Periodic Reporting for period 1 - ANDREAH (AmmoNia baseD membRane rEActor for green Hydrogen production)
Berichtszeitraum: 2023-07-01 bis 2024-12-31
While many hard-to-abate sectors would benefit from a wide availability of green ammonia in Europe, the development of ammonia cracking technologies remains a prerequisite to unlock the full potential of ammonia as a hydrogen carrier. ANDREAH’s main objective is the development of advanced ammonia decomposition technologies to produce ultra-pure hydrogen (>99.998%) by developing an innovative system based on a Catalytic Membrane Reactor (CMR) for the cracking of Ammonia. In this way, optimised heat management, improved conversion per pass and purification/recycling for more cost-efficient and resource-effective ammonia decomposition at lower temperatures (400-450ºC) compared to conventional systems resulting in a decrease of CAPEX and OPEX of the system, that will bring a decrease of on the decentralized cost of H2. For this purpose, environmentally friendly and with less Critical Raw Materials (80-90% less compared to conventional packed bed systems) structured catalyst will be developed and scaled up and integrated with advanced H2 selective Carbon Molecular Sieve Membranes and coupled with a sorbent-based hydrogen polishing step for fuel cell grade. Moreover, the complete system will be validated at TRL5 at the port of Rotterdam. Apart from the different exploitable results of the project, the ambition of ANDREAH is to create a spin-off company that can exploit the advanced ammonia cracking system.
WP1 Business Case definition & Exploitation
ANDREAH: Market and Stakeholders Analysis has been successfully completed. The analysis encompasses the mapping and characterization of key stakeholders, target customer segmentation, and the identification of potential customer sectors such as fertilizers, refineries, aviation, steel production, non-road mobile machinery, long-distance transportation, and power generation. The analysis evaluates existing competing solutions and their business models. It includes a Value Map describing the features and benefits of the ANDREAH product, along with a Customer Profile identifying target customers, their needs, and risks.
A methodological approach has been defined for the IPR Management and Exploitation Strategy, and an initial list of Key Exploitable Results (KERs) has been proposed for further characterization and assessment. In parallel, the methodology and action plan for the Business Modelling and Go-To-Market Strategy has been established to identify appropriate business models and create a plan for market uptake. The tasks have been structured into four workstreams: mathematical business modeling, stakeholders and financial instruments characterization, go-to-market strategy, and the creation of a spin-off.
WP2 System requirements, design and modelling
The technological requirements, risk and opportunities of the different components of ANDREAH project value chain has been successfully defined. In parallel, kinetic studies of ammonia decomposition were conducted to elucidate the reaction mechanism and develop a kinetic model for the most effective formulation of the catalyst supported on perovskites. Furthermore, a model capable of describing the permeation behavior of CMSM has been detailed. This model can predict each gas permeation at different pressures and temperatures. At the same time the model is also able to the estimate the membrane properties and gas specifics.
WP3 Key component development and scale up
Regarding the catalyst two generation of two different environmentally friendly catalyst materials with low or free Critical Raw Materials have been developed: catalysts based on perovskites & transition metals & Ru and catalysts based on transition metals supported on oxides carriers. Catalytic activity tests have shown the best performance on the second type of catalyst achieving a productivity of 7.13 mmol H2·gcat−1min−1 at 400°C and exceeding 10 mmol H2·gcat−1min−1 by 450°C, surpassing the project target. In addition, the first generation of Open Cell Foams (OCF) and Periodical Open Cellular Structured (POCS) catalysts have been developed. The Triply Periodic Minimal Surface (TPMS) microarchitectures (Gyroid, Diamond and I-WP) were activated with the best perovskite catalyst. The Gyroid and I-WP structures, with their labyrinthine network of channels, provided efficient mass and heat transfer pathways. Both geometries exhibited superior performance with respect to the other POCS and TPMS catalysts.
In parallel, two different families of Carbon Molecular Sieve Membranes (CMSMs) have been developed: carbon membranes based on previous studies and the first generation of CMSMs. The addition of different additives to phenolic resin and carbonization temperature have been studied. The membranes show promising performances for the ammonia cracking. Finally, two families of sorbents were prepared: phenolic resins and polymeric beads both with additives.
The development of the catalyst, carbon membranes and sorbent are still ongoing.
