne pollutants. Most other production
processes in use or under development involve the
electrolysis of water by electricity. This method
produces no emissions, but is typically more costly
compared to hydrocarbon reforming or oxidation
because it requires more energy and because
electricity is, in most cases, more expensive than fossil
fuels.
Today, the commercial production of hydrogen
worldwide amounts to about 40 million tonnes,
corresponding to about 1% of the worlds primary
energy needs. This output is primarily used as a
chemical feedstock in the petrochemical, food,
electronics and metallurgical processing industries.
Hydrogen holds the potential to provide energy services
to all sectors of the economy: transportation, buildings
and industry. It can complement or replace network-
based electricity the other main energy carrier in
final energy uses. Hydrogen can provide storage
options for intermittent renewables-based electricity
technologies such as solar and wind. And, used as an
input to a device known as a fuel cell, it can be
converted back to electrical energy in an efficient way
in stationary or mobile applications. For this reason,
hydrogen-powered fuel cells could eventually replace
conventional oil-based fuels in cars and trucks.
Hydrogen may also be an attractive technology for
remote communities which cannot economically be
supplied with electricity via a grid. Because hydrogen
can be produced from a variety of energy sources
fossil, nuclear or renewable it can reduce dependence
on imports and improve energy security.
The Environmental Implications of Hydrogen. The
fundamental attraction of hydrogen and the main
driving force behind current research and development
is its environmental advantages over fossil fuels. But
hydrogen is only as clean as the technologies used to
produce and use it. Replacing fossil fuels with hydrogen
in providing energy services could bring major
environmental benefits, on condition that hydrogen is
used in non polluting fuel cells and that the carbon
dioxide and noxious gases emitted in the hydrogen
production process are reduced or eliminated. At the
point of use, burning hydrogen in the presence of
oxygen in a fuel cell produces no harmful emissions,
just electrical energy and water. The production of
hydrogen can be emission-free if the energy used in the
production process is derived from nuclear power or
renewables, or, if based on fossil fuels, if the carbon
dioxide emitted is captured at the point of production
and stored permanently.
A Global Hydrogen Energy System
The transition to a hydrogen-energy system would
represent the ultimate step on the path away from
carbon-based fossil energy. The worlds energy system
has been becoming gradually less carbon-intensive as
it has moved from coal to oil and then natural gas. The
technology exists today to produce, store, transport
and convert hydrogen to useable energy in end-use
applications, such as fuel cells.
Technologies to capture carbon dioxide and other gases
released during the process of producing hydrogen
from fossil fuels and store them have also been
demonstrated. Almost every big car manufacturer plans
to begin commercial production of fuel-cell cars within
a few years, and small fuel cells to supply power to
remote communities are already coming onto the
market. Most of the major oil companies have active
hydrogen and carbon capture and storage programme.
Major technological and cost breakthroughs are needed
before the hydrogen economy can become a reality.
The cost of supplying hydrogen energy using current
technologies, which have been developed over many
decades, is still very high compared to conventional
energy technologies. The main areas in which progress
is needed are fuel cells; hydrogen production from
renewables; distribution and storage infrastructure that
meets environmental and safety criteria; and carbon
capture and storage, without which hydrogen may
never become a viable energy solution. Achieving this
will require a lot more research and development. The
pace of technological progress and its impact on
lowering the costs of hydrogen supply is inevitably
extremely uncertain and hard to predict. Indeed, it is by
no means certain that hydrogen will become cost
competitive. Rapid advances in carbon capture and
storage technologies might allow us to continue using
fossil fuels to generate electricity in an environmentally
acceptable manner.
Hydrogen Production, Distribution and Storage
A critical hurdle on the road to the hydrogen economy
is the efficient and clean production of hydrogen. As an
energy carrier, hydrogen has to be manufactured from
a primary energy source. There are many industrial
methods currently available for the production of
hydrogen, but all of them are expensive compared with
the cost of supplying the same amount of energy with
conventional forms of energy (several times more
expensive compared with fossil fuels). The distribution
and storage systems that would be needed to supply
hydrogen on a large scale are also much more
expensive because of the low volumetric energy
density of the fuel. Bringing production, distribution and
storage costs down sufficiently to make hydrogen a
viable competitor to existing fuels will require important
technological advances. Almost all the hydrogen
produced in the world today involves steam reforming
of fossil fuel using a nickel catalyst. At present, this is a
proven, commercial technology and is by far the
cheapest way of making hydrogen on a large scale. In
most cases, natural gas (methane) is the raw material.
The methane first reacts with steam to produce carbon
monoxide and hydrogen. The carbon monoxide, passed
over a hot iron oxide or cobalt oxide catalyst, then
reacts with the steam to produce carbon dioxide and
additional amounts of hydrogen: CH4 (methane) + H2O
(steam) CO (carbon monoxide) + 3H2 (hydrogen) CO
+ H2O CO2 (carbon dioxide) + H2.

