With a hydrogen economy becoming a more realistic goal, a number of companies are beginning to offer hydrogen on demand using aqueous solution electrolysis. This process is one way that people can generate much-needed hydrogen for fuel cells. The following six companies currently offer this service:
-Green Hydrogen Systems
-H2 Energy Services
- RIX
-CPH2
-HyTech Power
- California Fuel Cell Partnership
What is Hydrogen?
Hydrogen is a clean, renewable fuel that can be used in a number of different ways. It is the most abundant element in the universe and is created when water molecules are split using electricity. In order to obtain hydrogen, water is passed over a metal oxide, such as aluminum or zinc, producing hydrogen and oxygen gas.
Creating Hydrogen On Demand With Aqueous Solution Electrolysis
The process of creating hydrogen on demand with aqueous solution electrolysis is relatively simple. The technology works by dispersing the water into thin plates and connecting them to an electrical current. As this happens, electrons are stripped from the water in order to produce hydrogen gas, leaving behind oxygen in the thin plates.
This process has many benefits which contribute to its success in generating hydrogen for fuel cells. For example, it doesn't require any fossil fuels or chemical products—only electricity. The process is also very environmentally friendly because it doesn't release any carbon dioxide emissions, unlike other methods of creating hydrogen for fuel cells.
Additionally, it's quick and efficient—the generation time is less than an hour. This means that you could theoretically produce enough hydrogen for fuel cells to power your home or business during a power outage.
Finally, the cost-effectiveness of this method makes it an ideal alternative to other processes of creating hydrogen for fuel cells. It costs about $1 per liter of hydrogen produced using aqueous solution electrolysis which is significantly cheaper than other methods like steam reforming or gasification.
The Companies That Offer Hydrogen On Demand Using Aqueous Solution Electrolysis
One way to generate hydrogen fuel cells is through aqueous solution electrolysis. In this process, electricity is run through water to split the molecules into hydrogen and oxygen. The following six companies offer this service:
-Green Hydrogen Systems: provides mainly large format systems and may use exotic materials in the process, and they don't really focus on mobile applications. Since they use exotic materials they aren't strongly positioned in the Green direction yet.
-H2 Energy Services: They show that they produce mobile applications for cars and trucks, yet there is not information nor depictions regarding the system they are referencing. Since we can't see the build nor a reference list of materials used, they aren't considered in the green direction either.
- RIX: They are an older well founded company from around 1978, utilizing methanol-to-hydrogen for on-demand applications, so probably not going to fit green production, yet will fit in reducing carbon footprint.
-CPH2: They are a large format hydrogen separation production company, utilizing cryogenic separation of... not really sure but could be separation of the hydrogen from a feed gas mixture including nitrogen and linear branched or cyclic C 1 − C 6 hydrocarbons. While they won't be considered green in production, may still lower carbon footprint and increase efficiency of engines.
-HyTech Power: They are a company that produces a system that looks more like a mobile system may be imagined to appear. They developed their Internal Combustion Assistance system which provides oxyhydrogen/hydrogen injection at the head of the cylinder. They are more closely in line with our Water Assisted Energy Cube system. I can't find on their website a listing of the catalyst used to crack water so I can't say they are green in production, but it appears they save around 20% of the on board fuel demand. We like this one.
- California Fuel Cell Partnership: This company has been around since 1999 and are focused on hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles. They are a prime example of a potential partnership for Water Assisted Energy. This is our Wheel House. Our system would replace the hydrogen tanks and crack the water in Real Time to provide hydrogen only to the fuel cell stack. This way the vehicles they are outfitting will go until the run out of aqueous solution. We like this company, as they could be a client.