Chemical Research Institute succeeded in developing hydrogen production catalyst process technology using ammonia
40% improvement in hydrogen production at 100°C lower temperature than the existing catalytic process
Dr. Chae Ho-Jung’s team, “New catalyst process, green hydrogen settlement will have a big impact”
[에너지신문] A domestic research team developed a catalytic process technology that uses ammonia to store, transport, and produce hydrogen. This technology can produce about 40% more hydrogen at temperatures about 100°C lower than conventional catalytic processes.
On the 25th, Dr. Chae Ho-Jung’s research team at the Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology announced on the 25th that it has developed an energy-saving catalytic process that can produce hydrogen from ammonia with high efficiency at a temperature of about 100°C lower than the existing process.
Hydrogen is recently attracting attention as a next-generation eco-friendly energy source. In Korea, a staged roadmap for hydrogen technology development was announced and the hydrogen law was enacted. In the domestic hydrogen market, new demand is expected to increase significantly as eco-friendly energy fuels such as hydrogen power generation, hydrogen vehicles and hydrogen ships, as well as existing industries such as petrochemical, electronics, materials, and semiconductor industries.
The method of storing and transporting hydrogen as high-pressure gaseous hydrogen is mainly used, but there is a disadvantage in that there is a risk of explosion, the cost is high, and the amount of storage is limited. Accordingly, studies on storage and transport of hydrogen are being actively conducted worldwide, and one of them is research using ammonia. Ammonia has a chemical formula of NH3 and contains hydrogen (H), and it is a material that is emerging in the hydrogen field because it can be liquefied relatively easily and can move safely.
In particular, the researchers said, in order to produce hydrogen from ammonia, the temperature can be lowered through the catalyst by applying high heat so that nitrogen and hydrogen contained in ammonia are separated well in sequence.
The research team synthesized a composite oxide support containing cerium (Ce) and lanthanum (La) optimized for ammonia decomposition, and a new catalyst (Ru/LaxCe1-xOy) in which ruthenium (Ru) metal nanoparticles were evenly dispersed on the surface of the support. ) Developed.
In addition, as the electrons of ruthenium on the surface of the catalyst become more abundant, the recombination-desorption reaction of nitrogen from ammonia occurs more easily, and the catalyst support was designed to give electrons to ruthenium well.
In this catalytic process, 100% of hydrogen can be produced at 450°C, which is about 100°C lower than the conventional process, and hydrogen can be produced with high efficiency of 90% or more even at a temperature of 400°C.
The new catalyst showed a 40% improvement in hydrogen production under the same conditions than the previously reported catalysts, and it was found that the reaction took place about 4 times better in the part (active point) where the reaction of the catalyst took place. It showed stable performance even in durability tests for hundreds of hours or more.
In addition, the new catalyst can be prepared relatively easily and simply by the precipitation method, which is a basic chemical process, which is advantageous for mass production and commercialization.
Dr. Ho-Jung Chae said, “Based on the ammonia decomposition catalyst system developed this time, the development of various application processes such as large ammonia-based hydrogen production plants, hydrogen power generation, hydrogen stations and ships will be actively carried out.” The impact will be great”.
Meanwhile, Dr. Ho-Jung Chae’s research team at the Chemical Process Research Division at the Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology published the above research results in the latest issue of’Applied Catalysis B-Environmental’, a world-renowned authoritative journal in the field of energy and environment.
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