Hydrogen Production in India

Hydrogen is a by-product in Chlor-Alkali industries.
Earlier, a part of it was used for non-energy applications
and rest was either flared or vented out in the
atmosphere. With the passage of time awareness about
its usage for energy applications increased and up to
2013-14 around 90% of by-product hydrogen was
utilized for production of chemicals and captive (mainly
energy) applications. There are around 40 such units in
India, which produced nearly 66000 tons of by-product
hydrogen during 2013-14. Around (10% of total
production i.e.) 6600 tons of this hydrogen remained
unutilized.
In addition to above, hydrogen is produced for non-
energy applications e.g. in fertilizer industries and
petroleum refineries. The quantum of increase in
hydrogen production will enable its mass scale
utilization as a fuel. To have sustainable hydrogen
production, the energy and raw material needed for this
purpose ought to be renewable in nature. There are
various methods for generating hydrogen from
renewable and non-renewable resources. However, the
challenge lies in the production of hydrogen in a cost
effective manner. Hydrogen can be produced through
the following processes:

A. From carbonaceous sources

i) Steam Methane Reforming: These reformers are
commercially available for hydrogen production and
more than 90% with 99.999% pure hydrogen is
produced from natural gas through this process. These
reformers are most efficient, economical and available
in small capacities also. Membrane reactors for steam
reforming are another promising technology for
producing very pure hydrogen.
ii) Partial Oxidation: These reformers are more
compact and used to produce hydrogen from residual
oil. Small capacity reformers are commercially
available.
iii) Auto-Thermal Reforming: Best features of steam
reforming and partial oxidation systems have been
combined in these reformers. No external heat source
and heat exchanger are required because heat
generated by the partial oxidation is utilized to drive
partial oxidation and hence such reformers are more
compact with higher efficiency. These reformers require
lower capital cost
iv) Methanol Reforming: Automakers took interest in
such reformers, because of the advantages to store
methanol on-board as liquid, compactness of reformer,
faster start-up and potentially lower cost. These
reformers were demonstrated in PEM fuel cell vehicles,
but no fuel cell vehicle manufacturer is currently using
this technology.
s: There are other technologies for
producing hydrogen like.
(a) Ammonia cracking, which is available at low cost in
the country, but a costly unit of Pressure Swing
Adsorption unit is required for separating H2 and N2.
(b) Sorbent-enhanced Catalytic Steam-reforming
system has been developed and is at the
demonstration stage.
(c) Ceramic membrane technology for separation of
hydrogen from syngas. Conceptual designs were
carried out for a hydrogen-refueling station. This route
is expected to be cheaper.
(d) Thermal plasma reformer technology can be used
for the production of hydrogen and hydrogen-rich gases
from methane (with maximum of 95% conversion) and
a variety of liquid fuels. The power requirement is
reduced by about half. This technology is under
evaluation.
(e) Bio-Oil reformation: Bio-oil can be obtained by
thermally decomposition / fast pyrolysis of biomass and
reformed to produce hydrogen. Pressure Swing
Adsorption (PSA) system is used to separate hydrogen
from the reformed products. National Renewable
Energy Laboratory (NREL) U.S.A. has developed and
demonstrated this technology; (f) Pyrolysis, oxidation
and reduction of biomass with injection of secondary
air. This process has been optimized to generate a
maximum of about 100 g of hydrogen per kilo gram of
biomass. Netherlands has developed this process and
installed a pilot plant of 800 kWth capacity. A combined
heat and power (CHP) plant (8MW) is in operation since
2002 in Gussing, Austria.

B. Electrolysis of water

(i) Alkaline water electrolysis: It is a matured

technology, less expensive and is commercially
available (in MW range) technology with hydrogen
production 760 Nm/h. These electrolysers face major
challenges of corrosion and poisoning of electrodes.
The largest existing alkaline electrolysis plants are 160
MW plant in Aswan, Egypt and 22 MW plant operating
in Peru (pressurized operation).
(ii) Polymer Electrolyte Membrane (PEM) based water
electrolysers. The drawbacks of alkaline water
electrolysers were overcome by the development of
solid PEM water electrolysers, which has lower stack
life. These are costlier and available in lower capacity
range from 0.06 to 75 Nm/hr but are more reliable.
Council of Scientific and Industrial Research; Central
Electro-Chemical Research Institute (CSIR-CECRI), SPIC
Science Foundation (SSF), Chennai; Centre of Fuel Cell
Technology (CFCT), Chennai and Jawaharlal Nehru
Technical University (JNTU), Hyderabad developed
alkaline water electrolysers. CSIR-CECRItransferred
these technologies to M/s. Eastern Electrolysers, New
Delhi for further development and commercialisation.
SSF obtained energy consumption is around 2.0
kWh/Nm3 whereas CFCT, Chennai 1.40kWh/Nm3.
(iii) High temperature water electrolysis: It uses solid
oxide electrolyte and offers advantage of lower capital
cost. These require around 30% electricity (i.e. about
2.6-3.5 kWh/Nm3 hydrogen produced). These
electrolysers have been developed for capacities 1.5,10
and 30 Nm3 /h. The Bhabha Atomic Research Centre
(BARC), Mumbai has planned to develop these
electrolysers for capacities of 1.0 Nm3 /h.

