Hydrogen on demand

The overall aim of H2Now is to design and construct a reformer capable of extracting hydrogen from conventional fuels like gasoline and diesel. The core technology used in the reformer is based on proton-conducting ceramics cell (PCCs), which will allow to selectively pump hydrogen from any hydrogen containing gas. H2Now aims to develop large planar PCC cells with a symmetrical microstructure, consisting of a thin dense electrolyte sandwiched between two ceramic-metal electrodes. The selected electrolyte composition is BaCe0.05Zr0.75Y0.2O3. The amount of yttrium is optimized for the highest protonic conductivity, and a few mol % of cerium are added to improve the sintering. The cermet electrodes will be partly be composed of Ni, as Ni is a wellknown catalyst for hydrocarbon steam reforming. A proof-of-concept unit will be fabricated based on these cells. Based on the performance data from this unit, a 100 kW system (suitable size for a car) will be simulated.