A hydrogen gas generation system, and process for the electrocatalytic production of hydrogen gas.

Abstract

“A hydrogen gas generation system, and process for the electrocatalytic production of hydrogen gas” A hydrogen gas generator system comprises an electrolysis reactor stack adapted to perform electrolysis on an electrolyte solution and generate a mixture of electrolyte solution and oxygen and hydrogen gas, a separator configured to receive from the reactor stack the mixture of electrolyte solution and oxygen and hydrogen gas, and separate the oxygen and hydrogen gas mixture from the electrolyte solution, and a drying system configured to receive the mixture of oxygen and hydrogen gas and remove water and impurities contained within the water from the mixture of gasses. A gas separation system is configured to expose the at least partially dried gas mixture to cryogenic temperatures to distil the oxygen out of the mixture as non-gaseous oxygen to leave purified hydrogen gas, and a storage system is provided for storing the purified hydrogen as a gas or a liquid.

1 . A hydrogen gas generator system ( 1 ) comprising:
 an electrolysis reactor stack ( 2 ) adapted to perform electrolysis on an electrolyte solution and generate a mixture of electrolyte solution and oxygen and hydrogen gas;   a separator ( 4 ) configured to receive from the reactor stack ( 2 ) the mixture of electrolyte solution and oxygen and hydrogen gas, and separate the oxygen and hydrogen gas mixture from the electrolyte solution;   a drying system ( 10 ) configured to receive the mixture of oxygen and hydrogen gas and remove water and impurities contained within the water from the mixture of gasses;   a gas separation system ( 15 ) configured to expose the at least partially dried gas mixture to cryogenic temperatures to distil the oxygen out of the mixture as non-gaseous oxygen to leave purified hydrogen gas; and   a storage system ( 17 ) for storing the purified hydrogen as a gas or a liquid.   
     
     
         2 . hydrogen gas generator system as claimed in  claim 1  and comprising a plurality of electrolysis reactor stacks ( 2 ), in which the separator ( 4 ) is configured to receive from the plurality of reactor stacks the mixture of electrolyte solution and oxygen and hydrogen gas. 
     
     
         3 . A hydrogen gas generator system as claimed in  claim 1  and comprising a plurality of electrolysis reactor stacks ( 2 ) and a plurality of separators ( 4 ), in which each separator is configured to receive a mixture of electrolyte solution and oxygen and hydrogen gas from a reactor stack. 
     
     
         4 . A hydrogen gas generator system as claimed in  claim 1  in which in the drying step the mixture of gasses is exposed to cryogenic temperatures to distil at least some of the water from the mixture of gasses. 
     
     
         5 . A hydrogen gas generator as claimed in  claim 1  including an electrolyte solution return line ( 5 ) for returning electrolyte solution from the separator to the reactor stack. 
     
     
         6 . A hydrogen gas generator as claimed in  claim 1  including a pump ( 6 ) for pumping electrolyte solution in a circuit between the at least one reactor stack ( 2 ) and the separator ( 4 ). 
     
     
         7 . A hydrogen gas generation system as claimed in  claim 6  and including a thermal control system, situated in the pumped circuit, such that optimum system temperatures may be maintained. 
     
     
         8 . A hydrogen gas generation system as claimed in  claim 1  further including an electrolyte solution reservoir adapted to supply the or each electrolysis reactor stack with electrolyte solution. 
     
     
         9 . A hydrogen gas generation system as claimed in  claim 1  including an oxygen storage system ( 19 ) for storing the separated oxygen as a liquid or a gas. 
     
     
         10 . A hydrogen gas generation system as claimed in  claim 1  comprising at least  10  electrolysis reactor stacks ( 2 ). 
     
     
         11 . A hydrogen gas generation system as claimed in  claim 1  comprising at least  50  electrolysis reactor stacks ( 2 ). 
     
     
         12 . A hydrogen gas generator system according to  claim 1  and comprising:
 a plurality of modular electrolysis reactor stacks ( 2 ), each reactor stack adapted to perform electrolysis on an electrolyte solution and generate a mixture of electrolyte solution and oxygen and hydrogen gas; 
 one or more separators ( 4 ) configured to receive from the reactor stacks ( 2 ) the mixture of electrolyte solution and oxygen and hydrogen gas, and separate the oxygen and hydrogen gas mixture from the electrolyte solution; 
 one or more drying systems ( 10 ) configured to receive the mixture of oxygen and hydrogen gas a gas separation system ( 15 ) configured to expose the dried gas mixture to cryogenic temperatures to distil the oxygen out of the mixture as non-gaseous oxygen to leave purified hydrogen gas; and 
 a storage system ( 17 ) for storing the purified hydrogen as a gas or a liquid. 
 
     
     
         13 . A process for generating hydrogen comprising the steps of:
 performing electrolysis on an electrolyte solution in an electrolysis reactor stack to generate a mixture of electrolyte solution, gaseous oxygen and gaseous hydrogen;   separating the gaseous mixture of oxygen and hydrogen from the electrolyte solution;   exposing the gaseous mixture of oxygen and hydrogen to a drying system to remove gaseous and non-gaseous water and impurities in the water;   exposing the gaseous mixture of oxygen and hydrogen to cryogenic temperatures to distil the oxygen out of the mixture as non-gaseous oxygen to leave purified hydrogen gas; and storing the purified hydrogen as a gas or a liquid.   
     
     
         14 . (canceled) 
     
     
         15 . (canceled) 
     
     
         16 . (canceled) 
     
     
         17 . (canceled) 
     
     
         18 . (canceled) 
     
     
         19 . (canceled) 
     
     
         20 . (canceled) 
     
     
         21 . (canceled) 
     
     
         22 . (canceled) 
     
     
         23 . (canceled) 
     
     
         24 . A method for converting excess electrical energy into hydrogen for storage, which method employs a process of generating electrolytic hydrogen according to  claim 13 , wherein the excess electrical energy is employed to power the electrolytic conversion of the electrolyte solution into the gaseous mixture of oxygen and hydrogen. 
     
     
         25 . A method according to  claim 14 , in which the excess energy is supplied by a wind, solar, wave or tidal electricity generating system, optionally in which the excess electrical energy is employed to power all or substantially all of the steps of the method for converting excess electrical energy into hydrogen for storage.