Water treatment

for green hydrogen

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
Reprinted from Hydrogen Tech World magazine Oct 2022

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Water treatment for green hydrogen
Water is essential for the production of green hydrogen and as
the market matures, crucial questions about the use of water
are starting to arise: How much water is needed? Which quality
is sufficient? And where should the water come from? Let’s shed
some light on these essential questions.

To have a qualified discussion about Several parameters influence what

use of water for green hydrogen, we quality water must have to be suitable
first need to define what we mean for electrolysis. These include the type
when we say “water”. of electrolyser, electrode material,
system design and even brand of
In the production of green hydro­gen, electrolyser.
it is necessary to distinguish between
three types of water: Add to this, that each of the ions
and molecules in water will affect
• Ultrapure water (used as the electrolyser differently. Some can
feedstock for the electrolyser) increase OPEX because of corrosion
• Cooling water or increased need for cleaning, while
• Raw water others can lower the electrolyser
efficiency and/or irreversibly damage
The quantity of ultrapure water used and degrade the electrolysers.
for electrolysis will be different from
that of raw water extracted from With so many variables and effects, it
the environment and the quality of is no surprise that water treatment is
ultrapure water and cooling water is often tailored to the specific project,
also different. Therefore, we need to making it very difficult to come up
deal with each one separately. Let’s with a unified standard for water
first look at ultrapure water. quality for all electrolysers.

What is ultrapure water? One strategy that electrolyser

manufacturers can follow to simplify
Water suitable for electrolysis is the issue is to set the requirements
commonly called ultrapure, but what for conductivity sufficiently low to
is to be understood by this label? ensure that the concentration levels of

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 How much ultrapure water to produce H₂?

9 kg 1 kg

Electrolysis of 9 kg ultrapure
water results in 1 kg hydrogen.

©Silhorko-Eurowater A/S

Figure 1 The 1:9 rule for consumption of ultrapure water in green hydrogen
production.

problematic ions and molecules will in was ever damaged by using water that
all certainty be below the electrolyser was too clean. Ensuring high quality
requirements. A good starting point and reliability in the water treatment
can be <1 µS/cm for standard alkaline may thus be the best investment to be
electrolysers1, and < 0.1 µS/cm made for an electrolyser system.
for PEM electrolysers and alkaline
electrolysers1 relying on advanced Consumption of ultrapure water
electrodes. However, it is worthwhile
to remember two things: 1) water We can accurately calculate the
treatment constitutes a relatively amount of ultrapure water required
minor part of the total CAPEX of a for production of green hydrogen,
hydrogen plant and 2) no electrolyser using the atomic composition of

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Many will say that 5 µS/cm should be the limit for standard alkaline electrolysis, but what
we see from the market today is a trend towards higher requirements for water quality – also
for alkaline electrolysis.

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 How much ultrapure water per MW electrolyser?

Electrolyser
1 MW

Ultrapure water Electrolyser

0.2 m/h 1 MW

©Silhorko-Eurowater A/S

Figure 2 Rule of thumb for consumption of ultrapure water per MW

electrolyser capacity.

water, H₂O. Since oxygen is 16 times dimensioning the water treatment

heavier than hydrogen, it is responsible system. Here we need to look at the
for 89% of the mass of water, which electrolyser power rating (MW). The
means that 9 L of water is needed to power rating will determine the rate at
produce 1 kg of hydrogen (Figure which hydrogen is produced and thus
1). This ratio can be quite useful to the rate of water consumption. The
determine the water requirements amount of ultrapure water needed per
for a specific production capacity of MW depends on how much energy
hydrogen. For instance, production of the electrolyser needs to convert the
100,000 tons of green hydrogen per 9L (kg) of ultrapure water to 1 kg of
year will consume 900,000 m3 (tons) hydrogen. Most electrolysers consume
of ultrapure water. 45-55 kWh per kg hydrogen, which
means that 0.16-0.2 L of ultrapure
This approach tells us how much water water are required per kWh or 163-
is needed on average, but it will not tell 200 L/h of ultrapure water required
us about the rate of water consumption per MW electrolyser capacity.
(m3/h), and this is required for

