A hydrogen economy will require readily available and affordable hydrogen fuel. Current methods of hydrogen production do not fulfill these requirements. We are working on an electrolyzer system that can provide distributed hydrogen production while taking advantage of the nation's existing natural gas infrastructure. Electrolysis is a promising hydrogen production technology both because of its ability to produce pure hydrogen from water and because it does not require large, centralized plants. Unlike other technologies, the cost of hydrogen production scales well from larger to smaller systems. Electrolysis units could be widely distributed and scaled to meet the hydrogen requirements of different users such as individual households, local fueling stations and industrial facilities. A significant drawback to traditional electrolysis is the large electricity consumption required to convert water to hydrogen and oxygen. The electricity requirements mean such systems are expensive to operate. In addition, if the electricity is provided from coal or gas-fired power plants, electrolytic hydrogen production does not mitigate greenhouse gas emissions. The concept described in this report is intended to resolve some of the problems associated with electrolytic hydrogen production. By utilizing natural gas in place of air in the anode compartment in a solid oxide electrolyzer, the electricity requirements of the system are greatly reduced. The system has the capability to produce pure hydrogen, or hydrogen humidified to levels appropriate for direct use in a PEM fuel cell.
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