C. Biological Route
The economical way of hydrogen production is
biological route, which carried through dark (continuous
production) and photo (only in presence of light)
-fermentation of organic materials. A prototype
hydrogen bioreactor using waste as a feedstock is in
operation at Welch's grape juice factory in North East
Pennsylvania, USA. Major contributors in the research of
this process are from United States of America, Canada,
Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, China and India (Shri
AMM Murugappa Chettiar Research Centre, Chennai;
Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur and Indian
Institute of Chemical Technology, Hyderabad).
Integration of bio-hydrogen with fuel cell was first
mooted in 2012. The dark fermentation for hydrogen
production can be commercialized, if it is integrated
with biomethantion process. The integration of these
two processes might lead to 50-60% gaseous energy
recovery.
D. Thermochemical Splitting of Water
Water can be dissociated at very high temperatures
into hydrogen and oxygen through. The required energy
can be either provided by nuclear energy or by solar
energy, or by hybrid systems including solar and
nuclear energy. Around a dozen of thermo-chemical
cycles such as the iron oxide cycle, cerium(IV) oxide-
cerium(III) oxide cycle, zinc-zinc oxide cycle, sulfur-
iodine cycle, copper-chlorine cycle and hybrid sulfur
cycle are under research/in testing phase. The iodine-
sulphur (I-S) cycle is one of the most promising and
efficient thermo-chemical water splitting technologies
for the mass production of hydrogen, on which BARC,
Trombay, Mumbai is working. India is the 5th country to
develop this process after USA (1980), Japan (2004),
China (2010) and South Korea (2009). USA aims to
demonstrate commercial scale production of hydrogen
using nuclear energy by 2017. Japan initiated to set-up
a pilot plant for production of 30 Nm3/h hydrogen. The
Republic of Korea targets for 25 % (3 Mt/year) of the
total hydrogen to be supplied by advanced 50 nuclear
reactors by 2040 for generation of hydrogen for fuel
cell applications for electricity generation, passenger
vehicles, and domestic power and heating, and
lowering hydrogen costs. Peoples Republic of China
initiated work to demonstrate I-S thermo-chemical
cycle and high.
Hydrogen storage and transportation
Hydrogen storage needs special attention due to
hydrogen being smallest molecule, density-wise
lightest, lowest ignition energy and wide range of
explosion limit with air, which lead to embrittlement of
materials of construction of hydrogen storage vessels
and safety hazards. Therefore, safe and efficient
storage and delivery of hydrogen is essential for the
success of hydrogen economy. Hydrogen can be stored
by the following ways:-
(i) High-pressure gas cylinders (up to 800 bar)
(ii) Liquid hydrogen in cryogenic tanks (at 21oK)
(iii) Physi-sorbed hydrogen on materials with a large
specific surface area
(iv) Chemi-sorbed on interstitial sites in host metals and
Inter-metallics
(v) Chemically bonded in covalent and ionic compounds
(vi) Oxidation of reactive metals such as. Li, Na, Mg, Al,
Zn with water

Hydrogen is widely used in pressure vessels for on-

board mobile applications, stationary application for
dispensing hydrogen at re-fueling stations and at sites
for stationary power generation. The pressure vessels
are made of special alloys and also with reinforced
composite carbon fiber so as not to face problem of
brittleness. Currently, hydrogen is being stored in
compressed form at 350 bar (5,000 psi) in on-board in
demonstration vehicles and 700 bar (10,000 psi) in
Type IV carbon composite cylinders. Carbon composite
cylinders to store hydrogen at 700 bar (10,000 psi) are
not being manufactured in the country.
The cryogenic hydrogen is to be stored in specially
insulated vessels at (-) 252.880C. The storage vessels
may be made of FCC with special insulation, comprising
double walled with vacuum in between, opacifiers and
multi-layer insulations. Liquid organic hydrides are also
potential candidates for hydrogen storage and delivery.
The concept has been demonstrated successfully at
laboratory level. Further work is being pursued.
Rare earth systems based on La, transition metals
based on Ti and of late light metal based such as Mg
have been identified as the candidates. Two crucial
parameters determine the performance metrics of
metal hydrides, namely gravimetric percentage and
desorption temperature. La Ni5 with additions of Ce and
Al have desorption temperature in the range from 40 C
to 140 C, with maximum storage of 1.2wt% H2 and Mg
based materials with as high a storage as 6wt% with
desorption temperature of 250 - 3000C. The lowest
desorption temperature achieved is 2100C with 3.5 wt
% storage capacity.

