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Special Report Special Report

More of white hydrogen Norway, Ukraine, Russian Federation been reported to be aware of the poten- Department of Energy has announced
and Kazakhstan. Launched in 2014, the tial of white hydrogen in India. (Hindu the establishment a $20-mn fund to
well in Bourakebougou, Western Mali, Business Line, Jan 20, 2023). Is it not help companies and researchers fi nd
ydrogen is a colourless invisi- But not much attention has gone into A.K. DAS remains the world’s only exploited high time for planning to exploit this low-cost and sustainable ways to ex-
ble gas, but over the years a this direction as explorations were Retd. Industrial Adviser white hydrogen site till now. The pro- clean energy source? tract underground hydrogen. It has been
Hcolour code has been attached being conducted mostly to fi nd minerals Department of Chemicals & Petro- duction, reported to be only around recently reported that several start-ups
to hydrogen. The ‘colours’ of hydro- and hydrocarbons. In fact, this hydrogen chemicals, Government of India 5-tpa (tonnes per annum), is negligible Concluding remarks and investors, including the Bill Gates
gen denotes the starting raw material found underground, used to be consi- Email: amiyakantidas2010@gmail.com compared to the current global grey Hydrogen, especially green hy- ‘Breakthrough Energy Ventures’ are
and the process for its production. dered problematic. In the last few years, hydrogen production of 80-mtpa. drogen, has emerged as a clean fuel in the process of drilling test wells in
Hydrogen is the most abundant chemical however, attention has been drawn to gists from the University of Lorraine worldwide in the race to curb carbon Midwestern states of the US.
element in the universe, but found as this geological resource. Some are call- and of France’s National Centre of Australia emissions. But manufacturing it by
compounds with other elements like in ing this naturally occurring hydrogen Scientifi c Research, hit a potential deposit In November 2020, Luke Titus, an electrolysis of water and from other Public sector companies in the oil &
water and fossil fuels. as ‘gold hydrogen’ as it was thought to of naturally occurring hydrogen. Initial Australian, was reading an obscure non-fossil sources remains costly. Geo- gas business have formed a ‘Hydrogen
be too expensive. But recent assump- estimates indicate that the sub-soil of 1944 report: Bulletin Number 22 from logical hydrogen, on the other hand, Corpus Fund’ to fi nance R&D activi-
Grey hydrogen refers to hydrogen tions point that it could be the cheapest the region could be one of the biggest the Department of Mines, of the Geo- could be a low-cost form of energy, ties on various facets of hydrogen. The
produced by processing natural gas. source of clean hydrogen. source of white hydrogen. Europe is logical Survey of South Australia. It obtained through drilling techniques ‘Hydrogen Association of India’, as
Black hydrogen is produced from coal. gripped by a gas supply crisis due to the contained an analysis of data from long mastered in the oil & gas industry. well as the above fund, should include
While producing hydrogen from hydro- Accidental discovery Russia-Ukraine confl ict. The discovery farmers who had banded together for The presence of helium, a scarce resource white hydrogen in their agenda on an
carbons by steam reforming, carbon In 1987, in the village of Bourake- of white hydrogen hence brought a oil, using divining rods and other ques- material, is an added sweetener. The US immediate basis.
dioxide is produced as by-product. If this bougou in Western Mali, a borehole was wave of enthusiasm in energy circles. tionable techniques. It showed the data
carbon dioxide is captured and stored being drilled to fi nd water, but even at from one borehole, drilled in 1921 on ABOUT THE AUTHOR
or utilised, the hydrogen is termed blue a depth of 108 metres it remained dry. The team set out to make an esti- Kangaroo Island, which produced as
hydrogen. Green hydrogen comes from Meanwhile, ‘wind’ was coming out of mate of the level and total quantity of much as 80% hydrogen. At another Mr. Amiya Kanti Das (born 1939) is a B.Sc (Hons.) and
electrolysis of water using electricity the hole. When one driller peered into methane present in the sub-soil and to well, on the nearby Yorke Peninsula, M.Sc in Chemistry from Calcutta University. After a stint in
