It is now possible to reduce carbon emissions in factories by over 25 percent. Moreover, it is possible to save up to 30 percent in both coal and electricity consumption at the same time… Local initiative Phoenix Energy, which produces the ‘romantic element’ hydrogen from flue gas, is opening the doors to a sustainable future with the technology it has developed.
Mustafa Orhun Çetin / INBUSINESS
We have managed to prevent carbon monoxide in factory flue gases by over 90 percent while reducing carbon dioxide emissions to 27 percent.” These ambitious figures belong to 30-year-old Yusuf Furkan Ergür. Thanks to this technology, the patent of which belongs to him, Ergür provides both the reduction of carbon emission rates and fuel and electricity savings in many factories in Türkiye today.
Ergür’s ‘invention’ journey, which began when he developed a system that provided 22 percent power increase and 3 percent savings in motorcycles in his third year of high school and came sixth in a TÜBİTAK competition, is now entering a new phase. Phoenix Energy, which he founded as a start-up in 2019, has been very busy recently. While on the one hand, existing technology continues to be developed and new technologies are being worked on with R&D studies, on the other hand, preparations for the sale of the product and the roadshow for new investors are ongoing.
Yusuf Furkan Ergür, as a result of his R&D studies, With a filtering system he invented, he separates hydrogen from the gases coming out of the chimneys and allows it to be used as fuel, converted into energy or directly evaluated in the form of hydrogen, depending on the factory’s wishes. While more than 90 percent of global hydrogen production is obtained from fossil fuels, the primary source is natural gas. Stating that hydrogen is also produced by decomposing natural gas, Ergür says, “Unlike other companies, we have become able to produce hydrogen not by consuming something, but where there is current consumption.”
Ergür says that when the hydrogen production system is integrated into factories, in addition to reducing the emission rate, savings are also achieved, and says, “Instead of sending hydrogen to combustion, if the main expensive product of the factory is coal, we can offer it instead, and if the side-expensive product is electricity, we can offer it by converting it into electricity. We can reduce emission rates in both ways. In addition to carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide, harmful nitrogen oxide (NOx) gases are also eliminated since hydrogen provides very fast combustion.”
EU LICENSE
Ergür states that while he was in investment talks with three companies before the pandemic, this number is currently over 20. The Green Deal, which Europe is focusing on with the aim of reducing global warming by 1.5 degrees, is the most important actor in this interest. Carbon taxation and financing institutions providing more suitable and easy loans to environmental projects are also directing demand to this area. The most important potential customers of the initiative in terms of sector are heavy industry companies exporting to the EU market. As it is known, the EU is the largest market for heavy industry products such as iron, steel and cement. In this case, the obligation of companies to comply with EU conditions has also increased the demand for Phoenix Energy’s filtering system. Ergür, who has already determined his primary targets as cement factories, will target biogas, thermal power plants and the glass industry next.
69 PERCENT INCREASED EFFICIENCY
Ergür, who stated that the cogen systems required to convert hydrogen into electricity are around 700 thousand dollars, had to start different searches due to the effect of high costs on the return period of the investment of the factories. Thus, Phoenix Energy developed the generators normally produced for natural gas with its R&D studies to be used in hydrogen production and managed to produce electricity from hydrogen with much lower costs. Ergür, who stated that R&D is in the company’s DNA, also supports this with the words, “We are making these developments by transferring more than 60 percent of our turnover to R&D studies.”
Hydrogen is a more effective substance than both natural gas and coal in terms of burning speed and calorific value. So is it safe to integrate such a dangerous element into a factory where hundreds of people work? The reason for the concerns that companies have when they hear about hydrogen production is this dangerous structure of the substance. Ergür, who stated that there is no standard in Türkiye yet, said that they take security measures according to EU standards and added, “35 thousand liras of a 100 thousand lira project is spent on security equipment.”
What makes hydrogen valuable is actually this burning speed and calorific value that forms the basis of security concerns. The energy value of hydrogen obtained by breaking down natural gas is 69 percent higher. For this reason, there are institutions that create business strategies only based on getting the hydrogen in it.
