October 1, 2022 | By Gerald Ondrey
At Achema 2022 (Frankfurt am Main, Germany; August 22–26), a new compressor designed for hydrogen service was launched by Aerzen Machinenfabrik GmbH (Aerzen, Germany; www.aerzen.com). “We consider this solution to be the game changer in the market,” said Michael Leitsch, head of Opportunity Engineering, at a press conference during the exhibition.
One of the challenges in the push for “green” hydrogen is to compress H2 emerging from atmospheric electrolyzers to higher pressures required for pipeline transport. Because it is so light, H2 is difficult to compress using conventional compressors, explains Leitsch. Screw compressors, in general, combine the benefits of a turbo compressor and a positive-displacement machine, while requiring a certain clearance between the rotor and the casing. However, for a light…