REFINERY HYDROGEN
REFINERY HYDROGENOur NiCo Electrode for Refinery H2 Supply
Petroleum refineries consume hydrogen for hydrocracking, desulfurization, and other processes. Replacing steam-methane-reforming hydrogen with electrolytic hydrogen is one decarbonization lever. Our bifunctional NiCo electrode supplies that hydrogen.
Polarization (RT vs 60 °C)
TESTBEDContinuous operation match
Refineries run continuously. The bifunctional NiCo electrode and commercial Zirfon separator together logged 1000 hours at 0.5 A/cm2 and 40 deg C in 30 wt% KOH with 21 uV/hr voltage drift.
Industrial current density
0.5 A/cm2 at 1.62 V at 60 deg C (91.4% efficiency). 1.0 A/cm2 at 1.79 V at 60 deg C. Bifunctional NiCo on both sides, commercial Zirfon separator.
Bifunctional architecture
Same coated electrode HER + OER. 80 mV / 260 mV overpotential at 100 mA/cm2, no IR correction.
Renewable-coupled validated
9 days solar + 100 hours wind dynamic-load runs. Useful for refineries adding on-site renewable capacity.
Refinery hydrogen demand and the green-hydrogen lever
Refineries are among the largest industrial consumers of hydrogen. Hydrocracking, hydrotreating, and desulfurization all use hydrogen. Most refinery hydrogen today is produced on-site by steam methane reforming (SMR), which emits CO2 stoichiometrically. Replacing SMR hydrogen with electrolytic hydrogen produced from renewable electricity is a direct decarbonization step.
Our bifunctional NiCo electrode on Ni foam (100 to 1000 cm2), electroless-deposited, operates as both HER cathode and OER anode at 80 mV and 260 mV overpotential at 100 mA/cm2 in 30 wt% KOH (no IR correction). At cell level with a commercial Zirfon separator (500 um), 0.5 A/cm2 at 1.62 V at 60 deg C (91.4% efficiency).
Continuous test
Voltage drift
0.5 A/cm2 @ 60 deg C
Stability matters for round-the-clock refining
A refinery hydrogen plant runs essentially without pauses. Multi-thousand-hour service intervals are the norm. Our 1000-hour run with bifunctional NiCo electrode and commercial Zirfon separator at 0.5 A/cm2 and 40 deg C showed 21 uV/hr voltage drift and 30 mV ΔV in before/after LSV at the operating point.
Phased SMR replacement
Most refineries are unlikely to replace all SMR hydrogen at once. Phased replacement starts with adding electrolytic capacity to displace incremental SMR throughput, learning operational integration, then expanding. Our bifunctional NiCo electrode supports the bench-to-pilot path with 5 cm2 coupons for qualification and 100 to 1000 cm2 substrates for pilot cells.
Coupling refinery electrolyzers with renewable PPAs
Refineries increasingly source renewable electricity via PPAs. Renewable-coupled operation is a real-world scenario. Our bifunctional NiCo electrode was tested under PV-derived schedules for 9 continuous days and wind-derived schedules for 100 hours, both with commercial Zirfon as the separator. DeltaV after wind cycling: 20 mV at 0.5 A/cm2.
PV-derived current profile
9 DAYSWind-derived current profile
100 HRRefinery qualification path
Refinery engineering teams typically run a bench-scale electrolyzer qualification (5 cm2, 30 wt% KOH, commercial Zirfon separator) before sizing a commercial unit. The published numbers above are the reference operating point. Pilot-scale electrodes in the 100 to 1000 cm2 range support the next step in qualification.
Frequently asked questions
Why use a bifunctional NiCo electrode for refinery hydrogen supply?
Our bifunctional NiCo electrode operates as both HER cathode and OER anode at 80 mV and 260 mV overpotential at 100 mA/cm² in 30 wt% KOH (no IR correction). For refinery hydrogen supply, using a single electrode SKU on both sides simplifies stack BOM and qualification.
What cell-level performance is published?
In a 5 cm² AEM cell with bifunctional NiCo electrode on both sides and a commercial Zirfon separator (500 µm) at zero-gap, the cell logs 0.5 A/cm² at 1.81 V at room temperature (82% efficiency) and 1.62 V at 60 °C (91.4%). At 1.0 A/cm²: 2.05 V at RT and 1.79 V at 60 °C.
What is the stability baseline?
Continuous 1000-hour chronopotentiometry at 0.5 A/cm² and 40 °C in 30 wt% KOH (bifunctional NiCo electrode on both sides, commercial Zirfon separator) showed voltage drift of 21 µV/hr. Before/after linear-sweep polarization curves differ by 30 mV at the operating point.
Is the electrode validated for renewable-coupled operation?
Yes. PV-irradiance-derived current schedules applied for 9 continuous days (peaks ~570 mA/cm²) and wind-variation-derived schedules for 100 hours (0 to 0.78 A/cm²) on the same cell. ΔV at 0.5 A/cm² before and after the 100-hour wind run: 20 mV.
What substrate sizes ship?
The bifunctional NiCo electrode is produced on Ni foam in the 100 to 1000 cm² size range. Bench-scale 5 cm² coupons matching the published test cell are also available so customers can reproduce numbers on their own rig before scaling up.
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