The Importance of Precise Manufacturing in the Green Hydrogen Industry

McGill University associate professor Sarah Jordann recently told The Energy Mix that she believes the practicality of transitioning from fossil fuels to hydrogen “will depend on how the industry manages environmental risks and economic barriers.”

One potentially significant factor affecting both hydrogen’s environmental impact and economic efficiency is leakage. A recent McGill University study stated that “electrolysis is the most leakage-prone hydrogen production pathway” as compared to other methods such as blue hydrogen. Some older electrolyzer systems were found to have leakage rates as high as 10%.

Leaked hydrogen is not a greenhouse gas itself, but increased levels of hydrogen in the atmosphere can tie up some of the free radicals that typically break down atmospheric methane and other GHG’s resulting in a prolonged negative impact of other simultaneous pollutants. For this reason it is pivotal, especially during the energy transition period, for hydrogen producers to do everything in their power to prevent excessive hydrogen leakage in their operations.

Hydrogen atoms are incredibly small. They typically have a diameter of just 0.1 nanometers. This means that even the slightest gaps or cracks in an assembly can lead to leakages. In a hydrogen electrolyzer system where the components are under extreme and fluctuating levels of heat and pressure, it can be a challenge to eliminate all potential leakage points.

ACS believes that this threat of leakage should encourage hydrogen producers to pay extra attention to their component supplier networks. Because electrolyzer system leakage is one of the primary threats to the efficient and economically viable formation of a mature hydrogen economy, hydrogen producers should be spending a significant amount of time and energy making sure their electrolyzer stack components are as effective and technologically advanced as possible in order to prevent costly leakages and thus protect the environmentally favorable status of the emerging hydrogen economy.

How ACS Components Can Prevent Leakage

How ACS’s Green Energy Components Can Prevent Leakage in Electrolyzer Systems

Here are a few of the ways that ACS can help your organization ensure that your electrolyzer system is optimized and leak free:

  • Tight Manufacturing Tolerances
    • Hydrogen has a very small molecular size which makes it more prone to leakage than some other fuels, so tightly manufactured components are critical to minimizing the potential leak paths. ACS’s eight decades of experience manufacturing billions of parts for fastidious clients and successfully meeting the tightest tolerance specifications around the world has prepared us well to not only hit the tightest, most exacting conformity requirements, but to do so at unmatched scale.
  • Materials Selection
    • Material selection can also play a significant role in hydrogen leak prevention. Materials must be resistant to both hydrogen permeation and embrittlement or expansion or contraction during extreme temperature and pressure changes. ACS is an experienced manufacturer of titanium and nickel (two common electrolyzer component materials) as well as a vast array of other metals and alloys. Our engineers will work with you to find the perfect material for your application, using computer modeling tools to determine exact final part characteristics.
  • Advanced Manufacturing Techniques
    • Advanced manufacturing techniques can play a significant role in leak prevention. Diffusion bonding can be used to ensure that adjacent components in an electrolyzer stack are reliably and uniformly joined in order to prevent any potential leakages. ACS is the first organization to perfect the industrial scale diffusion bonding of titanium components in our Monterrey Mexico facility. Product cleaning can also be extremely important in leak prevention. Molecular contaminants can lead to less-than-ideal bonds between components which can, in turn, result in leakage. ACS has invested heavily in advanced product cleaning lines to ensure that all of our components arrive free of any molecular contamination.

Choosing the Right Partner for Electrolyzer Components

ACS Industries brings decades of expertise in hydrogen electrolyzer components and custom-engineered materials, including pioneering work in expanded and diffusion-bonded titanium. Collaborating with ACS reduces risk, improves durability, and helps accelerate the clean energy transition.

Contact our experts today to discuss your hydrogen electrolysis material needs and discover how our advanced solutions can elevate your electrolyzer systems and prevent costly leakage.