In the coming weeks, the world’s first ethanol-based renewable hydrogen fuel station will be commissioned on the University of São Paulo campus in the capital, Butanta.
The announcement was made by the Foundation’s President, Carlos Gilberto Carlotti Jr., at the opening of the Energy Transition Research and Innovation (ETRI) 2024 conference, held by the Research Center for Greenhouse Gas Innovation (RCGI) between Tuesday (05/11) and yesterday (07/11).
“We are now inaugurating our hydrogen reformer. Starting next week, hydrogen will be produced from ethanol here at our university,” Carlotti Jr. said.
The gas station is the result of the RCGI project, an engineering research center (CPE) formed by FAPESP and Shell at the Polytechnic School (Poli-USP). RCGI is one of the CPE programs that the Foundation funds in partnership with companies.
The plant will initially produce 4.5 kg of hydrogen per hour, or about 100 kg per day. The fuel will be used to fuel three urban buses that will circle around the University of the South Pacific campus in São Paulo, and one bus with a range of 450 kilometres, enough to go back and forth from the university city to Piracicaba in São Paulo. The interior of São Paulo, during a visit to the pilot plant, was explained to guests by Julio Meneghini, Director of the RCGI. One of the buses was used to transport visitors to the station last Tuesday (05/11).
“Preliminary studies indicate that if the 18 diesel urban buses circling USP today were replaced by hydrogen-powered versions, the university would stop emitting nearly 3,000 tons of carbon dioxide.” [dióxido de carbono] “Because of that,” Meneghini said.
Through projects implemented within the scope of the RCGI, researchers intend to evaluate the efficiency of these hydrogen-powered urban buses. “We will now have the necessary conditions to evaluate these vehicles in a real cycle. This is very important for the application, because in the automotive industry, to reach serial production of the vehicle, it is necessary for the numbers to be specific and well defined in real operations,” added Meneghini.
Competitive cost
The technology used in the pilot plant to convert hydrogen from ethanol is based on the use of a reactor developed by São Paulo startup Hytron with support from FAPESP’s Innovative Research in Small Enterprises (PIPE) programme.
Inside the equipment, called a reformer, ethanol and water are heated to 750 degrees Celsius with the aim of sparking chemical reactions that decompose ethanol molecules – made up of carbon and hydrogen atoms – and thus produce hydrogen. Carbon monoxide is biogenic, meaning it is not of fossil origin.
“At the beginning of the reaction, the ethanol itself is used to reach the temperature of 750 degrees Celsius. Byproducts, such as methane and carbon dioxide, are then used to maintain this temperature.
Using the technology developed by Raízen, it was possible to integrate this entire process and use 7 liters of ethanol to produce 1 kg of hydrogen.
2.5 kilowatt-hours are also used to maintain the pressure systems and electrical part. “But, if we evaluate all these numbers, it is possible to verify that the hydrogen produced at the plant will reach a very competitive value, including for use in these four buses here at the University of the South Pacific,” Meneghini assessed.
The gases produced during the reactions are purified in cylinders, where carbon dioxide (carbon monoxide), carbon dioxide, methane and hydrogen are separated, which needs to reach a purity index of 99.999% for use in both buses and the Toyota Mirai. For the project – the world’s first mass-sold hydrogen vehicle, whose batteries are charged from the chemical reaction between hydrogen and oxygen in a fuel cell (fuel cell electric vehicle).
After it is produced and leaves the purifier, the hydrogen is compressed and stored in tanks at a pressure of about 400 atmospheres. “This is enough to fuel buses and the Mirai vehicle, which can travel 120 kilometers with 1 kilogram of hydrogen.” [com tanque cheio, abastecido com 5 kg de hidrogênio, o automóvel tem autonomia de 600 km]“Mengini continued.
With the plant operating at full capacity, the researchers intend, among other things, to evaluate the amount of carbon dioxide emitted to produce 1 kg of hydrogen, the real consumption of the vehicles, and how long the plant can be kept running on average. .
“When the plant is turned on and off, there is a significant reduction in efficiency. It has to operate at between 50% and 100% of its capacity. If we do not find a use for all the hydrogen produced, we will eventually have to shut down the plant at certain intervals or perform a software operation [queima]Which does not contribute to the emission of greenhouse gases because the combustion of hydrogen does not emit carbon dioxide.”
Climate emergency
Karen Mascarenhas, Conference Coordinator, highlighted that the aim of the ETRI 2024 Conference in its seventh edition is to discuss challenges and innovative solutions to mitigate carbon emissions, and to bring together academia, industry, government and society to promote a sustainable and equitable energy transition.
“More than 500 participants from academia, businesses and government have registered for the event with the aim of accelerating the energy transition and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. “With the urgency of action in the face of the extreme climate events we have witnessed recently, we are harnessing science and innovation to make a positive impact,” he added. and tangible to society.”
The President of FAPESP, Marco Antonio Zago, emphasized that the Foundation has a long history of commitment to this issue, which is embodied in the funding of the RCGI and three strategic programs, created more than 20 years ago: BIOTA, BIOEN, and the FAPESP Research Programme. on Global Climate Change (PFPMCG). But he believed that more efforts were needed.
“Despite this diversity in current initiatives, projects and programmes, they may still be insufficient. It is necessary to be more ambitious and bold. It is urgent to increase interaction and communication between these multiple research centers and initiatives,” he stressed. FAPESP Agency
