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US 6,936,363 B2Granted
Ammonia cracker for production of hydrogen
AssigneeApollo Energy Systems, Incorporated
InventorsKarl Kordesch, Viktor Hacker, Robert Fankhauser, Gottfried Faleschnin
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Abstract
This method for hydrogen production from ammonia is based on the catalytic dissociation of gaseous ammonia in a cracker. A catalytic fixed bed is used. The ammonia cracker supplies a fuel cell (for example, an alkaline fuel cell AFC) with a mixture of hydrogen and nitrogen. Most of the supplied hydrogen is burned in the ammonia cracker for the supply of the energy needed for the ammonia dissociation process.
Claims11
A process for producing a hydrogen and nitrogen mixture from gaseous ammonia, said process comprising:
- (a) providing a gaseous ammonia stream to a dissociation unit of an ammonia cracker to dissociate the gaseous ammonia stream to a mixture of hydrogen and nitrogen at a temperature of about 500° C. to 750° C., wherein the dissociation unit consists essentially of a catalyst bed containing aluminum oxide pellets onto which an active catalyst metal has been deposited , the active catalyst metal being a member selected from the group consisting of nickel, ruthenium and platinum;
- (b) supplying the hydrogen and nitrogen mixture to a fuel cell, and
- (c) feeding a portion of hydrogen electrode off gas of the fuel cell to a heating unit of the ammonia cracker to supply heat for further dissociation reactions of the ammonia.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.