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Double-action Power Stations: Energy And Hydrogen

Date:
April 23, 2009
Source:
Royal Society of Chemistry
Summary:
Gas power plants could be cheaply retrofitted to generate hydrogen as well as power, chemists say. A catalyst would convert methane into hydrogen gas and combustible coke, allowing the power station to produce hydrogen alongside electricity.
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Gas power plants could be cheaply retrofitted to generate hydrogen as well as power, chemists say in a Royal Society of Chemistry journal.

A catalyst would convert methane into hydrogen gas and combustible coke, allowing the power station to produce hydrogen alongside electricity.

Gadi Rothenberg and colleagues at the University of Amsterdam and at IRCE Lyon report in Green Chemistry that the catalyst could be cheaply installed into existing plants.

This kind of technology could ease a transition to a hydrogen economy, reducing the need for heavy investment in large hydrogen-focused plants.

Generating hydrogen and power together "is a conceptual change," says Rothenberg.

"When you're going to produce hydrogen, you needn't build a huge new power plant to do that. Diverting some of your existing methane feed to produce hydrogen just makes sense."

The group tested many new catalysts based on ceria doped with other metals. One nickel-based form shows excellent catalytic activity and would cost only $10 per kilogram.


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Materials provided by Royal Society of Chemistry. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.


Journal Reference:

  1. Beckers et al. Marrying gas power and hydrogen energy: A catalytic system for combining methane conversion and hydrogen generation. Green Chemistry, 2009; DOI: 10.1039/b900516a

Cite This Page:

Royal Society of Chemistry. "Double-action Power Stations: Energy And Hydrogen." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 23 April 2009. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/04/090423100810.htm>.
Royal Society of Chemistry. (2009, April 23). Double-action Power Stations: Energy And Hydrogen. ScienceDaily. Retrieved December 6, 2024 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/04/090423100810.htm
Royal Society of Chemistry. "Double-action Power Stations: Energy And Hydrogen." ScienceDaily. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/04/090423100810.htm (accessed December 6, 2024).

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