In what is being claimed as a pathbreaking invention, the Bhavnagar-based Central Salt and Marine Chemicals Research Institute (CSMCRI) has developed a membrane technology that is expected to drastically reduce the production cost of green hydrogen, touted to be the future green fuel.
The institute has secured an international patent for this membrane and transferred the technology to a company in Gujarat.
Scientists said the electrolysis process separates hydrogen and oxygen from water to generate electricity. At present, companies engaged in green hydrogen production use ‘perfluorinated sulfonic acid polymer membrane’ which is available in the market with the brand name ‘Nafion’ and marketed by a Japanese company. All companies are importing this membrane.
“This invention will drastically reduce the cost of hydrogen energy production. According to a rough estimate, the membrane we developed costs Rs 3,000 per sq m while the cost of the imported one is around Rs 50,000 per sq m. Around 50 to 75 sq m of the membrane is used in this process, so this will help save huge on production costs,” explained Vinod K Shahi, chief scientist at CSMCRI.
Shahi and his team developed this indigenous membrane with financial support for the research from ONGC Energy Center Trust.
They filed for an international patent in 2019 in countries like the US, Europe, Japan, the UK, France, China etc. They received the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) patent which enables the inventor to get patent protection in several countries simultaneously.
CSMCRI officials said they have transferred this technology to GFCL Solar and Green Hydrogen Products Ltd for Rs 2.05 crore. “This indigenous membrane is useful for hydrogen production, fuel cells and energy storage batteries. This will be a significant step to achieve the goals of ‘Hydrogen Mission,” Shahi added.
According to sources, the present cost of green hydrogen in India is between Rs 320 to 350 per kg, and the use of this membrane technology is expected to halve the price.
Gujarat has set a target of setting up green hydrogen generating capacity of 8 million tonnes per annum (MPTA) over the next 10-12 years, industries minister Balwantsinh Rajput stated in the recently held G20 inception meeting in Gandhinagar.
“It will help give pace to the development of green production of energy-intensive industries of fertilizers, steel, chemicals, and petroleum,” he had said.
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