PROCEAS® in GH2 Plants

The realization of the importance of shifting from fossil fuels, both for environmental and energy security reasons, makes the use of green hydrogen extremely pertinent, as one of several potential low-carbon fuels that could take the place of fossil hydrocarbons in GH2 Plants.

To maintain safe operation, optimise the power to hydrogen conversion, and maximize the quality and purity of the produced hydrogen; the green hydrogen production process relies on measuring multiple parameters as extensively as possible and using the resulting data to inform GH2 Plants Operators.

AquaGas online analysers are suited to a large range of applications within the GH2 Plants providing real time gas stream composition at key locations:

• Upstream or downstream of the electrolyser
• At mixing stations or injection points
• Along the natural gas pipeline
• At customer sites just upstream of burners

When used to their full extent, the expanded capabilities offered by accurate and reliable analysers can bring real benefits by optimising efficiency and safety, and providing fast access to detailed data and an accurate real time overview of the operating conditions.

Committed to a better environment, AquaGas Pty Ltd is proud to supply and support a broad product range featuring a line of analysers and gas detection systems tailored to the GH2 industry. Already selected by several of the main actors in the green hydrogen industry, AquaGas analysers offer exclusive features implemented to fullfil the needs of today’s Green Hydrogen production.

For process control and purity assessment at GH2 Plants, the ProCeas® uses the patented OFCEAS technology, based on extractive absorption spectroscopy. This laser-based technology is able to measure gases down to sub-ppb levels of concentration, with an unforeseen quality of measurement in terms of accuracy and repeatability. The ProCeas® samples the gas at low pressure, with an internal pressure below 100 mbar absolute. This dilution reduces the volume needed to get a correct measurement and optimizes the response time of the analyser. In the end the system requires small samples of hydrogen.

Additionally, ProCeas® has an integrated auto calibration of the measurement system, allowing no drift under normal use of the instrument. ProCeas® can analyse a large range of impurities with limited service and maintenance costs.

The ProCeas® Hydrogen key features include:

• Highly sensitive
• Low detection level (sub-ppb)
• Complete pre-calibrated laser infra-red spectrometer
• No Zero drift and no Span drift – No daily calibration required
• No nitrogen, zero air, purge or other carrier gas
• ProCeas® H2 Purity for ISO compliance monitoring (H2S, CO, CO2, CH4, O2, NH3, H2O, HCHO, etc.)
• Process control ProCeas® H2 trace analyser (H2 and O2)
• Limited volume of sample needed for an analysis

The field of application for fast and precise online analysers in the GH2 Plants is considerably exhaustive. Here below are two cases where online measurement of H2 and O2 is critical.

At their simplest level, electrolysers produce oxygen at the anode and hydrogen at the cathode. However, many reactions in the electrolyser can cause small concentrations of oxygen to build up in the hydrogen stream and hydrogen to build up in the oxygen. This is a fault condition and must be detected by appropriate instruments that can be used as part of an automated safety system that can initiate actions in the event of an oxy-fuel gas mixing alarm being activated.

With a detection limit down to 3ppm for the H2 and 1ppm for the O2, The ProCeas® hydrogen is perfectly suited to O2 and H2 trace gas monitoring and consequently can be used to measure both traces of hydrogen in the oxygen stream and traces of oxygen in the hydrogen stream.

As a multi-stage process, green hydrogen production requires accurate measurement of a variety of parameters to ensure safe and efficient operation. ISO14687-2 stipulates the impurities that need to be measured and their respective limits throughout the various stages of the production process to help maintain control and avoid potential issues that could affect efficiency or safety.

ProCeas® hydrogen purity is a complete pre-calibrated multicomponent (H2S, CO, CO2, CH4, H2O, O2, NH3, H2O, HCHO, etc.) laser infrared spectrometer for measurements of impurities in hydrogen gas streams.

AquaGas analysers for the GH2 industry complies in all aspects with the IEC60079-2 standards. AquaGas online analysers for the GH2 industry are available in Purged and Pressurised (P&P) enclosure or IECEx certified version.