Learning Outcomes:
On successful completion of this module, students will be able to:
1. Critically appraise current and emerging hydrogen technologies in the context of national and international decarbonisation strategies, policy frameworks, and market development.
2. Explain and critically evaluate the fundamental principles and technological pathways of hydrogen production, including water electrolysis, steam methane reforming, thermochemical hydrogen production cycles, and biohydrogen production.
3. Explain and evaluate the operation of hydrogen and electrochemical systems through practical equipment demonstrations, including electrolysers and fuel cells, and interpret key operating principles, energy conversion processes, and system performance.
4. Analyse and compare hydrogen storage and distribution methods, including compressed gas storage, liquid hydrogen (LH₂), metal hydrides and other solid-state storage technologies, chemical hydrogen carriers such as ammonia (NH₃), and geological hydrogen storage.
5. Evaluate hydrogen and e-fuel applications across transport, gas networks, power generation, industrial processes, and Power-to-X pathways.
6. Investigate and quantify the integration of hydrogen technologies with renewable energy sources such as wind and solar, including power-to-hydrogen pathways, intermittency management, sector coupling, and energy-system flexibility.
Indicative Module Content:
• Hydrogen and the energy transition, including global, European and Irish decarbonisation strategies; hydrogen policy and market drivers; hydrogen classification and production pathways; and the evolving role of hydrogen in future energy systems.
• Water electrolysis technologies, including PEM, alkaline, AEM and SOEC electrolysers; electrochemical principles; cell and stack architecture; system efficiency; degradation mechanisms; balance-of-plant; and scale-up considerations.
• Alternative hydrogen production pathways, including steam methane reforming with carbon capture and storage (CCS), thermochemical cycles and biohydrogen production, with comparison of the technical and environmental characteristics of different production routes.
• Fuel cells and electrochemical energy systems, including PEM and SOFC operating principles, system integration, balance-of-plant and efficiency. Practical laboratory activities include electrolyser and fuel cell demonstrations, efficiency measurements and analysis of experimental data.
• Hydrogen in gas infrastructure, including hydrogen blending, technical limits and network impacts, hydrogen-ready infrastructure, repurposing of existing natural gas pipelines, materials compatibility, safety and regulatory considerations.
• Hydrogen applications in industry, including green ammonia production, iron and steel manufacturing, refining and chemical processes, with consideration of hydrogen relative to alternative industrial decarbonisation pathways.
• E-fuels and Power-to-X technologies, including synthetic methane, e-ammonia, e-methanol and Fischer–Tropsch liquid fuels; production pathways; energy conversion chains; lifecycle emissions; and their potential role in hard-to-abate sectors.
• Renewable energy and hydrogen system integration, including wind- and solar-to-hydrogen pathways, intermittency management, sector coupling, system flexibility and the role of hydrogen in long-duration energy storage.
• Hydrogen storage technologies, including compressed hydrogen storage, liquid hydrogen and associated liquefaction and boil-off considerations, metal hydrides and solid-state storage, chemical hydrogen carriers such as ammonia and liquid organic hydrogen carriers (LOHCs), and geological hydrogen storage in salt caverns and depleted reservoirs.
• Power-to-X applications for industrial decarbonisation, including Power-to-Heat, Power-to-Chemicals and Power-to-Liquids; green ammonia and methanol production; and applications in steel, cement, chemical and refining industries.
• Technoeconomic assessment of hydrogen systems, including Levelised Cost of Hydrogen (LCOH), CAPEX and OPEX modelling, cost-reduction trajectories, learning rates, sensitivity and uncertainty analysis, and hydrogen supply-chain economics.
• Integrated hydrogen system case studies, including hydrogen economy scenarios for the island of Ireland, offshore wind-to-hydrogen production and export, comparative technoeconomic assessment of hydrogen supply chains, and critical evaluation of published hydrogen roadmaps and cost projections.