Expanded Use of Hydrogen Energy
Using Ammonia as a Hydrogen Energy Carrier
There are high expectations surrounding the use of hydrogen, which does not
emit CO2 during combustion, in addressing energy diversification and a lowcarbon
society, both of which are global challenges. However, due to many
issues regarding both cost and safety involved in transporting and storing
gaseous hydrogen, it must be converted into an energy carrier such as
ammonia, liquefied hydrogen, or organic hydride to facilitate use.
Ammonia generates power through direct combustion and emits no CO2
during the process because of its hydrogen and nitrogen composition. Also,
infrastructure related to the transportation and storage of ammonia already
exists. For those reasons, we are focusing on ammonia as a hydrogen energy
carrier and are working to develop related technologies.
Development of a New Process for Ammonia Synthesis Using Hydrogen as a Raw Material
The current issue with ammonia synthesis is the large volume of CO2
emissions from the process of producing hydrogen using natural gas as raw
material.
In order to reduce the CO2 generated in conventional synthesis, the
development of hydrogen production methods involving electrolysis of water
using renewable energy has been anticipated. However, energy efficiency has
remained an issue due to pressurization of hydrogen for conventional ammonia
synthesis, which is a necessary process as synthesis using renewable energy
generates hydrogen at low pressure. In response to this issue, the company
has developed a new catalyst for ammonia synthesis using low pressure
hydrogen, and constructed a demonstration plant for producing ammonia
at lower temperatures and pressures than conventional methods, using this
catalyst. Going forward, we aim to establish hydrogen power generation
technologies using ammonia as a fuel, and to conduct research on the further
development of these technologies aimed at commercialization.