Site items in: Energy Carrier

N-Fuels vs. C-Fuels: Nitrogen “superior” to carbon as a hydrogen carrier
Article

Gideon Grader, a Faculty Dean at Technion Israel Institute of Technology, and Bar Mosevitzky, one of the members of his laboratory, spoke in separate talks at the NH3 Energy + Topical Conference about one of the Grader Research Group’s key focuses: nitrogen-based energy carriers.  Grader and his team champion the idea that ammonia can be the starting rather than ending point for nitrogen-containing fuels for heat engines.  The focuses of their research include ammonium hydroxide ammonium nitrate (AAN), ammonium hydroxide urea (AHU), and urea ammonium nitrate (UAN).  As described below, this work is an indispensable addition to the C-fuel vs. N-fuel debate well known to proponents of ammonia energy.  And the Grader team stakes out a position: per the abstract of Grader’s talk, “using nitrogen as a hydrogen carrier can potentially offer a superior option.”

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…

Nitrogen-Based Fuels: Renewable Hydrogen Carriers
Presentation

Renewable energy sources such as solar and wind suffer from an intermittent power output, making energy storage a key element in future energy infrastructure. Fuels offer both high energy densities and efficient transport compared to other energy storage alternatives. One energy storage solution is water electrolysis. However, the generated hydrogen is incompatible with the global fuel infrastructure, inhibiting its implementation as an energy vector. Storing hydrogen on carrier atoms provides a safe and convenient way to utilize and transport renewable energies. While carbon–based fuels are commonly suggested, using nitrogen as a hydrogen carrier can potentially offer a superior option. In…

China and Australia collaborate on ammonia as a clean transport fuel
Article

The University of Western Australia has entered the increasingly competitive field of ammonia energy research in Australia, announcing a collaborative agreement to develop "the world's first practical ammonia-powered vehicle" as well as an "ammonia-based hydrogen production plant." These goals are supported by funding from the R&D arm of Shenhua Group, formerly a coal company but now "China's largest hydrogen producer with a production capacity to power 40 million fuel cell passenger cars."

SIP
Article

To demonstrate the progress of the SIP "Energy Carriers" program, the Japan Science and Technology Agency last week released a video, embedded below, that shows three of its ammonia fuel research and development projects in operation. R&D is often an abstract idea: this video shows what it looks like to generate power from ammonia. As it turns out, fuel cells aren't hugely photogenic. Nonetheless, if a picture is worth a thousand words, this will be a long article.

Power-to-Ammonia: the Economic Viability of Ammonia Energy
Article

In the last 12 months ... The extensive Power-to-Ammonia feasibility study demonstrated that ammonia energy could be economically viable in different business cases. The report was a collaborative effort by large European corporations - power companies, electricity distributors, chemical producers, engineering firms - and it has already resulted in plans for one 440 MW power plant to be converted to carbon-free fuel by 2023.

Green Ammonia Consortium: Bright Prospects in Japan for Ammonia as an Energy Carrier
Article

In the last 12 months ... In July 2017, 19 companies and three research institutions came together to form the Green Ammonia Consortium. Before this development, it was unclear whether ammonia would find a significant role in Japan’s hydrogen economy. In the wake of this announcement, however, ammonia seems to have claimed the leading position in the race among potential energy carriers.

Kawasaki Moving Ahead with LH2 Tanker Project
Article

Kawasaki Heavy Industries (KWI) is moving ahead with plans for a “liquefied hydrogen carrier ship,” as reported by at least two Japanese news outlets since July.  This means that the groups backing each of the energy carriers included within Japan’s Cross-Ministerial Strategic Innovation Promotion Program (SIP) have all made significant moves ahead of the program’s termination at the end of 2018.  On July 25, 2017 the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST) announced that a collection of companies and research institutions had come together to form the Green Ammonia Consortium.  On July 27, 2017, Chiyoda Corporation announced that work was starting on a demonstration project that will transport hydrogen from Brunei to Japan using liquid organic hydride carrier technology.