Shell is building an electrolyser facility at the Conversion Park on the Maasvlakte (Rotterdam Port), Netherlands. This facility will produce hydrogen that will provide cleaner fuel for Europe’s largest refinery – Shell Pernis. Gasunie is installing the pipeline from the Conversion Park to Shell Pernis and this will act as the Hydrogen Backbone of the whole port area.
No Water – No Hydrogen
To produce hydrogen using an electrolyser, large quantities of demineralised water are required. Despite the Conversion Park being close to the North Sea, desalination of salt water (to feed the process), is a costly approach and was therefore considered unviable. However, Evides industriewater designed a solution to transport demineralised water from its existing network to the Maasvlakte site. To achieve this, the Evides deminalised water network or ‘deminet’ as it is locally referred to, had to be expanded by 6 kilometres.
To successfully deliver this project, Evides Industriewater, using its in-house multi-faceted water chemistry and engineering team, found a solution to deliver the required ‘grade’ of demin water to ensure the electrolyser technology can work at an optimum performance over its operational lifetime. This impressive upgrade project is scheduled for completion by the end of 2024.
External Link: https://www.evidesindustriewater.nl/en/news-overview/construction-of-6-kilometers-of-demi-pipeline-almost-ready
