Page 31 - Impiantistica industriale

Figure 1 - Classifi cation of
hydrogen by source.

like wind, solar and hydro power. Others are still portion of the project. Thanks to a multi-decade
unproven and need further development or signifi - long experience in industrial water treatment for the
cant incentives to unlock their huge potential, like Energy sector, Cannon Artes’ solutions can maxi-
Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage (CCUS), mize the effi ciency of the water treatment plant and
Direct Air Capture (DAC) and several others. minimize or re-use the effl uents, contributing to the
Among this second group, hydrogen represents successful development of these projects.
a very promising solution, which has the potential Cannon Artes has been lending its expertise in
help decarbonize several energy intensive sectors, process engineering and system integration to co
such as steel and cement, aviation, and shipping. create tailor made solutions for low or zero carbon
Being an energy vector, hydrogen is not found in emitting Energy projects with the main players in
its molecular form in nature, but it needs energy the fi eld.
to be produced; it can have different labels basing
on the energy source employed, and on its carbon Thanks to a multi-decade long
intensity, as reported in Figure 1.
Green hydrogen, in particular, could represent a experience in industrial water
valid substitute to fossil fuels: it is carbon neutral, “treatment for the Energy
non-toxic and has a very high energy density. sector, Cannon Artes’ solutions
Green hydrogen is produced by electrolysis, an

electro-chemical process that splits water into can maximize the efficiency
hydrogen and oxygen according to the following of the water treatment plant
reaction: and minimize or re-use the
2H O -> 2H + O
2 2 2
effluents, contributing to the

The reaction is an oxidation-reduction occurring successful development of
due to the effect of electricity in presence of ions.
Two electrodes are immersed in water and con- these projects
nected to an electrical energy source, the passage
of the current enables the mobility of the ions in the
water towards the electrodes of opposite charge,
thus allowing the water to be split into hydrogen
and oxygen, as shown in the scheme in Figure 2.
The most obvious disadvantages related to Gre-
en Hydrogen production is the high energy con-
sumption of the process; the energy consumption
and product yield still need signifi cant improve-
ment and R&D investment in order to make Green
Hydrogen a cost-effective solution.
A less obvious problem is the need for a substan- Figure 2 - Schematic representation of hydrogen production by electrolysis.
tial amount of ultrapure water as feedstock for the
process: the actual inlet water quality depends on
the Electrolyzer technology, but in any case rou-
ghly 9 m of pure water are required for each ton Reusing Produced Water as
3
of hydrogen. feedstock for Green Hydrogen
This might not seem much, but according to a
Rystad Energy study, almost 85% of the planned In one of such collaborations, Cannon Artes
Green Hydrogen projects will be built in water- was involved with io consulting, a leading deve-
stressed regions such as Spain, Chile and Austra- lopment consultancy and project architect focu-
lia: this amounts to roughly 520 million cubic me- sing on solutions for Energy Transition, created
ters per year of purifi ed water. as a JV between McDermott and Baker Hu-
Lack of access to purifi ed water could spell the de- ghes, in the feasibility study of a Green Hydro-
ath of a potential Green Hydrogen project: for this gen project in the Middle East. This project fa-
reason, it is convenient to keep a special eye on the ced, among others, a signifi cant technical issue:
optimization of the design of the Water Treatment being located in the Middle East desert, far from

Impiantistica Italiana - Gennaio-Febbraio 2022 27