Prospects of hydrogen technologies in power and chemical industries

Abstract

THE PURPOSE. Consider the use of hydrogen technologies in energy. The total production of hydrogen in Russia is about 5 million tons with a global consumption of 72 million tons. However, in the case of toughening of carbon regulation by importers of Russian products, the production of hydrogen in the Russian Federation may double. The roadmap «Development of hydrogen energy in Russia» stipulates that Gazprom and Rosatom will become the first hydrogen producers in the country - in 2024 they should launch pilot hydrogen plants, including at nuclear power plants. METHODS. To realize the potential in the country and achieve the goals laid down in the Energy Strategy, the departments have prepared a special action plan (roadmap) for the development of hydrogen energy in Russia until 2024, which was approved by Russian government on October 12, 2020. The main goal of this plan is called the organization of priority work on the formation in Russia of a high-performance export-oriented hydrogen energy, developing on the basis of modern technologies and provided with highly qualified personnel. RESULTS. Transportation and safe storage remains one of the key issues in hydrogen energy. The complexity of this problem is determined by the fact that in the free state hydrogen is one of thelow-boiling gases, in liquid and solid state more than an order of magnitude lighter than water and an order of magnitude lighter than gasoline. The molecules of the substance are so small that they can seep through the atomic structure of a metal container at temperatures above minus 253 ° C. Maintaining such a temperature in a large volume for a long time is energy-intensive. Another problem is hydrogen embrittlement and destruction of metals by atomic hydrogen. Even high-strength steels, as well as titanium and nickel alloys, are susceptible to it. CONCLUSION. The demand for hydrogen is growing due to the shift to the consumption of cleaner and lighter fuel oils, while the petroleum feedstock is getting heavier. But at the same time, the potential of natural gas has not yet been exhausted, which already now contributes to the low-carbon development of the economy. Skepticism about hydrogen technologies will disappear only when one of them gains relatively widespread use. At the same time, there is no doubt that hydrogen is very relevant for the creation of chemical current generators. This is of great importance for transport, and for distributed energy, and for a number of other areas.