Producing green hydrogen in one SINGLE step
Press Release -
The partners of the new European project SINGLE meet in Oslo to kick off their collaboration on the Electrified Single Stage Ammonia Cracking to Compressed Hydrogen
It is commonly known that achieving the 2050 climate neutrality goal will require a substantial restriction of the use of fossil fuels in the energy sector, replacing them with renewable energy sources as much as possible. Hydrogen is an important part of this solution: it does not emit CO2 when produced sustainably, and it only forms water when used. SINGLE, a project funded by the Clean Hydrogen Joint Undertaking, aims to deliver hydrogen at unprecedented energy efficiencies.
In fact, hydrogen has a high energy density by mass, but the volumetric energy density in standard conditions is very low. To import large quantities of renewables from long distances, cost-effective and efficient ways of transporting hydrogen are needed. While there are several options, a simple fundamental assessment favours the use of liquid ammonia mainly due to its existence as a commodity chemical in the last decade. Ammonia is, as such, emerging as a carbon-free H2- carrier.
However, the conservative route to recover hydrogen from ammonia includes a complex, multistage process, made of four stages (ammonia dehydrogenation reaction; hydrogen separation; heat management; and compression) penalized by a loss in energy efficiency.
In this context, SINGLE offers a simpler solution through a proton ceramic electrochemical reactor (PCER) that integrates all 4 process steps in one single stage. This will make the process more energy efficient, and less costly.
The project, launched in Oslo on 23 and 24 May 2023, will expand on the technology already demonstrated in Clark et al. “Single-step hydrogen production from NH3, CH4, and biogas in stacked proton ceramic reactors” (DOI: 10.1126/science.abj3951). “The SINGLE project will demonstrate the PCER technology using ammonia as fuel to directly deliver purified, pressurized hydrogen at a 10 kg H2 /day scale” explains the SINGLE project coordinator Dr. Selene Hernández Morejudo, from CoorsTek Membrane Sciences.
The consortium draws on entities from the industry, institute, and academia sector with high world-wide excellence in the respective fields of catalysis, electrochemical membrane reactors, life-cycle assessment, process engineering, control systems and hydrogen fuelling stations.
For further information on the project, contact Sara Lazzarin – Communication Manager.
