On December 09, 2022, at its engineering and manufacturing facility, Yingde Gases Group（hereinafter referred to Yingde Gases or the Group）unveiled a finished 500Nm3/h hydrogen-generating water electrolysis tank which was designed and developed entirely in-house, marking a major breakthrough in Yingde Gases' foray into new and emerging hydrogen production techniques, bringing the group one step closer to rounding out a full production chain for liquid hydrogen and hydrogen gas, elevating Yingde Gases to the status of active participant and industry leader in China's hydrogen-energy industrial applications field.
China's First Gas Company to Design and Build its Own Water Electrolysis Tank to Generate Hydrogen to Ease the Industry's Pain Point
Following the Chinese government's enactment of the dual-carbon strategy, enterprises across China are now acting in concert, doubling down on the development of green hydrogen-based industries as a matter of course for accelerating the migration to new sources of energy and fully realizing the development of a greener industry. For this reason, developing green hydrogen manufacturing technology toward the integration of renewable energy development – the water electrolysis tank for hydrogen generation being a prime example – has gained serious momentum in China. In the past, however, water electrolyzers for hydrogen production were normally built and supplied by specialized equipment manufacturers. The supplier was unable to identify the client's pain points. Furthermore, the client did not possess the know-how to optimize the design and build of the equipment to improve operability. The client and supplier were never on the same page, the result being poor operability / efficiency of equipment.
To solve this problem, Yingde Gases relied on its own experience in integrated management – of design, procurement, manufacturing, operations, and maintenance – to bring the client's needs onto the same page with equipment design and manufacturing experience. From the perspective of a specialized gas company, thinking of a hydrogen-generating water electrolysis tank as an organic module to be assimilated into a much larger gas supply network (instead of a single, standalone product) allows the module to perform much better when integrated with its upstream and downstream counterparts. Furthermore, the client's pain points are effectively eased when each module is directly managed by way of a centralized control system.
Oxygen, a common byproduct of hydrogen generation devices, is regarded as an important product by Yingde Gases. With safety as the benchmark, Yingde Gases makes use of oxygen and turns it into one of the main driving forces behind the commercialization of the hydrogen generation project.
Strengthening the Safety Management, Deploying China's First Safety Inspection Equipment
As a leader in China's industrial gas sector, Yingde Gases operates a few plants for the generation of syngas from coal and hydrogen from natural gas, supplying clients with hydrogen products measuring in the hundreds of million cubic meters every year. Yingde Gases has now unveiled a finished 500Nm3/h water electrolysis tank for hydrogen generation. The tank will be used in the green hydrogen project currently underway at Jingmen Yingde Gases Company – abbreviated as Jingmen Yingde – generating highly pure green hydrogen and green oxygen from green power produced in supporting facilities. These green gases will assist Jingmen Yingde Gases and its client SINOPEC Jingmen Company in the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions.
Compared to the conventional electrolysis device, this electrolysis tank has a major improvement in the area of safety, both single-unit and system-wide, building upon Yingde Gases' leading position in energy efficiency in China as well as integrating the group's policies on safety. Also worth mentioning is that, this electrolysis tank is specially equipped with China's very first chamber-grade ACE (Auto-CellSense Equipment), automatically monitoring the electrolysis chamber based on multiple parameters, and establishing and conducting regular monitoring of nearly a thousand safety indicators for the catalyzer so that anomalies in the workflow can be detected as early as possible, in effect improving performance stability and operational reliability.
Meanwhile, tapping into their joint experience in design, manufacturing, and operations in chemicals and air separation, Yingde Gases and its subsidiary - Yingde Engineering - have partnered with an authority in chemical safety in China to conduct a Hazard and Operability Study (HAZOP), as well as a Layers of Protection Analysis (LOPA) and Safety Integrity Level (SIL), to ensure the safety of the major components as well as the system as a whole, from design to manufacturing, materials to system, and equipment to controls, building a product based on the ground rule of safety first, establishing safety as the first line of defense.
Yingde Engineering's Manufacturing Center of Water Electrolysis Equipment for Hydrogen Generation Supports the Group's Hydrogen Energy Strategic Development
During the R&D and production phases for the water electrolysis tank for hydrogen generation - with consideration for the complete lifecycle of each piece of equipment - Yingde Engineering harnessed its extensive experience in the design, manufacture, and management of large-scale, special-purpose equipment to configure a rigorous design, production and quality control system. Yingde Engineering has already completed the design work for the 1,000Nm3/h electrolysis tank, and is now concentrating R&D on electrolyzers of various types on an even larger scale, continuing to deliver excellence in the finished product. Yingde Engineering has also broken ground on its first manufacturing center for hydrogen-generating water electrolysis tanks, with capacity to fulfill hydrogen energy equipment demand equal to 500 megawatts, supporting the group to move into the green hydrogen business.
Hydrogen Energy Lab Unveiled, Propelling the Development of Emerging Hydrogen Energy Technologies
Yingde Gases' dedicated Hydrogen Energy Laboratory was unveiled and established on the same day, providing a major boost to electrolysis tank R&D and testing. The lab's primary focus is electrolysis tank structural testing and optimization research, as well as membrane performance testing. Another subject of R&D is intelligent controls for electrolysis systems. The laboratory is poised to accelerate the group's development of new and emerging hydrogen generation technologies, providing the group with optimal turnkey solutions covering testing, R&D and production.
Yingde Gases CEO Steven Fang expressed the following: "Hydrogen energy is a crucial component of China's future power grid, and a key development path in China's strategically-oriented emerging industries. The water electrolysis tank for hydrogen generation designed and built in-house by Yingde Gases, and the establishment of the Hydrogen Energy Laboratory have reinforced the foundation of the hydrogen energy business of Yingde Gases to accelerate its green and low-carbon development. Yingde Gases strives to constantly seek out new green hydrogen – carbon neutral solutions, contributing to a greener, more sustainable future."