Chemical Engineering Graduate Seminar
Speaker: Dr. Aziz Nechache, ENOWA/NEOM
Abstract
In the current global context of transition into renewable energy sources, hydrogen has been identified to play a key role as an energy carrier through a complete value chain from the production to the storage, transportation and usage. Production of green hydrogen by electrolysis represents a critical brick in this value chain which is still facing technical challenges to become cost competitive at scale. After introduction of the main electrolysis technologies, their advantages and drawbacks, the main current research and innovation focuses at cell, stack and system levels will be presented, followed by a few examples of ongoing projects.
Bio
Dr. Aziz Nechache is the Electrolyzer Technology and Innovation Manager at ENOWA/NEOM, and in charge of the implementation of the NEOM Hydrogen and e-fuels Applied Research Institute. Aziz obtained his PhD in 2014 at Université Pierre et Marie Curie (UPMC) on the study of the performance and degradation behavior of a SOEC using an in-situ tool based on electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, followed by a post-doctoral fellow position at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST, Saudi Arabia) focusing on the elaboration of innovative electrode materials for SOFC/SOEC. This was followed by a position of research scientist at the German Aerospace Center (DLR, Germany) where Aziz was in charge of the activities related to SOEC electrochemical testing and characterization from cell to stack level through several national and international collaborative projects. Before joining NEOM, Aziz worked at ENGIE Lab CRIGEN (Paris, France) where he was in charge of implementing the ENGIE Hydrogen R&D living lab called “H2 Factory”. He was also acting as technical referent and/or project leader in several projects involving the production of hydrogen by electrolysis or its use with fuel cells. Aziz is co-author of 13 referenced publications and attended various international conferences as speaker.
