Heriot-Watt University scientists have successfully used wastewater from the distilling industry to produce green hydrogen.
Dr Sudhagar Pitchaimuthu and PhD student, Michael Walsh, developed a nanoscale material – dubbed a nickel selenide – to allow distillery wastewater to replace fresh water in the production of green hydrogen.
The nickel selenide treats the wastewater and, in this project, produced similar or slightly higher quantities of green hydrogen from the wastewater, compared to fresh water results. The research has been published in the Royal Society of Chemistry journal, Sustainable Energy & Fuels, in a paper authored by Walsh.
The next steps of the project will include developing the research’s own electrolyser prototype and scaling up production of the nickel selenide nanoparticles. They will also analyse the distillery wastewater to discover whether other materials could be salvaged from it, alongside hydrogen and oxygen.
Dr Pitchaimuthu said, “About one billion litres of wastewater a year is produced from the distilling industry, so the potential of this process is huge. Using industry wastewater means we can reduce the extensive freshwater footprint associated with green hydrogen production. Our research also shows how we can use the world’s resources more sustainably to produce clean energy.”
He added that typical electrolysers only work with fresh water and usually fail otherwise due to the substances in wastewater, however Heriot-Watt’s nanoparticle has overcome this hurdle.
“It takes 9kg of fresh water to produce every 1kg of green hydrogen,” he continued. “Meanwhile, every 1 litre of malt whisky production creates about 10 litres of residue. To help protect the planet, we need to reduce our use of fresh water and other natural resources.”
The hydrogen production process of using fresh water currently consumes 20.5 billion litres of fresh water a year, according to Heriot-Watt University.
The research was funded by the Scottish university’s School of Engineering and Physical Sciences and completed in collaboration with the University of Bath’s Department of Chemical Engineering and The Scotch Whisky Research Institute, which support applied research across the Scotch Whisky production process.
Last May (2023), it was announced that plans to produce “fuel cell grade” hydrogen using wastewater in Cambridgeshire, UK, would go ahead throughout the summer. Anticipating 91kg of hydrogen per day, it would supply alternative vehicles with fuel at Anglian Water’s Milton Road water recycling site.
Read more:UK wastewater-to-hydrogen project to go ahead with Element 2 to offtake for refuelling
In 2021, Australian company, SwitchH2 Engineering, developed a new solution capable of turning wastewater from brewing beer into hydrogen that can be used to power the brewery or as fuel for vehicles.
The process takes the wastewater and runs it through an electrolysis unit, powered by renewable energy, which then splits it into its elements – hydrogen, oxygen and other organic matter.
Read more:New startup produces hydrogen from wastewater in beer brewing
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