IT CAN PRODUCE ELECTRICITY FOR VEHICLES
On the other hand, hydrogen can also be used as fuel. Ergür, who says that hydrogen obtained from biogas facilities in particular can produce the electricity that cities need for electric vehicles, touches on an important point by saying, “Istanbul can run one third of the vehicles in the city with hydrogen with its three biogas facilities. Many cities in Türkiye can produce hydrogen to meet the needs of their vehicles.” While vehicles used in city traffic and logistics are one of the biggest sources of emissions today, how innocent are electric vehicles?
Although these vehicles, which are filled with electricity that is not produced entirely by renewable sources, do not directly produce emissions themselves, the electricity they use is most likely produced through natural gas or thermal power plants. Coal-fired thermal power plants, on the other hand, produce considerable emissions and can close the gap that electric vehicles do not produce emissions.
Ergür’s goal is to produce hydrogen by developing biogas facilities that emerge from the incineration of garbage. Ergür, who stated that the partner search efforts to achieve this are ongoing, explained that the reason why companies cannot convert the natural gas in biogas into hydrogen is that they cannot take it from other gases and said, “With our separator, we can take it from other gases and burn it without releasing emissions.” The other gases from which the hydrogen is taken are also sent to the storage facility to produce biogas again, and both the emission production is reduced to the maximum level and the efficiency of the biogas facility is increased. Thus, thanks to the hydrogen produced as a result of excess electricity production, hydrogen fuel cell vehicles can take to the roads without producing real emissions.
POSSIBILITY OF WIDE USE
Ergür states that 8 cubic meters of hydrogen gas can be purchased on the market for between 1,500-2,000 liras and that they plan to produce hydrogen on site by placing furnaces inside the factory. In addition, hydrogen can be converted to methanol when combined with carbon dioxide gas. In this way, both transportation costs are reduced and the danger during transportation is eliminated. Methanol can be burned instead of coal with a seven-to-one emission if desired, and it can also be converted back to hydrogen after transportation. Ergür continues by saying, “While hydrogen converted to methanol only loses 3 percent energy, it is a very small figure when transportation costs are considered.” “Methanol is an alcohol used in the chemical sector. The price per ton of this product is around 500 dollars.” In this case, in addition to the low transportation cost for companies, it seems that a new sales item can be obtained by converting hydrogen produced from consumption.
The cost of producing hydrogen from flue gases varies in proportion to the emissions produced by the factory. Ergür, who stated that when the produced hydrogen is sent directly to combustion, the system pays for itself in a maximum of two years, emphasizes that when it is converted into electricity and methanol, it has a much shorter turnaround time.
Ergür is quite willing to work with new partners who will put forward their experience and knowledge rather than money. Due to its wide area of use, it is not surprising that they will become an important player in a growing sector as more and more information is revealed every day about what can be done with hydrogen.
SIX YEARS OF WORK
Yusuf Furkan Ergür started looking for ways to increase energy efficiency while he was still in high school. As his first job, he received degrees from Türkiye and the USA with the project he called ‘relaxed engine’, which increased the fuel burning efficiency of the engine he used. As an engineering student, he became curious about how hydrogen was produced and as a result of the research he conducted, he thought that the important thing was to separate hydrogen rather than produce it in the combustion chamber, and after six years of work, he was able to separate hydrogen from all flue gases in order to produce the system they use today.
ANTI-CARBON TECHNOLOGY
“Our system is a system that reduces both carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide measurements. Until now, people were looking at the financial equivalent of hydrogen, that is, its fuel value. When used as fuel in a factory, it provides savings between 500 thousand and 1 million dollars, while the same amount of hydrogen can provide 5 million euros worth of carbon concentrate. In other words, the by-product that emerges in return for the work we do has become more useful than the work itself. While we have sold an energy efficiency project until now, from today on we describe ourselves as an anti-carbon technology.”
Source : https://www.inbusiness.com.tr/in-business/2021/11/18/romantik-elementin-hediyesi
