10-Aug-2021: Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh says, Government is exploring the possibility of Hydrogen Fuel Cells to be used as fuel for the future of the country
Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science & Technology; Minister of State (Independent Charge) Earth Sciences; MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh said that Government is exploring the possibility of Hydrogen Fuel Cells to be used as fuel for the future of the country. In a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha today, he said, in the Union Budget 2021 Government of India has announced the National Hydrogen Mission for making hydrogen roadmap for the country.
The activities of some of the Departments / Institutes on the fuel cell are as follows:
Department of Science & Technology (DST) has launched Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Program to support research on Hydrogen and Fuel Cell that aims to develop transformational technologies to reduce the cost of hydrogen production, distribution & storage, diversify feedstock available for economic hydrogen production, enhance flexibility of power grid, and reduce emissions through novel uses of low-cost hydrogen. DST has supported twenty-nine projects and two Energy Storage Platforms on Hydrogen under this program.
DST has also recently launched “Advanced Hydrogen and Fuel Cell program” to support research on Hydrogen and Fuel Cell for development of new and existing material in large quantities, catalysts, membrane, components for fuel cells, electrolysers, and hydrogen storage materials, etc. DST has also plans to launch Centre of Excellence on Hydrogen Production and Fuel Cell.
Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) has developed and demonstrated India’s first fully indigenous fuel cell car comprising an indigenous 10 kW fuel cell stack, balance of plant, hydrogen cylinder and other electric drive train components under its New Millennium Technology Leadership Initiative (CSIR-NMITLI) Program in partnership with M/s KPIT Technologies Limited, Pune as an industry partner. CSIR also showcased a high temperature Polymer Electrolyte Membrane (PEM) fuel cell based 5 kW stationary power backup system for telecom towers in partnership with M/s Thermax Limited, Pune as an industry partner.
Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) is supporting a broad based Research and Development program in Hydrogen and Fuel Cells. MNRE has supported a research & development project to International Advanced Research Centre for Powder Metallurgy & New Materials (ARCI), Hyderabad for design and development of 20kW Low Temperature Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cell with high indigenous content.
4-Mar-2020: ARCI develops Fuel Cell Technology for Disaster Management
Scientists at International Advanced Research for Powder Metallurgy & New Materials (ARCI), Hyderabad, an autonomous R&D Centre of Department of Science and Technology (DST) have developed Polymer Electrolyte Membrane fuel cells (PEMFC).
PEMFC, in its entireness, have an advantage of operational capability at low-temperatures with applications in decentralised power generation systems. Through intense R&D efforts in the area of fuel cell technologies, ARCI at its Centre for Fuel Cell Technology, Chennai has developed in-house PEMFC systems in the power range of 1 to 20 kilowatt (kW) and demonstrated the same in stationary (1-20 kW) and transport applications (1,3,5 kW). Emergency Operation Centres (EOC) backed with 10 kW system along with fuel cell stack (providing sustainable electricity using hydrogen gas without the need of grid power), air moving subsystems, power control devices and control and monitoring system is being planned as a natural disaster management measure.
PEMFC stack of 5 kW capacity
Natural disasters are consequences of calamities like earthquake, landslide, cyclone, flood, tsunami, and so on that affects human activities. Tamil Nadu is generally affected by five to six cyclones every year, of which two to three are severe. There has been a paradigm shift in the focus of Disaster Management, from response-centric (rescue, relief, rehabilitation, and reconstruction) to laying greater emphasis on the other elements of disaster management cycle (prevention, mitigation, and preparedness) as a means to avert the impact of future emergencies.
The Government of Tamil Nadu places equal importance on both the approaches and is keen to develop a robust disaster management system. The latest concept in disaster management all over the World is about conversion of Control Rooms to Emergency Operation Centres (EOC). EOCs respond immediately during an emergency situation with State-of-the-Art communication systems. This helps in providing immediate support during the Golden Hour of the disaster.
Hence, the State Government decided to look at the prospect of converting the existing Control Room to EOC backed with 10 kW system along with fuel cell stack, air moving subsystems, power control devices and control and monitoring system. Fuel cell systems offer a potential benefit in terms of providing sustainable electricity using hydrogen gas without the need of grid power as required by conventional battery backup systems. Recently, ARCI demonstrated the feasibility of providing power to EOCs. PEMFC stack with a capacity of 5kW has been installed on the mobile truck and demonstrated on December 5, 2019, at Tamil Nadu State Disaster Management Authority (TNSDMA). Dr J. Radhakrishnan, Commissioner, Revenue Administration, and Disaster Management, witnessed the demo and appreciated the prowess of PEMFC technology.
