Australian company wants to stir up hydrogen market:
A new manufacturing process based on iron ore and methane could make the breakthrough finally hydrogen. Tests of a spin-off of Western Australia University have this week promising results delivered.
The Australian technology company Hazer has found the philosopher's stone - and consists of iron ore. This production of hydrogen could finally be economical.
The decisive factor in the new process, the catalyst is. He is considered one of the biggest cost factors in the production of hydrogen. Comparatively low-priced iron ore to replace the metals platinum or nickel used to date and split methane into its constituent hydrogen and carbon dioxide. Iron ore is widely used at the company headquarters near the Western Australian city of Perth and therefore low. With a ton of iron ore Hazer can produce up to ten tons of hydrogen according to its own estimates.
The recovered hydrogen can also be reused for energy gains, says CEO George Pocock against bizz energy. "If we produce, for example, 10,000 tons of hydrogen, we can feed a part again as the basis for low-emission energy back," he says. So Hazer develop a "self-preserved" system.
Graphite instead of CO2
"We estimate that our process for hydrogen producer brings massive savings," says CEO Geoff Pocock. The London Guardian even reported a halving of costs.
Another advantage: Hardly pollutants are emitted. Unlike the steam reforming hitherto most commonly used is not ejected the by-product carbon as such, but discharged as graphite. Graphite is the main component of lithium-ion batteries, which are installed, for example, in electric cars. "Our artificial graphite we want an affordable alternative to the natural raw material offering," said Pocock. "Core of the business model is therefore the co-production of two raw materials: hydrogen and graphite," he adds. This week tests have shown promising results at the University of Sydney, Hazer informed.
2017 the political system to function correctly and produce 30 tons of hydrogen per year. Emerged based company in 2010 from a project at the Western Australia University. Meanwhile research the University of Sydney in the process. Six million Australian dollars, converted four million euros were already invested.
A step towards the hydrogen economy?
When hydrogen is used, for example for heat recovery or in fuel cells for power generation, water is the only waste product. The gas was therefore often touted as low-emission energy sources. For example, it could replace someday gasoline or diesel as fuel for cars, producing electricity for electric vehicles by fuel cell or even replace fossil natural gas.
However, less than 0.7 percent of the annual production of around 50 million tons of hydrogen are used at all in the energy sector, as shown in a paper by Robert Steinberger-Wilkens world. The professor directs the Center for Hydrogen and Fuel Cells at the University of Birmingham in the UK and was one of the experts in the bizz energy symposium "Hydrogen and mobility".
Mostly the gas for production of ammonia is utilized, the inserted for example in fertilizers. Therefore, many companies build next to their factories manufacturing facilities to produce the hydrogen on the spot. Hazer will just replace these systems. The proportion of energy used hydrogen could be increased significantly, company president Pocock himself is convinced.
And he is already thinking ahead: "We are looking for potential partnerships for the manufacturing process." In addition to eruiere whether biomass can be used in place of natural gas. So could act overlooking the entire process as a carbon store and convert CO2 into "in-resistant, low-emission graphite" Hazer.
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