generated from renewable sources like the hole while smoking a cigarette, the see if the production is commercially it was close to 70%. Since February, research on natural products, he was awarded C.Chem., MRSC
solar, hydro or wind. ‘wind’ exploded in his face. He did not viable. Following chemical monitor- 2021, South Australia has started from Royal Society of Chemistry, London. He is a member of
die, but was burned. It took the crew ing of the rock strata and accompany- allowing drilling for hydrogen and Indian Institute of Chemical Engineers and American Chemical
What is white hydrogen? weeks to snuff out the fi re and cap the ing methane deposit, a high proportion several enterprises are on the fray, apart Society.
White hydrogen is naturally- well. The villagers shunned the site and of hydrogen was detected. As the depth from the company ‘Gold Hydrogen’
occurring geological hydrogen found in forgot it. Almost 20 years later, drillers grew, the concentration of hydrogen formed by Luke Titus. He underwent specialised in-plant training in Germany and attended a course
underground deposits. It is often found on the hunt for fossil fuels confi rmed the also grew, reaching 20% at 1,250- of ‘Choice of Proper Technology’ in the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow and
near tectonic fault-lines as the 1,200- accidental discovery of naturally occur- meter down. On the basis of acquired data India a course on ‘Project Appraisal’ in IIM, Bangalore. He has done Post Graduate
mile long mid-continental rift running ring hydrogen below hundreds of feet and computer modelling, it has been In India, the ONGC Research Cen- Specialisation in Environmental Control, from University of Ghent, Belgium.
through central US. The geological of arid earth of West Africa in abundant estimated that the Lorraine deposit tre, the research wing of oil producer,
survey of the US predicts its abundant quantity. Within few months a Ford could possibly contain up to 46-mt of ONGC, informed that hydrogen has Widely travelled in Europe and India, he was a regular contributor in chemi-
presence. engine tuned to burn hydrogen was hooked white hydrogen. been found in some wells dug for petro- cal journals during 80’s and 90’s and is profi cient in German and Russian.
up to a 30-kW (kiloWatt) generator, to leum crude. But there is no programme Before retirement on superannuation on May 31, 1997 from the post of
How is it formed? give the village the fi rst taste of electrical France’s other potential white hydro- yet to extract this hydrogen. The Industrial Advisor in the Dept. of Chemicals and Petrochemicals, he dealy with
Unlike oil and gas deposits, which benefi ts and remains the only place of gen reserves currently explored are Energy Research Institute, (TERI), a well- diverse chemical industries for three decades.
are unsustainable, geological hydro- using white hydrogen till date. in the Alps, New Caledonia and the known think-tank on energy issues, has
gen is believed to be generated conti- Pyrenees. Together with the Lorraine
nuously. There are different theories as to Global explorations deposit, these reserves could enable
how it is produced. The most prevailing France to produce 3-mt of white hydro- Chemical Weekly | Import-Export Data | Market Surveys
one is that it’s a product of a continuous France gen annually. Directories | Business Forums | Expositions
chemical reaction between water and At times one gets something not The only organisation in India catering exclusively to the needs of the entire chemical industry
iron rich minerals at high temperature been sought, and on occasions this Apart from these, other deposits
and pressure. discovery is more valuable than one have been discovered in Canada, the
which was originally thought. Such an Philippines, Australia, Brazil, Oman, Contact:
The existence of hydrogen deep incident happened recently in France. Turkey and elsewhere in Europe in- SEVAK PUBLICATIONS PVT. LTD.
underground is no new revelation. It has While probing the sub-soil in Lorraine, cluding Spain, Germany, Kosovo, Ice- 602-B, Godrej Coliseum, K.J. Somaiya Hospital Road, Behind Everard Nagar, Sion (E), Mumbai 400 022.
been known to geologists for decades. South-eastern France, a team of geolo- land, Finland, Sweden, Poland, Serbia, Phone: +91-22-24044471 / 72; Email: admin@chemicalweekly.com

190 Chemical Weekly October 24, 2023 Chemical Weekly October 24, 2023 191

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