A team of researchers from various Universities-University of Melbourne, University of Manchester, and Chinese Academy of Sciences-found a new way to extract water from air to produce hydrogen, according to South China Morning Post.
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A part of a train powered entirely by hydrogen is pictured in Bremervoerde, on August 24, 2022. - A fleet of 14 trains provided by French industrial giant Alstom to the German state Lower Saxony replaces diesel locomotives on the 100 kilometres (60 miles) of track connecting the cities of Cuxhaven, Bremerhaven, Bremervoerde and Buxtehude near Hamburg.
The study shows that the device can be used in an arid environment where there is relative humidity, around 4 percent. With this, green hydrogen may be produced without the use of liquid water. The chemical engineers said there were 13 trillion tonnes of water in the air at any moment.
Due to the issues regarding the distribution of renewables and fresh water supply today, producing hydrogen is a challenge. That's why the scientists designed a device that uses porous materials soaked in electrolytes to absorb moisture from the air. Then, it splits the captured liquid water into hydrogen and oxygen. It can be powered by a solar panel, a wind turbine, or other renewable generators.
The Prototype
The prototype can produce nine liters of hydrogen per hour. It was tested to produce hydrogen of high purity for more than 12 days in a row at 40 percent relative humidity without liquid water.
With many places in the world still with limited water supply, this can be used instead to collect water from the air to produce hydrogen. The production process also uses excess renewable energy, which could go to waste if not stored or sent to power grids when they reach maximum capacities.
The device can also be used for chemical makers that use green hydrogen as a feedstock and renewable energy to reduce carbon footprint.
When the device is scaled up, it can be transported to cities via gas pipelines. On the other hand, it can also be used in remote areas to power everyday life.
Also Read: Apple Announces That All iPhones Will Run on Renewable Energy by 2030!
Bigger and Better
The team of researchers plan to make the device bigger and explore other applications for it. They will expand the device to ten square meters in the third quarter of next year to let it produce enough hydrogen power in a day for one family. They also estimated that if the device were scaled up to the size of a tennis court powered by solar energy, it would be able to produce enough hydrogen that can fuel 400 cars every year.
They plan to release the product to the market by the end of 2025 at the size of 1,000 square meters and operating in cold regions, deserts, and places with storms.
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Written by: April Fowell