Although a number of intermetallic alloys have been

prepared and their hydrogenation potentials assessed,
a few have suitable combination of properties that
permit their use for hydrogen storage or other
applications. The most viable candidates include alloys
with the following compositions: A2B (e.g.,Mg2Ni), AB
(e.g.,TiFe), AB2 (e.g.,ZrMn2) and AB5 (e.g.,LaNi5).
A variety of solid-state hydrogen storage materials viz.
MgH2, Mg2NiH4, NaAlH4, other alanates, borohydrates
(gravimetric capacity of >7wt%), commercial hydrides
such as FeTiH2 and LaNi5H6, adsorbents like carbon,
nano-structured carbons (including CNTs) MoFs and
hydrogen clathrate hydrate have been investigated for
hydrogenation and dehydrogenation reaction conditions
and their kinetics, retention of cycling capacity,
susceptibility to impurities and reversible capacities.
The need for material with practical operative
conditions of pressure (1-10 bar) and temperature
(300C-1000C) has simulated the interest of many
researchers. Other major areas of research are
improvement of kinetics of hydrogen uptake/release
and enhancement of cycling capacity.
Pure hydrogen physisorption has been demonstrated at
cryogenic temperatures (up to ca. 6 wt% H2) for which
extremely high surface area carbon is required. Pure
atomic H-chemisorption has also been demonstrated to
ca. 8 wt% H2, but the covalent-bound H is liberated
only at impractically high temperatures (above ca.
400C). The activated carbon materials made from
carbon nanotubes, graphite nanofibers, known as next
generation of energy systems are capable of storing
hydrogen.
Utilizing the exothermic and endothermic processes
during sorption and desorption of hydrogen
respectively in metal hydrides, highly efficient, compact
and cost-effective chemi-sorption thermal energy
storage devices can be developed. This could
significantly contribute to the widespread utilization of
solar thermal energy. Such demonstration systems
suitable for small capacity ORC power packs are being
studied at IISc-Bangalore.
The hydrogen chemisorption desorption heat
exchanges during the hydrogen sorption process in
metal hydrides can also be utilized to develop a variety
of thermal devices, especially refrigeration and heat
pump systems. The temperatures can range from
cryogenic to very high values. Exhaust heat operated
automobile airconditioners have been built by several
agencies. One such prototype was developed by IIT
Madras in collaboration with Thermax.
Nanostructured systems including carbon nanotubes,
nano-magnesium based hydrides, complex hydride /
nanocomposites carbon, boron nitride nanotubes,
sulphide nano-tubes of titanium and molybdenum,
alanates, polymer nanocomposites, and metal organic
frameworks are considered to be potential candidates
for storing large quantities of hydrogen. In addition,
various carbonaceous nanomaterials and novel sorbent
systems (e.g. carbon nanotubes, fullerenes, nanofibers,
polyaniline nano-spheres and metal organic
frameworks etc.) and their hydrogen storage
characteristics are considered. In spite of these
consistent and persistent efforts, these materials are
yet to satisfy the required characteristics like storage
capacity of around 6 weight percent, favourable and
tuning thermodynamics around 30-55 KJ/mol of
hydrogen and temperature of operation around 373 K
with about 1000s of cycles of operation.
Liquid organic hydrides (more than 6 wt% hydrogen
and 60 kg/m3) consisting of various cycloalkanes can
react with hydrogen under specific conditions and
hydrogen may be recovered by the dehydrogenation of
the cyclohexane at or near fueling stations for
dispensing hydrogen into vehicles / other applications.
Cyclohexane is transported back for reuse.
Hollow microspheres or microcapsules have high
gravimetric energy density, in which hydrogen may
also be stored through permeation inside. Hollow
microspheres are also known as microcapsules,
microcavities, microbubbles, or microballoons.
Hydrogen-filled hollow glass microspheres are also easy
and safe to handle at atmospheric pressure and
ambient temperature and can be poured or pumped in
tanks. The technology is inexpensive and requires low
energy consumption for producing large quantities of
micro containers.
In addition to meeting high degrees of safety, efficiency
and cost effectiveness, the main challenges in all
hydrogen storage systems design is use of lightweight
materials and components, balanced storage capacity
and kinetics for a given application, energy efficiency,
the energy required for reversible solid-state materials,
the energy associated with compression and
liquefaction and liquid hydrogen technologies,
durability of hydrogen storage systems is required with
a lifetime of 1500 cycles, refueling time may be
targeted to less than three minutes, to reduce cost of
on-board hydrogen storage systems, applicable codes
and standards for hydrogen storage systems and
interface technologies, and assure safety and public
acceptance, are to be established.

