Scientists from the University of Colorado have developed a new and effective way to produce green hydrogen, or green syngas, a precursor to liquid fuel. This breakthrough could pave the way for a greener approach to energy consumption in sectors such as transportation, steelmaking and ammonia production.
A new study recently published in the journal Joule, focused on producing hydrogen or syngas, a mixture of hydrogen and carbon monoxide that can be converted into fuels such as gasoline, diesel and kerosene. The CU Boulder team is laying the groundwork for the first commercially viable method of producing this fuel entirely using solar energy. This could help engineers produce syngas more sustainably.
The group was led by Al Weimer, a professor in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering.
“I like to think of it this way: one day when you go to the pump you’ll have unleaded, super-unleaded and ethanol, for example, and then an additional option will be solar fuel, where the fuel is derived from sunlight,” one of the two lead authors of the new study and a professor in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering. water and carbon dioxide,” said Kent Warren, a research assistant professor. “Our hope is that it will be cost-competitive with ground-derived fuel.”
Traditionally, engineers produce hydrogen through electrolysis, or by using electricity to split water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen. The team’s “thermochemical” approach, by contrast, uses heat produced by sunlight to complete the same chemical reactions. These methods can also produce carbon monoxide by breaking down carbon dioxide molecules removed from the atmosphere.
Scientists have previously shown that this approach to producing hydrogen and carbon monoxide is possible but may not be efficient enough to produce syngas in a commercially viable manner. In the new study, researchers showed that they could carry out these reactions at high pressures, in part by using iron-aluminate materials, which are relatively cheap and common on Earth. This high pressure allowed the team to more than double hydrogen production. Source
Source: Port Altele