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A flow of 200 L/h has proven to be that 400 L/h of cooling water is needed
an excellent rule of thumb as a first per MW electrolyser, or roughly twice
estimate of the requirements for the amount required for electrolysis.
ultrapure water (Figure 2). Thus a
10 MW plant needs 2 m3/h and It is important to have in mind that
a 1 GW plant needs 200 m3/h of cooling water and water for electro­
ultrapure water. lysis will have very different quality
requirements.
Consumption of cooling water
Consumption of raw water
While the consumption of ultrapure
water as feedstock will always be part To determine the impact of a green
of a green hydrogen facility, it is more hydrogen system on the local water
difficult to give a precise evaluation systems, it is necessary to not only
of the consumption of cooling water. focus on the consumption of ultrapure
Many of the smaller projects that water, but also on how much water
are realized today are based on dry must be taken from the raw water
cooling, while the very large electro­ source to produce the ultrapure water.
lyser systems currently in planning
may seek to integrate the waste heat Water can come from many sources.
into other water-based infrastructure For most of the smaller projects
systems such as waste­water treatment seen today, water from the drinking
plants and district heating systems. water network is used. However, as
Also, off­shore based systems may rely hydrogen plants increase in size, this
on the use of seawater for cooling. approach becomes unsustainable, and
water must be sourced from elsewhere.
For the projects where a water-based
cooling system is chosen, the specific The three most common raw water
design of the cooling solution will sources for large scale hydrogen
determine the water usage. For an projects are: Groundwater, treated
evaporative cooling tower relevant wastewater and seawater. From the
parameters include the starting water perspective of a water treatment
quality, the ratio between conductive system, surface water from rivers and
and evaporative cooling, drift ratio, lakes will in many ways be similar
and concen­ tration factor. All these to treated wastewater and these can
factors make it complicated to come therefore be considered as one.
with an accurate number, but to get a
first estimate a good rule of thumb is

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 How much water for 1 m ultrapure water?

1.4 m 1.5 m 3.3 m

Groundwater Treated wastewater or Seawater
surface water

1 m 1 m 1 m
Ultrapure water Ultrapure water Ultrapure water
ready for electrolysis ready for electrolysis ready for electrolysis

©Silhorko-Eurowater A/S

Figure 3 Raw water quantities required for production of ultrapure water for
electrolysis

Each type of raw water will require high recovery values, >98%. Treated
different water treatment systems, wastewater filtered with ultra­filtration
and this affects how much raw water will typically have a slightly lower
must be extracted. Of these you need recovery of 90-95%. For seawater
to extract the least raw water using desalination, recovery is normally
groundwater and most when using limited to 40-50% due to increasing
seawater, see Figure 3. Extraction of osmotic pressure. The treatment to
treated wastewater will be similar to ultrapure quality comes with its own
groundwater. recovery, typically 75%.

The differences stem from the With these rules of thumb numbers, it
recoveries that can be obtained in is possible to quickly estimate the water
the initial pretreatment of each raw requirements for a given hydrogen
water source before it is polished to project. The same electrolyser
ultrapure quality. For groundwater designed to produce 100,000 tons
standard filtration can reach very of hydrogen will require 900,000 m3

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of ultrapure water and will need to 4, turning seawater into ultrapure
extract 1,200,000 m3 of groundwater, water may require 3-4 times as much
1,300,000 m3 of treated wastewater or energy as groundwater and treated
3,000,000 m3 of seawater. wastewater, but it is still only around a
thousandth of the energy required for
Often concerns about the energy electrolysis.
consumption of the water treatment
process is brought up for discussion, Production of ultrapure water
especially when talking about seawater
desalination. However, it is important The process from raw water to
to remember that while water treatment ultrapure water can be divided into
must overcome the attractive forces two overall steps:
between water molecules and ions,
electrolysis must overcome the strong 1. Pretreatment of raw water
covalent bonds between the atoms in 2. Polishing to ultrapure water
the water molecules. As seen in Figure

Electrolysis and water treatment: Power usage

Energy required for Energy required for

purifying 1 m water electrolysis of 1 m of
for electrolysis. water.

