An idea on Smart Farming: IoT monitoring of water production from dihydrogen combustion

Abstract

Smart Farming is a concept developing rapidly and gaining momentum. The management of livestock and farm products is done in an automated way thanks to IoT technology. The large field of data at hand offers the possibility of analysis for a better understanding of issues and more efficient decision-making. The management of water consumption is one of the most relevent Smart Farming use cases. In the event of drought, the pressure on water resources becomes increasingly strong. What if we produced water then? The idea of not worrying about the consequence of drought on agricultural production would be interesting. One of the first experiences you learn in a chemistry class is that the combustion of dihydrogen produces water. However, it is necessary to follow this experience closely because of the risk of explosion. Dihydrogen can be produced by the gasification of (agricultural) biomass. Here, the technology takes over, by the means of a supervising IoT system. This system will manage the overall process from biomass production, then dihydrogen production (biomass-to-hydrogen), to water production (dihydrogen-to-water). If the idea proves to be viable on a large scale, the result would be valuable in reducing the issue of water scarcity, in times of drought, in agricultural areas, and even in allowing energy autonomy on farms.