Ergosup is a startup offering to produce ultra-high-pressure hydrogen using zinc electrolysis.
Hydrogen has several major difficulties, including :
- its volume (known as its density): at room temperature, 1kg of hydrogen takes up 11,000 liters! It is used compressed, but this is an energy-intensive process.
- its ability to absorb intensity variations. Intermittency is ill-suited to electrolysis: alkaline electrolyzers can’t handle it (except perhaps with Lhyfe’s technology?) and even PEM electrolyzers can. In any case, operating half the time doesn’t make installations profitable.
Startup Ergosup ‘s solution addresses both these issues.
The idea is to dissolve zinc in a bath in which two electrodes are immersed. Initially, at room temperature, electrolysis releases oxygen on one electrode and reduces the zinc, which becomes solid again and clings to the other. After releasing the oxygen, a reaction redissolving the zinc would release the hydrogen, this time in an enclosed space. Mechanically, the trapped hydrogen would be compressed (this is what we can interpret from their video). This would disconnect the moment of electricity consumption from the moment of hydrogen production. This is the first time I’ve heard of this process, so stay tuned…
The company proposes to create all-in-one H2 recharging stations, combining renewable energy production, hydrogen production, compression and hydrogen storage.
The start-up had raised 2.7 million euros in 2015 and has raised 11 million euros in 2019.
To find out more, read our article on hydrogen production.