Treated
Groundwater wastewater Seawater Electrolysis
2 kWh 2.2 kWh 7 kWh 5000 kWh
©Silhorko-Eurowater A/S

Figure 4 The energy required to produce ultrapure water from different

raw water sources.

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 How is water trea
Groundwater Chlorinated
city water

Sand filtration and Activated carbon

aeration

Softening Demineralisation

Figure 5 Overview of the water treatment train from

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ated for green H₂?
Treated wastewater or Seawater
surface water

UF-filtration and UV Desalination

Polishing
n Degassing EDI/mixed-bed

Ultrapure water
ready for electrolysis

m raw water to ultrapure water suitable for electrolysis.

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The role of the pretreatment system is therefore also remove organics (TOC)
to make the raw water suitable as a feed and silica. To reach sufficiently low
source for the polishing system. This concentrations it is often necessary
means bringing the water to a state to employ a double pass RO system,
where it resembles city water quality. where the permeate from the first RO
The type of pretreatment system process is filtered again in a secondary
depends on the source of water as each RO system. For the RO system to
will come with their own challenges. operate properly, the water must first
Groundwater contains dissolved be conditioned to avoid scaling and
redox active species such as iron damage to the membranes. If there is
and manganese that can precipitate free chlorine in the water, this must
in and clog the polishing system. be removed using active carbon,
These can be effectively removed to avoid oxidation of the selective
using aeration and sand filtration. layer of the membrane. Hardness
For treated wastewater the primary due to ions such as Ca and Mg can
concern is particles, organics, and cause scaling and limit the recovery
microorganisms. Here ultrafiltration rate. This can be handled by either
in combination with UV can be used using a softener that will exchange
to bring the water to a suitable quality. multivalent ions with Na or by dosing
Seawater primarily requires removal of in an antiscalant that will stop the
salts, but also particles and dormant scaling process. RO membranes do
microorganisms. Using standardized not stop dissolved gasses such as CO₂.
reverse osmosis (RO) desalination is These must therefore be removed with
sufficient. a dedicated process. For a chemical
free option, a membrane degasser can
Once the raw water has been pretreated, be installed after the RO membrane.
we need to address the following issues Alternatively, lye can be does in front
to turn it into ultrapure quality: of the membranes to convert CO₂ to
bicarbonate ions that can be removed
• Content of ions – conductivity with the RO system. To reach the very
• Hardness low conductivities required by many
• TOC electrolysers, it is necessary with a final
• Silica deionization. Here either a mixed bed
• Gasses filter or an electrodeionization (EDI)
unit can be used. These processes will
To remove the bulk of the ionic load take any remaining ions and exchange
RO is used. The membrane blocks them for H+ and OH- ions. The
ions, molecules and particles and will mixed bed must be regenerated or

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exchanged once spent while the EDI (2025) and 1 GW (2030) and seeks
can operate continuously due to a to provide green hydrogen for both
self-regenerating design. Often the mobility and industrial end users. For
two deionization technologies will be the first phase, an alkaline electrolyser
employed together with the mixed bed was chosen requiring a flow of
placed as a “police filter” after the EDI. ultrapure water of 4.5 m3/h with a
conductivity <5 µS/cm. The water
Figure 5 illustrates this general process was sourced from the drinking water
configuration, while Figure 6 shows an network with a hardness of 11 °dH
example of such a system. and no free chlorine. In this case the
quality criteria could be met using a
Case – Everfuel double pass RO system combined
with CO₂ removal and with an ion
As a specific example of water exchange softener in front of the
treatment for green hydrogen we RO membranes to ensure very low
can look to the HySynergy project concentration of multivalent ions.
by Everfuel. This project contains
3 phases: 20 MW (2022), 300 MW

Figure 6 Frame mounted water treatment system for production of

water suitable for electrolysis (<0.1 µS/cm). This system has a capacity of
1-2 m3/h equal to an electrolyser capacity of 5-10 MW.

