Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies at the Hydrogen South Africa (HySA) Systems Competence Centre

Abstract

*Email: bgpollet@hysasystems.org The Hydrogen South Africa (HySA) programme is based upon the benefi ciation of South Africa’s large platinum group metal (pgm) resources. The present article summarises some of the progress by HySA Systems, one of the three Competence Centres under the HySA Programme, since 2008. Work has been carried out on membrane electrode assembly and stack development for high-temperature proton exchange membrane fuel cells (HT-PEMFCs) for use in combined heat and power (CHP) supplied by natural gas and hydrogen fuelled vehicle (HFV) applications. The emphasis is on improved carbon monoxide tolerance and simplifi ed heat and humidity management, allowing simpler fuel cell systems to be designed. Metal hydrides modifi ed with palladium are being explored as poisoning-tolerant hydrogen storage materials for stationary and special mobile applications, and metal organic frameworks (MOFs) modifi ed with platinum as light-weight hydrogen storage with a high hydrogen storage capacity. Lastly research into hydrogen purifi cation using Pd membrane reactors is focused on membrane support synthesis, hollow fi bre seeding and development of the plating procedure.