APPLICATIONS OTHER THAN TRANSPORTATION

Hydrogen has the potential to replace LPG and CNG for
cooking because it has superior characteristics to LPG
and PNG fuel in terms of ignitability, low ignition delay
and higher flame stability. Catalytic burning of the
hydrogen in the home cooker is the best way to use the
hydrogen for cooking. Several catalysts such as metals
like Cu, Zn, Fe, Ni, Co; alloys like Co-Mn-Ag; storage
alloys like MmNi5, ZrFe2 can dissociate H2. Catalytic
techniques for hydrogen fueled catalytic cookers (i) are
porous ceramic plate embedded with platinum in pores
for flameless situation and (ii) new catalysts for
hydrogen catalytic combustion
Action Plan and Financial Projection
High Pressure Hydrogen Gaseous Storage: CNG
cylinders may be deployed in demonstration fleets of
vehicles up to a pressure of 200 bar. For pressure more
than 200 and up to 400 bar, hydrogen cylinders may be
imported for the vehicle like buses and trucks. Such 50
vehicles may be taken-up for public demonstration.
Simultaneously, 500 to 1000 hydrogen fueled vehicles
be prepared in about 5 to 8 years for large scale
demonstration. Consortium collaboration approach may
be followed among HINDALCO, Indore; NPL, New Delhi;
IOCL Nasik and BHEL (Hyderabad) to produce Al
cylinders reinforced with carbon fibre tapes and other
high strength wrappings. This consortium may prepare
50 such high pressure cylinders up to 400 bar and test
them.
Solid State Storage (Metal, Intermetallic and
Complex Hydrides):
Production of optimized, well known and already
deployed Mischmetal based hydride e.g. Mm-Ni-Fe may
be taken-up on pilot plant level (100 kg to 1 Ton Level)
and simultaneously, its demonstration in the vehicles
for on-board applications in around 50 three wheelers
(hydride requirement around 2000 kg); 10 small cars
(hydride requirement around 500 Kg).
Solid State Storage (Metal, Intermetallic and
Complex Hydrides):
The off-board (Stationary) application for power
generation in around 1000 Gen-Sets of 5-15 kW
capacity (required hydride quantity 10 Tons) may be
deployed. R&D efforts may be intensified for obtaining
gravimetric and volumetric efficiencies of 5 to 6wt%
and 60 kg/m3 for metal hydrides particularly catalyzed
MgH2 and gravimetric efficiency of 3 to 6 wt% for other
intermetallic hydrides e.g. Zr Fe2, Mg2Ni type. R&D
efforts may be upgraded for evaluation of reproducible
high efficiencies 5 to 6wt% in complex hydrides with
particular emphasis on catalyzed MgH2, NaAlH4,
LiAlH4, NaAlH4- MgH2, Li-Mg-N-H system.
Enhancement of R&D efforts are required to increase
hydrogen storage capacity from 1 to 3wt% at ambient
conditions and 5 to 8 wt% at Liquid N2 temperature in
nano/porous carbons.
Intensive Research & Development efforts may be
taken up on Liquid Hydrides. Petroleum industry may
also be networked to support the pilot runs. A
demonstration may be done by setting up pilot facilities
near a refinery and providing hydrogen to telecom
towers in the range of 50 to 100 Km.

An Interdisciplinary, Inter-Institutional Center may be

set up to evaluate the thermodynamic, thermophysical
and kinetic properties, cyclic stability, performance
augmentation based on mechanical and thermal design
of solid state storage devices. Testing and certification
of such devices should also be done by this facility.
Development of miscellaneous energy related
applications of hydrogen such as High Intensity
Thermal Energy Storage and Heat Pump/Heat
Transformer may be encouraged at the Institutions
which have shown the feasibility, through
demonstration projects.
Action plan may include efforts for the development,
distribution and monitoring of 1000 to 10,000 hydrogen
fueled home cookers. It will sensitize the public and this
may be followed by 25% to 50% replacement of LPG by
hydrogen through manufacturing and use of home
cookers through public-private partnership.
Further developments on High Pressure Hydrogen
Gaseous Storage may be taken up based on the
feedback received about the cylinders, 1,000 nos. may
be procured from the companies abroad and 9,000 nos.
may be manufactured by Bharat Pumps and
Compressors and other similar companies in India.
Efforts are to be made to have 100% indigenous
production during 2020-2035. These cylinders may be
used in hydrogen fueled 3 wheelers, buses, vans, cars
and in stationary systems like power generating system
(>10kW) around 1000 IC engine Gen Sets and 500 in
fuel cells power generating systems. Area-wise
replacement of 50% diesel Gen Sets (10kW and higher)
may be taken-up in crowded areas in the country.
Efforts may be made to use such vehicles and Gen Sets
to reach at least 30% of the total such devices in
specific cities.
Solid State Storage (Metal, Intermetallic and Complex
Hydrides): Manufacturing of mischmetal based hydrides
on pilot plant scale (1 Ton) may be taken up. These may
be manufactured on large scale for (i) on-board
applications in 500 three wheelers and 150 cars (ii)
stationary application in 1000 Gen-Sets of 5 to 15 kW
capacity and 500 fuel cells vehicles with 5 kW to 15kW
fuel cells systems. The non- mischmetal based viable
intermetallic hydride developed out of R&D efforts in
Phase-I may be picked-up for initiation of
manufacturing at pilot plant level (1 to 10 Tons). R&D
efforts may be intensified on Mg/MgH2 hydrides to
produce large quantities (100kg to 1 ton), to decrease
desorption, absorption temperature to about 2000C
through the use of effective catalysts, to enhance the
desorption / absorption kinetics, to improve
recyclability from 100 to 1000 cycles through Mg
agglomeration checking systems, to develop MgH2
based vehicular transport, to optimize gravimetric and
volumetric efficiencies of complex hydrides (catalyzed
NaAlH4, Mg (AlH4)2, LiAlH4 types) coming out of R&D
in phase-I, to evaluate reversibility and cyclability, to
adopt PEM fuel cell instead of IC Engines for 25% of the
above said vehicles, to enhance hydrogen storage in
nano/porous carbon and to use it in small vehicles.
Storage, Transportation and Distribution of hydrogen
are important for the success of Hydrogen Economy.
Traditional methods of storage may not be directly
applicable for use of hydrogen as a fuel. The
technologies and devices should satisfy various
stringent requirements such as; safety, economy,
efficiency, flexibility, durability and environmental /
ecological standards. The abovementioned actions can
go a long way in facilitating the widespread use of
hydrogen in our country.
temperature steam electrolysis technologies. They
have target to commercialize nuclear hydrogen
production by 2020.The Bhabha Atomic Research
Centre has successfully demonstrated I-S process in
closed loop operation in glass/quartz material in the
laboratory. It is further planned to demonstrate closed
loop operation in metallic construction. The ONGC
Energy Centre (OEC) is working on three
thermochemical processes, which are as Cu-Cl closed
loop cycle, I-S closed loop cycle and I-S open loop cycle.

