Block heat and power plants: combustion chamber instead of cell

What is not for decades, right in the aisle, want to inspire the Federal government and the EU now with a tight program: hydrogen as a clean energy carrier of the future. The light Gas is to be produced in large quantities by electrolysis from electricity generated from renewable energies, especially from Wind and sun, and preferably, when the electrical energy is not needed for other purposes. The Plan is to store the hydrogen, and to turn to him in times of high demand back into electricity.

Luke Weber

editor in the Department “technology and Motor”.

F. A. Z.

opponents of the strategy argue primarily that with each step of the process, the efficiency disappears and that the whole Ensemble gives too high a cost, because almost all of the components are expensive. Such a facility usually consists of wind turbines, behind the electrolyzer are connected to your, the columns by means of a current of water into hydrogen and oxygen, compressors, compress the hydrogen, and finally, memory. For the Reconversion of the fuel cell is the technical counterpart to the electrolyzer. Which is, in spite of in the past few years, lower cost and a thicker chunks in the overall balance – will not succeed as long as it’s with a satisfactory degree of efficiency and short response time to the electrolyzer as a fuel cell run backwards.

But it’s also cheaper, and even with well-known technology. The company’s 2G, a publicly listed medium-sized company, which specializes in gas-powered combined heat and power (CHP) from 20 kW to two MW, has developed a block heat and power plants operated with Gas or, in rare cases, this Oil, but with hydrogen. The base is the Block of an internal combustion engine, is converted for operation with hydrogen, he drives in a more conventional Generator. The waste heat of the engine is used for Heating, therefore the overall efficiency is high. In the a year ago commissioned a pilot plant in Haßfurt, for example, the wind will flow through the electrolyser with an efficiency of about 70 percent hydrogen, the CHP system utilized in accordance with the company to 85 percent, with condensing technology should be even more than 90 percent. 2G has so far set up five hydrogen plants, for example, one in Rostock and one in Dubai, all run with green electricity.

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