Demonstrating hydrogen production from ammonia - identifying a PEM fuel cell purge strategy

摘要

Ammonia, NH3, is an attractive, ubiquitous and sustainable energy vector if its intrinsic hydrogen content can be accessed for use. Indeed ammonia has the potential to play a very significant role in the future of a CO2-free energy supply. Light metal amides and imides have recently emerged [1][2] as a new class of catalyst for the effective and efficient decomposition of NH3 into H2 and N2 (equation 1), and that this represents a low-cost approach to on-demand hydrogen production. Here we build upon this discovery and describe the technical challenges that were overcome whilst integrating the ammonia cracking unit with a post-reactor gas purification system and a small-scale PEM fuel cell to create a bench-top demonstrator.