Fuel Cell Development

Different kinds of fuel cells have been developed. A few
of them have been commercalised and remaining are
under development. Important features of the well
know fuel cells are given below:

(i) Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cell

Low Temperature Polymer Electrolyte Membrane (PEM)
Fuel Cells have high power density and can be easily
started-up and stopped at low temperatures ranging
from -35 to 400C, which have been found suitable for
application in light and heavy duty vehicles. These fuel
cells have been commercialized in many applications
like vehicular and stationary power generation. The low
temperature PEM fuel cells require high purity
hydrogen, whereas the high temperature PEM fuel cells
operate at higher temperature i.e. around 1200C and
does not require very pure hydrogen (up to 3% CO
content). Many companies have commercialized low
temperature PEM fuel cells but high temperature PEM
fuel cells are still under development. Large capacities
(MW range) of stationary power generating systems
based on low temperature PEM fuel cell technology
have been installed and buses / cars are under
demonstration / field trials in many countries like
Canada, USA, Japan, Germany, United Kingdom. Soon
these vehicle would be available to public. USA is the
world leader in deployment of fuel cell based forklifts
and more than 1500 units have been deployed at
various locations. China will get support for 300 fuel cell
buses, development of fuel cell tram engines. European
Union will import fuel cell modules for 21 buses during
2016 and 2017. United Kingdom will extend the
operation of 8 fuel cell powered buses for 5 more years
and import 10 fuel cell modules to power buses. India is
also putting efforts in developing and commercialising
this technology. India has recently imported 150 fuel
cell systems for deployment in telecom networks.
Globally, it is expected that Power supply system of 25
lakh telecom towers will be converted to fuel cell based
power system by 2020 and potential of global market
for stationary fuel cells will reach 50 GW by 2020.
In the country, many organizations like Centre for Fuel
Cell Technology-International Advanced Research
Centre for Powder Metallurgy, Hyderabad, CSIR-
Network Labs, Naval Materials Research Laboratory,
Ambernath, Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre,
Thiruvananthapuram, Bharat Heavy Electrical Limited,
Hyderabad; Thermax Limited, Pune are engaged in
complete development of PEMFC system including
stack and system developments. In addition, a number
of academic institutions like Indian Institutes of
Technology, Universities, National Institute of
Technology are also involved in the research, design,
development and demonstration of components / Sub-
systems / systems of different types of fuel cells.
Despite the support from the Ministry for around two
decades, the development of fuel cell system is not
reached to the stage, at which these may be taken up
for manufacturing due to various reasons like (i) lack of
engineering input (ii) infrastructure for producing the
systems in large numbers for trials / demonstration (iii)
reliance on pressurized bottled hydrogen procured at
high cost, since on-site hydrogen generation units
(reformers) operating on commercial fuels such as LPG,
methanol or natural gas are not available in the country
and (iv) other issues like power density at a given cost,
weight, and life time, which are of commercial
importance, are also to be taken-up for further R&D.
(ii) Phosphoric Acid Fuel Cell

The phosphoric acid fuel cell (PAFC) have developed

and commercialized with modules in the range of 100 -
400 kW for stationary power generation applications. It
operates on propane/LPG/CNG / landfill gases with a life
time of more than 45000 hours. It can tolerate fuel with
less than 2% CO. Bharat Heavy Electrical Limited
(BHEL) imported, installed and operated a 200kW PAFC
unit with LPG as fuel. Later BHEL developed and
demonstrated 50 kW PAFC system using hydrogen from
the Chlor-Alkali industries. The Naval Materials
Research Laboratory (NMRL), Ambernath also
developed such systems of 1-15 kW capacity and
demonstrated successfully for field applications. The
technology has been transferred to the industry.
(iii) Alkaline Fuel Cell

