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December
26
2017

Breakthrough In Hydrogen Cracking Could Create Clean Fuel
Michael McDonald

Is this the first serious crack in high cost of hydrogen?

Hydrogen fuel cells have been one of the most exciting areas of green energy for a long time. After all, a vehicle that runs and produces water as its only output would be a great innovation. Yet, hydrogen fuel cells have remained a frustratingly difficult technology that has made little progress in become a serious power source in any major market.

Even with the backing of one of the biggest car companies on the planet, hydrogen fuel is still lagging far behind electric vehicles. This result is driven by a number of interconnected issues. Yet perhaps the most serious challenge for hydrogen-based power is the prohibitive cost associated with the technology.

Current hydrogen production methods are mostly not commercially viable. The most cost-efficient method for creating hydrogen used in industrial applications including fuel cells is steam hydrocarbon reforming.

This is a process where natural gas is treated with high temperature steam which in turn causes a chemical breakdown of the natural gas releasing hydrogen. Obviously this is not very green since natural gas is used, and it’s costly due to the poor efficiency of the process.

Other methods start with the gasification of low sulfur coal in an industrial furnace, and then chemically scrub the gas to extract hydrogen, along with carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide. These methods are reasonably effective for producing hydrogen at an acceptable price for use in industrial manufacturing, but they are not even close to cost competitive with gasoline or natural gas given energy production/cost trade-offs. Electrolysis can also be used to produce very pure hydrogen based on using electricity to chemically decompose water into hydrogen and oxygen. The problem here is that the method is very energy intensive and can end up using more energy than is actually created.

Recently, a novel approach to the issue of hydrogen production has emerged out of Germany. Hydrogen can be extracted from many molecules, and one of these molecules is methane (CH4). Methane can be “cracked” using high temperatures to break the molecule down into its component parts of hydrogen and carbon. The German team built a reactor device which successfully cracked methane at temperatures of around 1200 degrees Celsius and showed a 78 percent conversion rate for hydrogen production over a two-week trial period.

This is a very big accomplishment. Methane cracking has been around for a while now, but it has never been a very useful technology for producing hydrogen because of low conversion rates and problems with most reactors. If the new reactor design can consistently improve the efficacy of hydrogen production from methane cracking, it’s likely that industrial hydrogen companies would take notice quickly. In addition, depending on the costs of input feedstock, and the conversion efficiency in large scale production, it could lead to the first viable production of cost effective hydrogen for transportation uses.

The German team showed that “methane cracking could achieve costs of 1.9 to 3.3 euros per kilogram of hydrogen at current German natural gas prices.” In the U.S., that price would likely be even lower, but the key is to make sure that the new reactor works reliably and consistently over time.

If the reactor runs into problems too often and maintenance issues start to crop up (like carbon clogging), then the technology won’t get past the starting gate. Methane cracking is a much greener technology approach than current standards like steam methane reforming or alternative methods of generating hydrogen. The new reactor then could be a very big deal from an environmental standpoint. There are a number of unanswered questions still remaining, but the most important one is can this trial be replicated by other facilities elsewhere in the world.

By Michael McDonald of Oilprice.com

Michael is an assistant professor of finance and a frequent consultant to companies regarding capital structure decisions and investments. He holds a PhD in finance and his research has been quoted in the Wall Street Journal and by Bloomberg.  He teaches classes in the areas of corporate finance and investments. Michael's consulting work includes significant experience as an expert witness, investment consultant, and business intelligence analyst for a variety of companies large and small. He has done work for firms across the US and Europe. He regularly acts in partnership with other experts in finance and economics on a variety of engagements.

Check Michael's website http://www.morninginvestmentsct.com/ for more info 

If you're interested in learning more about finance and big data, please take a look at Michael's courses at Udemy.

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