Pilot plant to generate green hydrogen using microwaves

A green hydrogen generation pilot plant is going to be built, based on a revolutionary technology.

The Higher Council for Scientific Research (CSIC), the Polytechnic University of Valencia (UPV) and the company Sener, in Spain all these entities, have signed an agreement to develop a pilot plant for the generation of green hydrogen

The plant is based on innovative technology developed by a team of researchers from the Institute for Applications of Information Technologies and Advanced Communications (ITACA, from the UPV) and from the Institute of Chemical Technology (ITQ, from the CSIC and from the UPV).

The technology is the work of groups led by Jose M. Catalá and Felipe Peñaranda, from the ITACA Institute of the UPV, and José Manuel Serra, from ITQ.

After almost ten years of collaborative research, the technology developed by this team from the CSIC and the UPV makes it possible to generate green hydrogen using microwaves.

This revolutionary advance is based on the phenomenon of microwave reduction of solid materials at unusually low temperatures, compared to other technologies.

The researchers José Manuel Serra (ITQ, CSIC-UPV) and Jose M. Catalá (ITACA-UPV) / UPV)

The technology, protected internationally through a family of patents, allows electrochemical processes to be carried out directly without the need for electrodes, which substantially simplifies and cheapens its practical application.

This is achieved thanks to the freedom in the design of the device architecture and in the choice of operating conditions (mainly temperature).

These factors allow greater flexibility and efficiency in the hydrogen generation process. The development of the new technology generated a great impact internationally, positioning the CSIC and the Polytechnic University of Valencia as international leaders in this technology. (Source: Sergio Villalba / CSIC)