Capillary-Fed Water Electrolyser

R&D Focus Areas:
Electrolysis 

Lead Organisation:
Hysata Pty Ltd (venture-funded high-technology company)

Partners:
University of Wollongong

Status
Active

Start date:
May 2021

Completion date:
Commercial operation

Key contacts:
Tom Campey, Chief Commercial Officer (Hysata.com)

Funding:
AUD$5 million seed investment by IP Group and the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (June 2021). AUD$42.5 million Series A investment by a consortium of investors, including the Clean Energy Finance Corporation, IP Group, Kiko Ventures, and Vestas Ventures. Awarded $8.98 million and €5.9 million with Fraunhofer IPT under the Australian-German HyGate Initiative (https://arena.gov.au/news/recipients-announced-for-australia-germany-hygate-initiative/).

Project total cost:
Commercial operation

Project summary description:
Renewable, or green, hydrogen will play a critical role in the decarbonisation of hard-to-abate sectors and will therefore be important in limiting global warming. Hysata is developing a new concept of highly efficient water electrolysis wherein water is supplied to hydrogen-and oxygen-evolving electrodes via capillary-induced transport along a porous inter-electrode separator, leading to inherently bubble-free operation at the electrodes.

An alkaline capillary-fed electrolysis cell of this type has demonstrated water electrolysis performance exceeding commercial electrolysis cells, with a cell voltage at 0.5 A cm^-2 and 85 °C of only 1.51 V, equating to 98% energy efficiency, with an energy consumption of 40.4 kWh/kg hydrogen (vs. ~47.5 kWh/kg in commercial electrolysis cells). The high energy efficiency is combined with a simplified balance-of-plant that makes the produced renewable hydrogen more cost-competitive.

Related publications and key links:
A peer-reviewed scientific paper describing the capillary-fed electrolysis technology is available at https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-022-28953-x

A description of the Hysata technology is available on a YouTube channel:*

• Description https://www.youtube.com/embed/m0d6iljzzEI?start=159&end=288&autoplay=1
• Efficiency https://www.youtube.com/embed/m0d6iljzzEI?start=466&end=500&autoplay=1
• Benefits https://www.youtube.com/embed/m0d6iljzzEI?start=615&end=646&autoplay=1

* Not in any way funded by Hysata Pty Ltd

Higher degree studies supported:
Not applicable

 

Reviewed: July 2023