The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has granted a patent to the Institute of Chemical Technology (ICT), Mumbai, and ONGC Energy Centre Trust (OEC) for ‘Hydrogen production method by multi-step copper-chlorine thermochemical cycle’. The patent application for a process to generate hydrogen, an obvious alternative to hydrocarbon fuels, from water was filed on Jul 9, 2012.
The ONGC Energy Centre Trust, has been in the pursuit to develop innovative methods to generate hydrogen considered as one of the most efficient and clean emerging sources of energy for transport and power generation applications. Hydrogen is produced by splitting water thermo chemically, using heat generated from solar or nuclear energy. When these reactions are carried out in a closed-loop process, they result in splitting of water into hydrogen and oxygen with regeneration of reactants.
OEC has been collaborating with ICT, Mumbai, on research projects for generating hydrogen using copper-chlorine (Cu-Cl) thermochemical cycle involving a maximum temperature of about 550°C. The reactors used in this process have also been developed indigenously. This patent may open up new ground for generation of hydrogen from water on commercial scale in a sustainable manner in the coming years.

Source: ITAG (www.itagbs.com)