Site items in: Cracking Ammonia

Novel Catalysts for Ammonia Cracking and Synthesis
Presentation

The most effective ammonia cracking catalysts are currently based on rare metals such as ruthenium and cobalt. While iron can efficiently crack ammonia at 600 °C, it is desirable to develop similarly inexpensive catalysts that are effective at lower temperatures between 350 °C and 500 °C. In this presentation, a new family of imide-based catalysts are described that crack ammonia around 400 °C to 550 °C. These materials do not behave as conventional surface-based catalysts and offer an affordable route for on-board cracking of ammonia for hydrogen fuel-cell cars. The operational parameters of a small 50W lab-based demonstrator will be…

Delivering Clean Hydrogen Fuel from Ammonia Using Metal Membranes
Presentation

The use of ammonia (NH3) as a hydrogen vector can potentially enable renewable energy export from Australia to markets in Asia and Europe. With a higher hydrogen density than liquid H2, plus existing production and transport infrastructure, and well-developed safety practices and standards, the financial and regulatory barriers to this industry are lower than for liquid H2 transport. The only significant technical barrier which remains, however, is the efficient utilisation of ammonia fuel at or near the point of use, either directly or through the production of H2. For H2 production from NH3, the purity of the product H2 is…

Development of Materials and Systems for Ammonia-Fueled Solid Oxide Fuel Cells
Presentation

Hydrogen is the primary fuel source for fuel cells. However, the low volume density and difficulty in storage and transportation are major obstacles for the practical utilization. On-site generation of hydrogen from its carrier is an effective method for the fuel supply. Among various hydrogen carriers, ammonia is one of the promising candidates. Ammonia has high hydrogen density. The boiling point of ammonia is relatively high, leading to the ease in liquefaction and transportation. Hydrogen can be produced from ammonia with a mildly endothermic process. The reaction temperature of ammonia cracking is about 600˚C or higher which is close to…

254th ACS Meeting, Energy and Fuels Symposium “The Ammonia Economy” — Oxidation, Catalytic Cracking & Storage
Article

In August of 2017 a symposium on the Ammonia Economy was held in Washington DC as part of the Energy and Fuels Division of the American Chemical Society (ACS) conference. The symposium was devised to explore the latest results from ammonia related research, including but not limited to; advances in the generation of ammonia, advances in the catalytic cracking of ammonia to nitrogen and hydrogen, ammonia storage and utilisation, detectors and sensors for ammonia, ammonia fuel cells and hydrogen from ammonia, ammonia combustion and ammonia safety.

BOC/Linde Embraces Ammonia-Based Hydrogen Fueling Technology
Article

Dateline Sydney, August 22, 2017.   Industrial gas vendor Linde Group (under its BOC brand) confirms its participation in a previously announced Australian ammonia-energy project.  With the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO) in the lead, the project partners will build and operate a pilot-scale “ammonia-to-hydrogen cracking” facility that showcases CSIRO’s hydrogen purification membrane technology.  BOC/Linde will contribute goods and services valued at AUD$100,000 (USD$80,000) to the AUD$3.4 million project.

The Ammonia Economy at the ACS National Meeting
Article

The American Chemical Society (ACS) has published the program for its 2017 National Meeting, which takes place next month in Washington DC and includes a session dedicated to the "Ammonia Economy." The first day of the week-long meeting, Sunday August 20th, will feature a full morning of technical papers from the US, UK, and Japan, covering ammonia energy topics across three general areas: producing hydrogen from ammonia, developing new catalysts for ammonia synthesis and oxidation, and storing ammonia in solid chemical form.

On the Ground in Japan: FCV Uptake and Hydrogen Fueling Stations
Article

Module four of the ten-module research and development agenda for Japan’s Cross-Ministerial Strategic Innovation Promotion Program -- Energy Carriers is entitled “Basic Technology for Hydrogen Station Utilizing Ammonia.” The rationale for including this technology is that “high purity H2 supply system with low cost hydrogen transportation is a key issue to spread fuel cell vehicles (FCVs).” A story published last week in the Tokyo Shimbun says that to date FCVs have not spread very far. Among the factors seen as constraints is the cost of hydrogen fueling stations (HFS). The Tokyo Shimbun story states that “according to industry officials, each station that supplies hydrogen to fuel cell vehicles runs about ¥400 million ($3.6 million) in construction costs. In order to achieve profitability, about 1,000 fuel cell vehicles are required as customers per location. Construction is not proceeding.” So far, the players focused on FCVs do not seem to be looking to ammonia as an expedient that will help reduce the cost of HFS and thereby encourage their construction and by extension the uptake of FCVs. This appears to be a missed opportunity whose benefits may become too compelling to ignore.