Alkaline Fuel Cell (AFC) is a low cost technology,

because of its components are made from inexpensive
materials. Initially, it was used in space rockets. Now
these fuel cells are not in use because of their inherent
problems, which have not been overcome. However, if
further development take place, these can be deployed
in various other applications such as
telecommunication towers, scooters, auto-rickshaws,
cars, boats, household inverters, etc.
(iv) Solid Oxide Fuel Cell

The Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC) are multi-fuel

compliant like gasoline, alcohol, natural gas, biogas etc.
can be used. The fuels are reformed internally to
producing hydrogen. SOFCs have been developed in
two different designs i.e. tubular and planar types. Both
have their merits and de-merits in their fabrication and
operation. SOFC systems have been developed in the
power range 250- 300 watts operating on propane,
butane and LPG in the countries like USA, Canada,
Germany, UK, Denmark, Australia, Japan etc. Tubular
type SOFC of 100kW capacity and Planar configuration
up to 25kW capacity have been developed. In India,
CSIR-CGCRI, Kolkata has recently demonstrated a
1000W anode supported stack with planar
configuration. Another major effort in development of
the 3rd generation technology (metal supported SOFC)
has been underway by NFTDC, Hyderabad in
collaboration with University of Cambridge, United
Kingdom.
(v) Direct Methanol/ Ethanol Fuel Cell

Direct Methanol/ Ethanol Fuel Cell (DMFC / DEFC), uses

methanol / ethanol to generate power less than 100 W.
These fuel cells may be deployed in the devices with
low power consumption like computerized notebooks,
mobile phones, military equipment and such other
electronic devices. DEFC faces problem of incomplete
oxidation of ethanol to produce hydrogen gas. The
researchers are trying to find suitable solution. The
electronics OEMs, such as Samsung and Toshiba, and
other companies developed such fuel cells with power
density of 110 mW/cm2. Similarly, ternary PtRhSnO2/C
electro catalyst have been synthesized in USA, which
produces currents 100 times higher than those
produced with other catalysts. However, Japanese
scientists has also succeeded in getting short circuit
current increased from 2.8 to 9.0 mA/cm2. In the
country, some academic institutions / universities /
engineering colleges are trying to get solution of the
problems like i) electro-catalysts which can effectively
enhance the electrode-kinetics of methanol oxidation ii)
electrolyte membranes which have high ionic
conductivity and low methanol crossover and iii)
methanol tolerant electro-catalysts with high activity
for oxygen reduction.
(vi) Molten Carbonate Fuel Cell
Molten Carbonate Fuel Cell (MCFC) operates at a
temperature of about 6500C, which offers greater
flexibility to the choice of fuels with higher efficiencies
and simultaneously, imposes limitations in the selection
of suitable materials of construction for long time
operations. All the carbon monoxide is oxidized to
carbon dioxide at anode, which requires proper
management. The power plants based on MCFC
technology have been installed from hundreds of kW to
MW level in the world. In India R&D activities were
taken-up but later discontinued.
(vii) Bio-fuel Cell
Biological fuel cells (or Bio-fuel cells) are of two types
viz. Microbial fuel cells employ living cells such as
microorganisms as the catalyst and Enzymetic bio-fuel
cells, which use different enzymes to catalyze the redox
reaction of the fuels. The production / consumption
cycle of bio-fuels is considered to be carbon neutral
and, in principle, more sustainable than that of
conventional fuel cells. The potential areas for its power
application are portable electronics, biomedical
instruments, environmental studies, military and space
research etc. In India, many institutions are active to
develop suitable electrodes materials or tweak the
microorganism. Mediator-less and membrane-less MFCs
have been demonstrated on laboratory scale.
(viii) Direct Carbon Fuel Cell
Direct Carbon Fuel Cell (DCFC) converts fuel
(granulated carbon powder ranging from 10 to 1000 nm
sizes) to electricity directly with a maximum electrical
efficiency up to 70% (with 100% theoretical efficiency).
The systems, which may operate on low grade
abundant fuels derived from coal, municipal and
refinery waste products or bio-mass are under
development. The byproduct is nearly pure CO2, which
can be stored and used for commercial purpose leading
to zero emission. Several laboratories in USA and
Australia are active in the development of such a
device that can easily be scaled up. No work in this
area is reported so far from India.

(ix) Micro fuel cells

Micro fuel cells (MFCs) are the miniature form of either
PEMFC or DMFC or SOFC and have the potential to
replace batteries as they offer high power densities,
considerably longer operational & stand-by times,
shorter recharging time, simple balance of plant, and a
passive operation. Micro fuel cells are ideal for use in
portable electronic devices (fuel cell on a chip).Polymer
electrolyte micro fuel cells can be used in 3D printing,
which is effectively carried out on a large area. Low
cost lithographic techniques have been developed for
fluid flow micro channels. The other type based on
monolithically integrated SOFC on a Si ship is also very
important as planar configurations can be effected
using modern manufacturing processes to make Li-
batteries obsolete for certain type of applications.
Currently, there is no activity on micro fuel cells in
India.

