Breakthrough in hydrogen technology cuts costs, improves practicality
Mon 23 June 2014
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A breakthrough by researchers at the UK's Science and Technology Facilities Council in the field of hydrogen production has been reported. The scientists say that they have developed a process for separating hydrogen from ammonia at much lower cost than currently used methods.
Professor Bill David, who led the STFC research team, said: “Our approach is as effective as the best current catalysts but the active material, sodium amide, costs pennies to produce. We can produce hydrogen from ammonia ‘on demand’ effectively and affordably."
In storage terms ammonia can be housed at low pressure in plastic tanks, while any hypothetical tanks would use the same structure as LPG. "We've even thought about how we can make ammonia as safe as possible and stop the release of nitrogen oxides," (a by-product of 'cracking') added Professor David. "While our process is not yet optimised, we estimate that an ammonia decomposition reactor no bigger than a 2 litre bottle will provide enough hydrogen to run a mid-range family car."
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