Institute of Materials Engineering

Faculty of Science and Technology

University of Silesia in Katowice
75 Pułku Piechoty 1A
41-500 Chorzów, Poland

Corrosion and Corrosion Protection

Corrosion in the Energy Industry

Bożena Łosiewicz

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 Issues for Lecture No. 6
World demand for energy.
Alternative energy sources.
Corrosion of batteries.
Battery operation.
Production of hydrogen by water electrolysis.
Hofmann voltameter.
Fuel cell operation.
Hindenburg disaster.
Use of fuel cells.
Hydrogen Economy.
Problems of hydrogen storage.
Hydrogen adsorbents.
Demonstration of hydrogen technologies.

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World demand for energy

Petroleum ~40 years

Gas ~62 years
Coal ~224 years
 Clean coal technologies in Poland

Miner

Province Upper Silesia is the

Coal mine
southeastern part of the historical
Air pollutants and geographical region of Silesia,
causing corrosion. located mostly in Poland, with
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small parts in the Czech Republic.
Coal Mine "Gottwald" in Katowice at Chorzowska 107 street

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 Types of Alternative Energy Sources
Alternative energy refers to energy sources other than fossil fuels (such as coal,
petroleum, and diesel) and includes:
• Wind energy,
• Solar energy,
• Nuclear energy,
• Hydrogen gas,
• Tidal energy,
• Biomass energy,
• Biofuels.

Benefits of alternative energy sources:

• Reduced greenhouse gas emissions,
• Job creation,
• Diversify our energy supply,
• Improve public health,
• Provide individual energy independence,
• Save money.
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Renewable energy as alternative energy sources

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 What is battery corrosion and how can you solve it?
A lead acid car battery is prone to corrosion because it is filled with sulfuric acid.
The battery post is metal and when it touches sulfuric acid, the chemical reaction
leads to corrosion. Although it typically affects the positive post of a battery, it
eventually affects the negative post as well.

In a lead acid environment, the

electrodes are constantly in reactive
mode that this causes the lead to
soften and, eventually, shed. This is
something that a battery will go
through and it is impossible to
completely eliminate it. However, it
is possible to slow it down.

Corroded car battery

Source: https://www.upsbatterycenter.com/blog/battery-corrosion-and-how-to-solve-it (15.04.2021)
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 The four important things that you can do to help slow
down the corrosion in your battery

• Do not let the depth of discharge go

too far. This is when you let the
battery’s power get used up without
recharging it.
• Lower the cycle count. A full cycle
count is when you go from a fully
charged battery to a fully discharged
battery.
• Make sure the battery is stored in a
moderate temperature environment. If
that means parking your car in a
shaded area, that is what you should
do.
• Do not overcharge the battery. Cleaning a corroded car battery with
Coca-Cola
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 Corrosion of batteries

100 years of decomposition!

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 Alkaline battery corrosion
Alkaline battery leakage can be quite
corrosive. When the concentrated caustic gel
that is required to provide high performance
leaks out out the metallic container it basically
can destroy every material in the local
environment it creates. Fortunately, the alkaline
cell shown in the following picture corroded
while in cool storage, as all these cells should be
to preserve their useful life. Imagine what could
have happened to the contacts or any other
electronics that would have be touched by the
corrosive paste! Well, this happens all the time
and sometimes has been the ruin of some very
expensive or irreplaceable equipment.

Source: https://corrosion-doctors.org/Electronics/battery_corrosion.htm (12.04.2021) 12

 A variety of standard sizes of primary cells

From left: 4.5 V multicell battery, D, C, AA, AAA, AAAA,

A23, 9V multicell battery,
(top) LR44, (bottom) CR2032

Historically the term "battery" referred to a collection of electrochemical

cells connected in series. In modern times the term of "battery" has come to refer to
any collection of cells (or single cell) packaged in a container with external
connections provided to power electrical devices, leading to the variety of
standardized form factors available today. 13
How batteries work?

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Hydrogen could be the alternative to fossil fuels?
 What fuel will drive our cars?

TODAY TOMORROW

500 mln 2 billion

cars cars

It is predicted that by 2030 the number of cars

will increase to 2 billion, mainly as a result of the rapid
development of Asian countries
Future fuel selection criteria

• Easy to transport
• Cheap to produce
• Highly energetic
• Neutral to the environment
• Safe
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Production of hydrogen by water electrolysis

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 Hofmann voltameter
A Hofmann voltameter is an apparatus
for electrolysing water, invented by August
Wilhelm von Hofmann (1818–1892) in 1866.
It consists of three joined upright cylinders,
usually glass. The inner cylinder is open at
the top to allow addition of water and an
ionic compound to improve conductivity,
such as a small amount of sulfuric acid.
A platinum electrode is placed inside the
bottom of each of the two side cylinders,
connected to the positive and negative
terminals of a source of electricity.
When current is run through Hofmann's
voltameter, gaseous oxygen forms at
the anode and gaseous hydrogen at
the cathode. Each gas displaces water and
collects at the top of the two outer tubes. 2H2O  2H2 + O2
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hofmann_voltameter (12.04.2021) 19
 How Fuel Cell works?
Making power more efficiently and with less pollution

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 Fuel cells
A fuel cell is an electrochemical
cell that converts the chemical
energy of a fuel (often hydrogen) and
an oxidizing agent (often oxygen) into
electricity through a pair
of redox reactions. Fuel cells are
different from most batteries in
requiring a continuous source of fuel
and oxygen (usually from air) to
sustain the chemical reaction, whereas
in a battery the chemical energy
usually comes from metals and their
ions or oxides[3] that are commonly
already present in the battery, except
in flow batteries. Fuel cells can
produce electricity continuously for as
long as fuel and oxygen are supplied.
The first fuel cells were invented by
Sir William Grove in 1838.
Scheme of a proton-conducting fuel cell
Hindenburg disaster

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 Hindenburg cover-up
The perceived dangers of hydrogen are irretrievably linked in the public mind with
the tragic fate of the Hindenburg airship, which burst into flames in May 1937,
killing 36 of the 97 people on board. Common lore attributes the disaster to the
inherent flammability of the gas.

