Electrolysis of coal for the production of hydrogen

Coal can be used for the production of hydrogen by electrochemical oxidation. Some advantages of the technology include production of hydrogen at lower cost than the current technology (natural gas reforming) for distributed power, fuel flexibility, enhancement of the national security in the US through less reliance on foreign fuel, and zero hazardous environmental emissions. In addition, the storage of coal/water slurries is commercially feasible; therefore, the electrolysis of coal/water slurries helps solve the problem of hydrogen storage. Downstream separation of the gases is not necessary as pure H₂ and CO₂ are generated in different compartments of the cell. The coal electrolytic cell is a reversible fuel cell; furthermore, because of the purity of the hydrogen produced it can be integrated with any other type of fuel cell. The Electrochemical Engineering Research Laboratory at Ohio University developed new catalysts for the electrolysis of coal. Using these new catalysts significantly higher current densities were observed (30 mA/sq cm at 0.8 v). The technical and economical feasibility of producing hydrogen from the electrolysis of coal for distributed power generation using the novel electrodes was evaluated. This is an abstract of a paper presented at the 2005 AIChE Annual Meeting and Fall Showcase (Cincinnati, OH 10/30/2005-11/4/2005).