Green Hydrogen Water Treatment: Technologies Powering Clean Hydrogen Production

"Green hydrogen" is achieved by splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen using renewable energy. But the delivery and durability of an electrolyzer is highly sensitive to the quality of the water used as a feed.

A specially developed Green Hydrogen Water treatment system guarantees that raw water is free from any dissolved solids, heavy metals, organics, or gases. If this extreme purification is not performed, trace mineral ions will precipitate on the cell electrodes, leading to rapid scaling, early deterioration of the membrane, and large decreases in the efficiency of gas production.

Electrolyzer Plant Water Requirements

The amount of water needed depends on the basic technology of the electrolyzer plant:

• Alkaline Electrolyzers: These systems are highly robust and typically able to accept slightly lower purity feed water than newer alternatives. Even so, they need to maintain total dissolved solids (TDS) and conductivity at low levels to prevent secondary chemical reactions.
• Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) Electrolyzers: Requirements for absolute ultra-pure water include a target resistivity of 18.2 MΩ•cm and very low levels of Total Organic Carbon (TOC). PEM membranes have micro-porous polymer pathways, meaning the catalyst layer will be destroyed by any small particle fouling or ion contamination.