Site items in: Energy Carrier

CSIRO Partner Revealed for NH3-to-H2 Technology
Article

Last week Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) announced the formation of a partnership that will support commercialization of CSIRO’s high-purity ammonia-to-hydrogen conversion technology.  Michael Dolan, Principal Research Scientist for the ammonia-to-hydrogen project, had signaled such a development on the occasion of the technology’s first public demonstration in August 2018, saying in a contemporaneous Ammonia Energy post that the identity of “a major industrial partner” would be revealed shortly. The partner turns out to be Fortescue Metals Group (FMG).  A November 22 article in Business Insider Australia states that the company will invest “[AUD]$19.1 million [USD$13.8] in technology developed by the CSIRO to make hydrogen vehicles viable in a potential gamechanger for the transport industry.”

Development of a Highly Efficient COx-Free Ammonia Dehydrogenation System for Fuel Cell Applications
Presentation

The shortage of fossil fuels and emission of carbon dioxide to the environment have attracted an interest in discovering renewable energy as the next generation energy source. Owing to its intermittent and unpredictable nature, however, excess renewable energy needs to be stored and reused on demand. In the regard, hydrogen, which possesses a high gravimetric energy density and carbon free combustion process, has been extensively researched as a promising renewable energy carrier. However, the distribution and storage of hydrogen still raise important challenges due to the low volumetric energy density of hydrogen for its wide utilization. Currently, gaseous hydrogen transportation…

Ammonia As a Hydrogen Carrier for PEM Fuel Cells
Presentation

Ammonia (NH3) is easily liquefied by compression at 1 MPa and 25°C, and has highest volumetric hydrogen density of 10.7 kg H2 /100L. It has high gravimetric hydrogen density of 17.8 wt%. The heat of formation of NH3 is about 1/10 of combustion heat of hydrogen. NH3 has advantages as a hydrogen carrier for fuel cell vehicles (FCVs). ISO 14687-2:2012 specifies the quality characteristics of hydrogen fuel. The maximum concentration of NH3 and N2 for the FCVs is 0.1ppm and 100 ppm, respectively. The minimum H2 purity is 99.97%. We need component technologies to produce high-purity hydrogen from ammonia, together…

Power-to-Ammonia-to-Power (P2A2P) for Local Electricity Storage in 2025
Presentation

A carbon-free, circular economy is required to decrease greenhouse gas emissions. A commonly named alternative to the carbon-based economy is the hydrogen economy. However, storing and transporting hydrogen is difficult. Therefore, the ammonia economy is proposed. Ammonia (NH3) is a carbon-free hydrogen carrier, which can mediate the hydrogen economy. Especially for long-term storage (above 1 day), ammonia is more economically stored than hydrogen. Transportation costs are greatly reduced by adopting a decentralized energy economy. Furthermore, political-economic factors influence energy prices less in a decentralized energy economy. With small-scale ammonia production gaining momentum, business models for the decentralized ammonia economy are…

Great Strides in NH3 Commitment and Progress in Australia
Article

In the last 12 months ... Ammonia Energy has published posts covering pertinent activity in 32 different countries.  In most of them, ammonia’s potential as versatile energy vector has reached the point of avowed interest from relevant institutions.  In a small handful, it has become a part of national policy.  But, as demonstrated in repeated instances throughout the year, nowhere is ammonia energy more robustly embraced than Australia.  The central argument behind this assertion is captured in the phrase, “the complete package,” as in “package of resources, policies, players, partners, and investments.”

Ammonia as a Hydrogen Carrier for Hydrogen Fuel Cells
Article

In the last 12 months ... Consider the attributes that characterize a good hydrogen carrier: liquid state at ambient conditions; high volumetric and gravimetric energy density; low propensity to create lethal hazards when transported, stored, and used.  Now consider that ammonia is superior to hydrogen itself in every one of these areas.  Given this, it stands to reason that proponents of hydrogen fuel cells should embrace ammonia as a valuable enabling technology that can elevate the feasibility and improve the economics of fuel-cell-based systems.  And indeed this embrace became evident over the last year.

Hydrogen Plans Appear, But Where Is Ammonia?
Article

The concept of hydrogen as the centerpiece of a sustainable energy economy continues to gain momentum.  It is the focus of recent reports from France and the United Kingdom that consider the topic from two distinct but surprisingly convergent national perspectives.  And while ammonia is not given a role in either treatment, this seems to be because the authors' thinking has not arrived at a level of detail where ammonia's virtues become salient.