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 Figure 7 Water treatment system for the 20 MW HySynergy project.

Internal polishing of water operational temperatures and the fact

that it produces a concentrate waste
For electrolyser systems like PEM and stream. Mixed beds are the preferred
AEM operating directly on ultrapure option because they allow for zero
water, water treatment does not waste of water and a higher flexibility
stop with the make-up water. After in meeting the process requirements
entering the electrolyser system, the of the electrolyser system.
water is continuously contaminated
with metal ions from the piping and The side stream loop should be
process equipment as well as ions and dimensioned to remove con­taminants
organics from the electrolyser stack. at a rate equal to or higher than the
These contaminants must be removed release rate to avoid accumulation
to maintain the lifetime of electrolyser. in the electrolyser. The release rate is
complicated to estimate as it depends
The way to solve this problem is both on material choices in the process
to introduce a side stream polisher equipment and the electrolyser as well
internally in the electrolyser on the as operating conditions. Typically,
anode circulation system. the flow of the polisher loop will be
in the range of 2-10 % of the anode
Two processes are available for circulation flow rate. The higher the
handling the side stream polishing: percentage, the higher quality of the
mixed bed ion exchange and EDI. In water sent to the electrolyser will be.
this application EDI is limited due to

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But what about the pumps? 500 times larger than the flow of
make-up water into the electrolyser
Finally, we must also address the need system. Because of this, pumps take
for pumping and the effect it has up a significant part of the CAPEX
on water quality. Pumps are used in for a green hydrogen system, 10-20%
several places in electrolyser systems, of the combined CAPEX for stack
but the most central role is for components and balance of plant,
circulation over the electrolyser stack. and this presents operators with a
Large amounts of heat are released difficult challenge. The cost of pumps
during electrolysis, and to maintain pushes for cost effective solutions,
an acceptable temperature differential but the strict quality requirements as
across the stack, very high flow rates well as the harsh operating conditions
are required. To keep the temperature pushes for high quality and specialized
increase between 2-4 °C a flow rate products. Part of the solution to
of 50-100 m3/h per MW is required. this challenge is to adopt a holistic
That means that the flow rate is 250- approach and think water treatment

How much pump capacity is needed?

Electrolyser
1 MW
Feedwater Circulation
0.2 m⁄ h 50 - 100 m⁄ h
©Silhorko-Eurowater A/S

Figure 8 Pumping requirement for circulation of ultrapure water over the

electrolyser stack .

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 Figure 9 Modular water treatment solution for a 300 MW electrolyser.

in combination with pumping. By like the other components in a green

improving the polishing system, it can hydrogen plant, water treatment
overcome the release of metals and systems will also face important
thus lower the requirements for the questions about scalability, modu­
pumps used for recirculation. larity, redundancy etc. as the industry
matures. Figure 8 shows an example
Looking ahead, it is clear that water of how such large scale installations
treatment will play an essential role could look like.
for the green hydrogen industry, and

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EUROWATER develops and manufactures reliable
water treatment plants – and has been doing so since
1936. Our plants are designed and manufactured on
a quality principle of longevity and minimal need for
maintenance.

Since 2020, EUROWATER has been part of the Grundfos

Group and embraces Grundfos’ global ambition to
pioneer solutions to the world’s water and climate
challenges and improve quality of life for people.

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eurowater.ch eurowater.hu eurowater.sk
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