Hydrogen Energy Conversion Systems

Hydrogen energy conversion systems are expected to become the choice of the future energy systems. It is possible to produce hydrogen from sustainable and renewable sources. Therefore hydrogen has the potential to sustainably meet the growing global energy requirements. Hydrogen energy conversion options are diverse, and generally more efficient and almost always more environmentally benign compared to traditional energy systems. Therefore this chapter comprehensively discusses traditional and novel hydrogen energy conversion systems from physical conversion to all chemical energy conversion options including combustion and electrochemical conversion. The conversion of hydrogen energy is fairly simple in comparison to the existing options to convert traditional fossil fuels. Another advantage of hydrogen energy conversion systems is the fact that the supply (hydrogen) comes from a variety of energy sources, therefore, nobody is expected to have the power to regulate hydrogen supply and distribution. Hydrogen is an energy carrier; this implies that it could be used to store energy when not needed and then makes the stored energy available when the primary energy source is not available or sufficient. Hence, hydrogen is particularly a good fit for renewable energy systems. And hydrogen energy conversion systems help end users reach clean, abundant, reliable, and sustainable renewable energy resources at all times. For instance, surplus of the renewable energy production could be utilized to produce hydrogen first. And then, hydrogen energy conversion systems could help all end users have access to this surplus energy at all times in a sustainable fashion. With hydrogen energy conversion systems, hydrogen can be converted to many valuable products for end users, such as power, heating, cooling, clean water, pharmaceuticals, plastics, etc., which are discussed thoroughly in this chapter.