SUSTAINABLE AND COST-EFFICIENT CATALYST FOR HYDROGEN AND ENERGY STORAGE APPLICATIONS BASED ON LIQUID ORGANIC HYDROGEN CARRIERS : ECONOMIC VIABILITY FOR MARKET UPTAKE

Project Information

SHERLOHCK

Grant agreement ID: 101007223

DOI

10.3030/101007223

Project closed

EC signature date 4 December 2020

Start date 1 January 2021

End date 30 June 2024

Funded under

• SOCIETAL CHALLENGES - Secure, clean and efficient energy

Total cost

€ 2 563 322,50

EU contribution

€ 2 563 322,50

Coordinated by

COMMISSARIAT A L ENERGIE ATOMIQUE ET AUX ENERGIES ALTERNATIVES
France

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - SHERLOHCK (SUSTAINABLE AND COST-EFFICIENT CATALYST FOR HYDROGEN AND ENERGY STORAGE APPLICATIONS BASED ON LIQUID ORGANIC HYDROGEN CARRIERS : ECONOMIC VIABILITY FOR MARKET UPTAKE)

Reporting period: 2022-07-01 to 2024-06-30

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

Liquid Organic Hydrogen Carriers (LOHC), consisting on a reversible transformation catalytically activated of a pair of stable liquid organic molecules integrated on hydrogenation/dehydrogenation cycles, are attractive due to their ability to store safely large amounts of hydrogen (up to 7 %wt or 2.300 KWh/ton) during long time and to release pure hydrogen on demand. The proof of concept and some commercial solutions exists but still suffers from high cost and energy needed to facilitate catalytic reactions.
In order to reduce the system cost for LOHC technology to 3 €/Kg for large scale applications SherLOHCk project targets the joint developments consisting on :i) highly active and selective catalyst with partial/total substitution of PGM and thermo-conductive catalyst support to reduce the energy intensity during loading/unloading processes: ii) novel catalytic system architecture ranging from the catalyst to the heat exchanger to minimize the internal heat loss and to increase space-time-yield and iii) novel catalyst testing, system validation and demonstration in demo unit (continuous flow; >200h); to drastically improve their technical performances and energy storage efficiency of LOHCs:
The combination of the materials’ challenges, the catalyst system and their related energy storage capabilities will constitute the core of a catalyst system for LOHC, that will be validated first at a lab scale, then in a continuous flow demo unit. As a whole they will enable the reduction of Energy intensity during loading/unloading processes, a higher efficiency and increased lifetime. Technological, economical and societal bottlenecks are considered to determine the economic viability, balance of energy and the environmental footprint of novel catalyst synthesis route.
Scale-up of the obtained solutions will be carried out together with technology comparison with other hydrogen logistic concepts based on Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) and Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) considerations to finally improve economic viability of the LOHC technology.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

Between M1-M18, work progressed as planned, defining key requirements for catalysts and testing protocols. BT (benzyl toluene) was chosen as the reference molecule, and Clariant’s Pt-based catalysts were selected as benchmarks. Using DFT predictive analysis, the team developed low-Pt alternatives like Pt-Co and Pt-X catalysts, which outperformed the benchmarks. Some catalysts achieved similar results with half the Pt, but PGM-free options showed low activity. Structured heat exchanger reactor models were explored, and initial 3D monoliths integrated catalysts.

By M42, γ-Al2O3 was identified as the best support material. Pt-based hydrogenation and dehydrogenation catalysts showed high selectivity (≥99%) and conversion (>90%). The presence of oxygenates negatively affected performance, but PtFe catalysts performed better. Extensive characterization provided insights into catalyst behavior, and oxidative regeneration restored catalyst function. WP4's development of metallic 3D-printed structures improved catalyst productivity 4.5 times. WP5 demonstrated progress in catalyst testing and optimization, identifying key challenges related to catalyst deactivation and reactivation.

Techno-economic assessments (WP6) highlighted the environmental benefits of low-Pt catalysts and the economic viability of LOHC technology. LCA studies favored LOHC transport over other hydrogen storage methods, and structured dehydrogenation catalysts showed scalability potential. WP7 focused on communication, dissemination, and maximizing the project's impact. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) showed continued success in publications and exploitation activities. on the EC platform.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

The experimental results using the catalytically active 3D-structures show a significant improvement of catalyst productivity compared to the current industrial standard catalyst. The 3D-supported catalysts show a productivity of 0.5 gH2/gPt*min at 250 °C, whereas the standard catalyst only has a productivity of 0.11 gH2/gPt*min at the same reaction conditions. To reach the same productivity using the industrial catalyst the reaction temperature has to be raised to 295 °C.
This improved activity of the catalyst at lower reaction temperatures offers the possibility to run the reaction at lower temperatures with the same yield, thereby reducing the heat lost from the reactor to the environment by reducing the temperature difference.
As mentioned before the catalysts developed and tested in the SherLOHCk project showed promising results in comparison to the benchmark catalysts. However, in order to transfer the catalyst recipe from powder to pellets changes in the recipe had to be made. Due to time limitations, it was not possible to optimize the catalyst recipe even further. This, however, could be work for further research leading to even better catalyst performance. In addition, further research is needed in the evaluation of these developed and upscaled catalyst like e.g. even longer tests in a continuous flow reactor to get more insights into the long-term catalyst performance. In addition, the very promising catalyst reactivation procedures need to be validated in demo units and investigated further.
Overall, the upscaling process—including lab synthesis of the catalyst, batch testing, continuous flow testing, and ultimately assessing energy demand—requires further optimization and should be incorporated into future research and development roadmaps.

Schematic representation of the Dehydrogenation hydrogenation and catalysts characterization