AGC Chemicals Europe has opened its Hydrogen Energy Application Laboratory (HEAL) at its Technical Centre, based on the Amsterdam Science Park, to support customers and users of FORBLUE™ S-SERIES membranes for water electrolysis. AGC recognises the important role that hydrogen technology will play in the near and long-term future of greener, global energy needs. HEAL has been established in mainland Europe to support strong investment, development, and demand for the hydrogen sector.
The company specialises in the manufacture and development of fluorinated sulphonic acid ion exchange membranes for electrolysis and electrodialysis. These developments help further the production of renewable hydrogen that will lead to improved efficiency and the greater vision of a zero-emission society. In 2022, hydrogen accounted for less than 2% of Europe’s energy consumption, with 96% of that hydrogen produced with fossil fuels. The opening of HEAL begins a collaboration to work towards the EU Hydrogen Strategy of producing 10 million tonnes of green hydrogen by 2030. This involves prioritising renewable hydrogen, ammonia, and other derivatives to decarbonise challenging target sectors such as transport and production industry.
AGC’s current Technical Centre will accommodate HEAL and its development towards accelerating product qualification processes with regional stackmakers, seeking to increase the availability of hydrogen energy solutions to market. FORBLUE™ S-SERIES is a flexible and ultra-tough ion exchange membrane, created with chemical and acid resistant PTFE fabric which can save energy with its low electric resistance. Each component, as well as its purpose for hydrogen manufacture, will go through comprehensive analysis as well as testing for:
- Performance and Endurance
- Process and Procedure Optimisations
- Failure Analysis
In addition, HEAL comes equipped with two proton-exchange membrane (PEM) electrolysis testbenches, catalytic coating equipment, and analytics for electrical, chemical, optical, and physical properties. The laboratory is perfectly suited towards collaboration with AGC customers, simulating process parameters, measuring hydrogen output performance, and undertaking endurance tests. These efforts aim to advance commercial readiness of the membrane technology in response to stackmaker requirements. Further yield will be driven by process parameter and protocol optimisation, leading to a bottom-line cost reduction for hydrogen that aims to benefit AGC partners and the broader society.
Katou-san, Manager of AGC Hydrogen Energy Group, said: “The HEAL allows us to offer high-quality support and accelerate joint technical programs with our customers in order to drive the rapid development of stack technologies and manufacturing processes.”
AGC offers a comprehensive range of ion exchange membranes. To discover the potential of products such as FORBLUE™ S-SERIES and I-SERIES, visit the website.
