With the construction of gen. unit five the demand
for hydrogen for generator cooling increased even further, therefore we
decided to set up our own hydrogen production facility. The hydrogen is
produced by electrolysis of chemically pure water, which has added
potassium hydroxide. The process is carried out in an electrolyser,
which is supplied with a 40V, 3,000 Amps direct current. The produced
oxygen and hydrogen are separately stored in their own gas storage
tanks. A compressor pumps hydrogen into a 20m3 reservoir with a pressure
of 13 bars. It is from this the generators are supplied hydrogen
according to their needs. The second, 150 bar compressor is used to fill
the gas cylinders that are then used to supply the generator during the
downtime of the hydrogen production facility. We fill oxygen cylinders
in the same manner, with a 150 bar compressor that pumps the gas from
the oxygen storage tank. We use this oxygen mainly for internal needs.
The hydrogen is produced at a rate of 24 Nm3/h, with 99.8% purity, while the oxygen is produced at 12 Nm3/h, with 99.5% purity.
The specific consumption of the electrolyser is 4.5kWh per Nm3 of hydrogen. We employ 0.9 litres of distilled water for the production 1.0 Nm3 of hydrogen and 0.5 Nm3 of oxygen.