WP4 System integration and validation
Activity has just started. Preliminary calculations about the number of membranes required in the prototype and about the mass of sorbent required for hydrogen purification were conducted.
WP5 Environmental and social LCA, economic and safety assessment
Overall, we have established crucial methodologies and frameworks, addressing data gaps to advance sustainability and safety assessments for hydrogen production, aligning with ANDREAH’s goals and Europe's decarbonization efforts.
ANDREAH: Market and Stakeholders Analysis has been successfully completed. The analysis encompasses the mapping and characterization of key stakeholders, target customer segmentation, and the identification of potential customer sectors such as fertilizers, refineries, aviation, steel production, non-road mobile machinery, long-distance transportation, and power generation. The analysis evaluates existing competing solutions and their business models. It includes a Value Map describing the features and benefits of the ANDREAH product, along with a Customer Profile identifying target customers, their needs, and risks.
A methodological approach has been defined for the IPR Management and Exploitation Strategy, and an initial list of Key Exploitable Results (KERs) has been proposed for further characterization and assessment. In parallel, the methodology and action plan for the Business Modelling and Go-To-Market Strategy has been established to identify appropriate business models and create a plan for market uptake. The tasks have been structured into four workstreams: mathematical business modeling, stakeholders and financial instruments characterization, go-to-market strategy, and the creation of a spin-off.
WP2 System requirements, design and modelling
The technological requirements, risk and opportunities of the different components of ANDREAH project value chain has been successfully defined. In parallel, kinetic studies of ammonia decomposition were conducted to elucidate the reaction mechanism and develop a kinetic model for the most effective formulation of the catalyst supported on perovskites. Furthermore, a model capable of describing the permeation behavior of CMSM has been detailed. This model can predict each gas permeation at different pressures and temperatures. At the same time the model is also able to the estimate the membrane properties and gas specifics.
WP3 Key component development and scale up
Regarding the catalyst two generation of two different environmentally friendly catalyst materials with low or free Critical Raw Materials have been developed: catalysts based on perovskites & transition metals & Ru and catalysts based on transition metals supported on oxides carriers. Catalytic activity tests have shown the best performance on the second type of catalyst achieving a productivity of 7.13 mmol H2·gcat−1min−1 at 400°C and exceeding 10 mmol H2·gcat−1min−1 by 450°C, surpassing the project target. In addition, the first generation of Open Cell Foams (OCF) and Periodical Open Cellular Structured (POCS) catalysts have been developed. The Triply Periodic Minimal Surface (TPMS) microarchitectures (Gyroid, Diamond and I-WP) were activated with the best perovskite catalyst. The Gyroid and I-WP structures, with their labyrinthine network of channels, provided efficient mass and heat transfer pathways. Both geometries exhibited superior performance with respect to the other POCS and TPMS catalysts.
In parallel, two different families of Carbon Molecular Sieve Membranes (CMSMs) have been developed: carbon membranes based on previous studies and the first generation of CMSMs. The addition of different additives to phenolic resin and carbonization temperature have been studied. The membranes show promising performances for the ammonia cracking. Finally, two families of sorbents were prepared: phenolic resins and polymeric beads both with additives.
The development of the catalyst, carbon membranes and sorbent are still ongoing.
WP4 System integration and validation
Activity has just started. Preliminary calculations about the number of membranes required in the prototype and about the mass of sorbent required for hydrogen purification were conducted.
WP5 Environmental and social LCA, economic and safety assessment
Overall, we have established crucial methodologies and frameworks, addressing data gaps to advance sustainability and safety assessments for hydrogen production, aligning with ANDREAH’s goals and Europe's decarbonization efforts.
ANDREAH’s main results is the development of advanced ammonia decomposition technologies to produce ultra-pure hydrogen (>99.998%) by developing an innovative system based on a Catalytic Membrane Reactor (CMR) for the cracking of Ammonia coupled with a sorbent-based hydrogen polishing step for fuel cell grade. A decrease of the CAPEX and OPEX of the system is expected due to the new design and the innovative carbon membranes and structured catalysts (with less critical raw materials) integrated in the CMR. This will bring a decrease of 22.5% on the decentralized cost of H2. The complete system will be validated at TRL5 in the port of Rotterdam. Ultimately, ANDREAH aims to support a spin-off company to commercialise the technology.