Overview

Oort Energy, a UK start-up established in 2021, is developing and manufacturing next generation hydrogen electrolysers. The company has used an electrochemical technique to solve a key roadblock to high performance polymer electrolyte membrane electrolysis – preventing hydrogen from mixing with oxygen in the anode chamber. This technology, which has been commercialised, lowers cost, improves safety and has enabled the potential for high-pressure electrolysis.

As part of the European consortium on next generation electrolysis (project: AdvancedPEM), Oort Energy are developing and building a high-pressure hydrogen electrolyser. The system is designed to generate 200 bar hydrogen directly from the electrochemical stack, whilst producing oxygen at atmospheric pressure to save downstream costs. The electrochemical stack uses relatively thin membranes, operates at high current densities and has world beating low catalyst loadings.

Oort Energy has solved the three fundamental barriers to operating safely at high pressure:

1. Hydrogen needs to be prevented from diffusing through the membrane and entering the anode chamber.
2. The cells need to be designed to fully support the polymer membrane, without any possible polymer extrusion paths.
3. The sealing of a high-pressure electrochemical stack without mechanical damage to the membranes.

Oort Energy will be present the latest results on electrochemical testing and the results from the novel design of our high-pressure electrochemical stack.

At the end of the project a 50 kW electrolyser operating at 200 bar will be validated on a refinery owned by RWE in Germany.

Speaker

Dr Nick Van Dijk, CEO and Founder, Oort Energy

Nick is an internationally recognised technical leader in the field of water electrolysis. Nick trained under the tutorage of one of the world’s leading theoretical electrochemists, Professor Stephen Fletcher, and has spent his career focussing getting electrochemical processes and products to market.

Most recently Nick was Research Director at ITM Power, Chief Operating Officer at PV3 Technologies, Chief Technology Officer at TFP Hydrogen, before co-founding Oort Energy in 2021.

The material presented at this event has not been peer-reviewed. Any opinions are the presenter's own and do not necessarily represent those of IChemE or the North Lancashire Member Group. The information is given in good faith but without any liability on the part of IChemE.

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