Hydrogen is an extremely energy-intensive substance. It burns at the same temperature as natural gas, but emits almost 3.5 times more heat than hydrocarbons or coal. The use of hydrogen as an alternative energy resource can reduce dependence on fossil fuels (coal, gas, oil, etc.) and significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
"The direction of hydrogen energy is now developing rapidly," said Alexander Lugovsky, scientific director of the Department of Applied Hydroaeromechanics and Mechanotronics at MMI. - Its main task is to solve problems of energy efficiency and environmental friendliness. The consumer segment is huge: metallurgy, chemical industry, energy, transport, everyday life. Similar technologies that exist today do not meet these requirements. “
So MMI undertook innovative development. Ultrasonic cavitation technology and equipment for hydrogen production from aluminum scrap using the reaction of aluminum with water was presented in the finals of the start-up competition of the X festival of innovative projects "Sikorsky Challenge 2021” . The development provides high productivity and energy efficiency, has a simplified design and low cost of the final product - hydrogen.
"The idea of our project is to create a comprehensive technology for hydrogen production through the disposal of waste, including those containing aluminum, using ultrasonic modules," said the head of the department Assoc.Prof. Igor Nochnichenko. - The proposed method is absolutely safe for staff and the environment. In the section "Green Energy, Hydrogen Economy, Ecology" of the "Sikorsky Challenge" Festival, the project was recognized as innovative and selected for the acceleration program with further financial support. “
The developers said that they already have a lot of work in this area, created a prototype of the installation, received laboratory confirmation of the planned performance characteristics and provided protection of the technology with a patent of Ukraine. We are currently developing a rational version of the implementation, eliminating some shortcomings, testing the installation for reliability, finding and attracting investors and partners.
The development team includes leading scientists and young scientists from three faculties / institutes of Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute - MMI, RTF, IMZ, which have long been developing an alternative method of hydrogen production. In particular, the department of PGM MMI team that are working on the project are: I.V. Nochnichenko, O.F. Lughovskyi, O.S. Galetskyi, A.I. Zilinskyi, D.V. Kostiuk, V.V. Pylypenko, from IMZ - S.I. Sydorenko, S.M. Voloshko, from RTF - A.V. Movchaniuk, A.A. Novosad and V.P. Fesych.
In the future, it is planned to create a demonstration installation, as well as - to conduct an advertising campaign, to form a portfolio of pre-orders for equipment, to bring the product to market.
"It should be noted that the search for hybrid technologies for hydrogen production with the involvement in the circuit solution of renewable energy sources and intensification modules in the near future will reduce the cost of hydrogen fuel in general," - summed up Igor Nochnichenko.