This electrolysis reactor requires no external electricity source

By Mary Page Bailey – Senior Associate Editor, Chemical Engineering Magazine

Electrolyzers are the key technology for producing “green” hydrogen using renewable energy. However, a new reactor platform aims to facilitate electrolysis without the need for any external electricity. The Electroless Coupled Exchange Reduction Oxidation technology platform (eXERO), developed by Utility Global, Inc. (Houston; www.utilityglobal.com), removes the external electrical circuit from a traditional electrolyzer and instead drives the electrolysis reaction with the overpotential (voltage) that is present between different gas compositions being introduced at the system anode. This inherent overpotential facilitates the conversion of variable gas streams into hydrogen and synthesis gas (syngas) onsite. “Similar to a conventional solid-oxide electrolyzer, oxygen ions are transferred from the cathode to the anode through an ion-conducting electrolyte. However, unlike a conventional electrochemical reactor, electrons are transferred from the anode to the cathode through an electronically conducting phase within the electrolyte, also known as a mixed-conducting electrolyte,” explains DeLome Fair, vice president of engineering at Utility Global. This counter-exchange of oxygen and electrons means that one gas stream is being reduced while the other is simultaneously oxidized, all without the application of any external current.

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https://www.chemengonline.com/this-electrolysis-reactor-requires-no-external-electricity-source/