A research team in Germany says it has developed an innovative way to store and transport hydrogen, which can unleash its pollution-free energy.
The secret ingredient that the Fraunhofer Institute for Ceramic Technologies and Systems scientists tapped into is ammonia, a hydrogen derivative.
"Ammonia has been used in the chemical industry for decades, for example to produce fertilizers, so there are established and familiar processes of handling this substance," Fraunhofer researcher Laura Nousch said in a press release.
Nousch said ammonia's "high energy density" and relative ease in storage and transport made it an "ideal starting material for climate-friendly generation of electricity and heat energy."
The Fraunhofer team's process was to feed ammonia into a cracker that they'd heat to temperatures exceeding 570 degrees Fahrenheit. That created both hydrogen and nitrogen. They then paired water vapors with the nitrogen, forming harmless exhaust gases.
Meanwhile, the scientists transmitted the hydrogen into a high-temperature ceramic fuel cell. The resulting electrochemical reaction created electricity with 60% efficiency, which is comparable to processes using natural gas.
Of course, hydrogen-generated energy avoids the planet-warming carbon pollution associated with burning dirty energy like natural gas.
Additionally, the researchers said the process created thermal heat that could be used to heat the cracker or for other purposes. It's also important to point out that the scientists completed the process in one fuel-cell demonstrator device.
As the world looks for clean energy solutions, maximizing the power of hydrogen is a major challenge. The appeal is obvious — unlike competing dirty energy sources, hydrogen doesn't pollute and instead turns into harmless water vapors and steam when burned in a fuel cell.
Storage is a major sticking point, though, and the Fraunhofer scientists' ammonia solution joins other ideas in development, such as storing in reservoirs and lakes.
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Another challenge holding up the bright promise of the hydrogen economy is the current dominant forms of extraction that rely heavily on dirty energy. Unlocking "green hydrogen" is an objective of multiple companies and researchers.
Even as hydrogen faces major roadblocks to viability, there are inspiring examples of fuel-cell cars, record-setting hydrogen trucks, planes, and ships, which point to all of the potential technological uses.
The Fraunhofer team has specific use cases in mind as they can leverage "targeted design and smart thermal management" with fuel-cell stacks of different sizes and power levels to deliver "customized solutions," Nousch said in the press release.
"The system is perfect for smaller industrial companies that want to generate electricity without carbon emissions…or for municipalities and local utility companies looking to supply green heat to their customers," Nousch added.
One more exciting potential customer is large ships, which Nousch said, "can be equipped with eco-friendly drives based on ammonia/hydrogen in this way."
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