19-Jun-2021: A novel technology for coating carbon on lithium metal oxide electrode, can double battery life
Researchers have developed a non-expensive way to coat carbon on lithium metal oxide electrodes for lithium-ion batteries. The life of the lithium-ion cells prepared using these electrode materials is expected to be doubled due to protective carbon coating.
Lithium-ion batteries are the most commonly used power source for electric vehicles. However, its penetration to the daily usage against gasoline-based vehicles require drastic improvement in the lifetime and cost as well as mileage per charge. The active components of lithium-ion batteries are cathode, anode, and electrolyte. While commercial graphite is used as anode, lithium metal oxides or lithium metal phosphates are used as a cathode in Li ion battery. The electrolyte is a lithium salt dissolved in organic solvents. The capacity of the lithium-ion battery determines the mileage of the electric vehicle. Before the capacity reduces to 80%, the number of charging cycles determines the life of the battery.
Carbon being inert to most chemicals and stable under the operating window is the best choice of coating material to improve the cyclic stability of the active materials. Carbon coating on the active materials can double the lifetime of the lithium-ion cells. However, coating carbon on lithium metal oxide is very challenging, because of the difficulty involved in coating carbon during the synthesis of lithium metal oxide material in a single step.
To address this issue, researchers at the International Advanced Research Centre for Powder Metallurgy & New Materials (ARCI), an autonomous institute of the Department of Science & Technology, Govt. of India, have developed a technique to coat carbon in situ on lithium transition metal oxides in single step while synthesizing the oxide itself. Generally, carbon is coated on oxide materials using a second step, which is not uniform and is expensive as well. In ARCI method, a carbon precursor is trapped in between the transition metal hydroxide layers to minimize the reaction with oxygen even when heat-treated in the air during solid-state synthesis. Uniform carbon coating on the lithium transition metal oxides --LiNi0.33Mn0.33Co0.33O2 (NMC111) was achieved through this technique.
The electrochemical performance of the lithium-ion cells constructed using carbon-coated NMC111 is at par with that of the commercial lithium-layered oxide cathodes. Superior cyclic stability of the carbon coated product with capacity retention of more than 80% after 1000 cycles of charging/discharging is demonstrated with an optimum carbon thickness matching commercial samples. The researchers at ARCI expect the electrochemical performance to improve further once the lab-scale batch process is replaced by the continuous process to enable the process to be commercially viable.
19-Jun-2021: Sea water desalination through solar thermal forward osmosis brings relief to drought prone Tamil Nadu village
Narippaiyur, a village in Ramanathapuram District, a drought prone area situated in the South-East corner of Tamil Nadu will benefit from 20,000 litres per day of fresh water produced from sea water – thanks to the solar thermal Forward Osmosis (FO) sea water desalination system installed in the place.
The customized demand driven convergent water solution through FO will supply two litres of good quality drinking water per person per day for 10,000 people in the village, successfully overcoming a major drinking water shortage in the village. The FO system facilitates high recovery, low energy consumption, potential for resource recovery, especially in solutions of high osmotic pressure, less fouling of the membrane because of low pressure operation, easier and more effective cleaning of the membrane, longer membrane life and lower operating costs.
Tamil Nadu IIT Madras in collaboration with Empereal – KGDS Renewable Energy have successfully established and demonstrated this system to address prevalent and emerging water challenges in Mission Mode in the village.
Ramanathapuram District, situated in the South-East corner of Tamil Nadu, is severely affected by scarcity of potable water due to salinity, brackishness and also poor sources of ground water. The district of 423000 hectares has a long coastal line measuring about 265 kilometres accounting for nearly 1/4th of the total length of the coastal line of the state.
The Water Technology Initiative, Department of Science & Technology (DST) has supported this field based effort in the district through the consortium members led by Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IITM), KGiSL Institute of Technology (KITE), Empereal– KGDS Renewable Energy (P) and ICT Mumbai.
Forward Osmosis system installed at Narippaiyur Village, Ramanathapuram District, Tamil Nadu
LFR based Solar Thermal System Solar hot water system installed at Narippaiyur Village, Ramanathapuram District, Tamil Nadu
The sea water FO technology operates at near 2 bar pressure unlike sea water RO that operates at 50 bar pressure. It is versatile, has high energy efficiency and low operation and maintenance costs compared to other technologies.
The produced water will be supplied to the local people with the support of villagers and panchayat. This initiative of DST can pave way for scaling up the emerging technology in various coastal rural areas of the country to address drinking water shortage.