Relevance of Hydrogen to Developing Economies

Although most current hydrogen R&D is taking place in
the industrialised countries, developing economies
have as much if not more to gain from moving to
the hydrogen economy. Their towns and cities generally
suffer far more from the pollution caused by road
traffic, coal-fired power stations and industrial boilers.
Many developing economies are more economically
vulnerable to fluctuations in international energy prices,
as their economies are more energy intensive. The
poorest countries lacking appreciable resources of fossil
fuels may be able to exploit their biomass and other
renewable energy potential to produce hydrogen. The
entire world stands to benefit from the deployment of
hydrogen in developing economies, if it leads to fewer
emissions of greenhouse gases and less regional
pollution, and if it stimulates economic development.
The transition to hydrogen is likely to begin later in
most developing economies than in the industrialised
countries, as they will be less able to afford the cost of
participating in R&D. But engaging developing
economies early in the process of developing and
commercialising hydrogen technologies could speed up
the transition to hydrogen in the developing world. This
could allow the poorest countries, which today have
only limited energy-distribution networks, to leapfrog
conventional fossil-fuel technologies. The developing
economies as a whole are expected to account for the
bulk of the increase in global energy use in the coming
decades. Most of that increase will take the form of oil,
natural gas and coal unless there are breakthroughs
in technology or radical shifts in energy policy that
allow renewables or nuclear energy to play a much
bigger role than currently appears likely. The earlier
these countries begin the transition to hydrogen, the
less their energy use would be tied to fossil-energy
systems and the quicker they could achieve energy
sustainability. The initial focus of efforts to establish
hydrogen systems in developing economies will most
likely be on transport and possibly on stationary uses in
remote, rural settings where the cost of connecting
communities to the electricity grid is highest. The local
environmental gains from switching from conventional
automotive fuels to hydrogen would generally be much
greater in developing than in industrialised countries,
where automotive-fuel quality and vehicle-emission
control technology is already much more advanced and
air pollution is consequently less of a problem. In most
cities in the developing world, road traffic is the primary
source of air pollution a problem that has reached
catastrophic proportions in many cases. Demonstration
projects of fuel cell vehicles and refuelling systems are
already underway in parts of the developing world. The
joint Global Environment Facility / United Nations
Development Programme Fuel Cell.
Bus Programme, for example, involves commercial
demonstrations in Beijing, Cairo, Mexico City, New
Delhi, Sao Paulo and Shanghai. China has also set up its
own fuel-cell bus demonstration scheme, with the aim
of putting 200 buses into commercial operation in time
for the 2008.
conclusion
Hydrogen holds out the promise of a truly sustainable
global energy future. As a clean energy carrier that can
be produced from any primary energy source, hydrogen
used in highly efficient fuel cells could prove to be the
answer to our growing concerns about energy security,
urban pollution and climate change. This prize surely
warrants the attention and resources currently being
directed at hydrogen even if the prospects for
widespread commercialisation of hydrogen in the
foreseeable future are uncertain. Considerably more
research and development will be needed to overcome
the formidable technical and cost hurdles that currently
stand in the way of hydrogen. Large reductions in unit
costs, notably in bulk transportation and storage, and in
fuel cells, are needed for hydrogen to become
competitive with existing energy systems. Finding a
practical solution to the problem of storing hydrogen on
board vehicles is a critical challenge. Governments,
energy companies, car makers and equipment
manufacturers, who between them are investing
billions of dollars in hydrogen-supply and fuel cell R&D
and demonstration, are confident that these challenges
can be overcome. Unexpected technological
breakthroughs stemming from advances in basic
sciences, which could have a revolutionary impact on
hydrogen supply and fuel cells, cannot be ruled out. If
technological and cost breakthroughs were to be
achieved in the near future, the transition to a
hydrogen energy system would still take several
decades. The slow turnover of the existing stock of
capital that either makes or uses energy and the sheer
amount of capacity that would need to be built to
replace existing systems and to meet rising demand
will mean that fossil fuels will most likely remain
thebackbone of the global energy system until at least
the middle of the century.
It seems likely that, in the initial stages of any
transition to the hydrogen economy, the fuel would be
produced in large part from fossil fuels using existing
energy systems. Natural gas, in particular, could
provide a bridge between the existing fossil fuel
economy and the future hydrogen economy. If
integrated with carbon capture and storage, hydrogen
could be produced from gas or coal with minimal
emissions of greenhouse gases. In the longer term, as
fossil fuel resources are depleted, renewable energy
sources or nuclear energy would increasingly need to
take over as primary energy sources for the production
of hydrogen and electricity.