LZ-129 Hindenburg The LZ -129 fire in its early phase

LZ-129 Hindenburg - German passenger airship. It was the greatest airship in
history. It provided travelers with a luxury flight across the Atlantic. In honor of the
former president of Germany, it was called Hindenburg. 23
Bain's hunt for the truth about the Hindenburg began in the late 1960s, when he was working
on hydrogen systems. The Hindenburg was frequently used as an example in hydrogen
safety manuals, but the reported observations of the incident were inconsistent. For example,
Bain noticed that the fire burned rapidly in many directions, the zeppelin remained aloft and
upright for many seconds after the initial flames were seen, and the flames were bright -
none of which are consistent with a hydrogen explosion.

His extensive research of the original documentation of the disaster was what convinced him
that the airship's materials had contributed to the ignition of the blaze, but he lacked solid
evidence to prove his theory. Finally, in 1994 Bain obtained samples of the fabric that had
covered the Hindenburg and had a volunteer team of scientists analyze them using a variety
of physical and chemical techniques, including an infrared spectrograph and a scanning
electron microscope, which provided the chemical signatures of the organic compounds and
elements present.

His conclusion:

The source of the fire was the use of lacquers and flammable aluminum powder-based
paints on the outer hull and bladders, which were ignited by an electrical discharge. The
moral of the story is, don't paint your airship with rocket fuel.

Source: https://corrosion-doctors.org/Hydrogen/Hindenburg.htm (12.04.2021)

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 Do not be afraid of hydrogen!

Ignition of hydrogen tank (on the left) and gasoline tank

(on the right)

3 sec. 60 sec.

Hydrogen Gasoline Hydrogen Gasoline

tank tank tank tank
Do not be afraid of hydrogen!
 Cars with hydrogen fuel

BMW
300 km/h
Hydrogen station at the airport in Munich
Hydrogen powered bus at Munich airport

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 Hydrogen stations in the World

http://www.h2cars.de/overview/index.html
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32
Use of fuel cells
 Toyota Mirai -
the first serial hydrogen car
Polish hydrogen car Hydrocar
 Cars of the future - solar car
The batteries are recharged by solar panels located on the surface of cars.

Venturi Astrolab Eagle Two

This "car" is powered by a 20 HP electric
motor, but thanks to its low weight (280 kg) it
can accelerate to 120 km / h
A new solar car for students from Poland
(Łódź). It takes five people, accelerates to
a speed of 140 km / h, and in sunny
weather it can cover a distance of 700 km
on one charge.
 Electric cars

Advantages:
• convenient
• quiet
• simple in design
• cheaper in operation
• they do not emit exhaust
• fumessafer

Disadvantages:
• electricity can be produced in a non-ecological manner
• limited range due to long battery charging

A huge electric car factory is being built in Province Upper Silesia

in Poland (Jaworzno city).
 Hydrogen economy

STAGE I STAGE II STAGE III STAGE IV

Water Under
electrolysis pressure Engine

Gasoline Liquefied
reforming Hydrogen
purification Transfer
Methane Metal
decomposition hydrides
Fuel cells
? ?

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The problem of hydrogen storage
 SOLUTION

MATERIALS
ENGINEERING
 Comparison of volumes of containers containing
4 kg of hydrogen

Range: 200 – 400 km

Schlapbach & Züttel, Nature, 15 Nov. 2001

 Hydrogen adsorbents
Organometallic materials

[Zn4O(BDC)3]
where:

BDC=1,4-benzenodicarboxylene

Temperature: 78 K 4.5 %wt.

Pressure: 20 bar
hydrogen

Fragment of crystalline MOF-5 structure

Hydrogen adsorbents
Organometallic materials

The so-called buckyballs

 Hydrogen adsorbents
Complex metal hydrides

New concept of hydrogen storage:

encapsulate by hydrogen)

Complex AlH4 anion

mimicking the structure of methane
 Hydrogen adsorbents
Porous carbon materials - active carbon

fine grained granular dusty

• large specific area

(800 – 1500 m2/g)
• developed internal porosity
monolithic forms of active carbon

active carbon nonwovens carbon membranes

 Hydrogen adsorbents
Carbon nanomaterials

Double-walled nanotube Nanocores

Cluster of nanotubes Carbon nanofibers

Hydrogen adsorbents
Carbon nanomaterials
 Hydrogen adsorbents
Silica gel

Zeolites
A X Y RHO
 Demonstration
hydrogen technologies
Dr FuelCellTM Model Car
Hydrogen-powered vehicle

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Hydrogen-powered vehicle construction
Conversion of solar energy –
generation of hydrogen
Conversion of solar energy
Solar cell plate
Reversible fuel cell
Filling the cell with distilled water
Measurement of current and voltage in water
electrolysis process
Fuel cell with hydrogen gas
Test for hydrogen presence
Assembly of a fuel cell in the vehicle
Scheme of electrical connection of the cell
Running the vehicle
A vehicle with a solar cell
 Fuel cell vehicle
(polymer membrane)
Hybrid vehicle
 Control questions

• What could be the alternative to fossil fuels?

• What is battery corrosion and how can you solve it?
• How fuel cell works?
• What the Hofmann voltameter is for?
• What are the stages of Hydrogen Economy?

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Q&A
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