Decarbonisation of oil: Microwave-catalytic production of clean hydrogen from fossil fuels

在这个项目中，将开发一种清洁、高效的方法，利用微波从化石燃料中提取非常纯净的氢。氢通常被称为“未来的燃料”，因为它具有很高的能量密度，而且在燃料电池中使用时，唯一的产物是水。然而，它很难储存。微波辅助多相催化已被证明可以从化石燃料中释放出非常纯的氢，抑制所有不需要的副产品，如二氧化碳和甲烷，只留下固体碳。这可以解决氢气储存问题，并提供一种绿色方法来利用全世界所依赖的巨大石油储量，从而使整个化石燃料经济脱碳。发现化石燃料的微波脱氢仍然是新的，需要深入研究，以认识到该技术对世界脱碳的潜在影响。有一些重大的研究挑战需要克服。关键的挑战是有效、可控和可重复地推动这些微波反应。目前，该过程的净能量平衡很差，可以获得的化学能(以氢气的形式)不会比我们投入的微波能多很多。这项工作将促进对该过程的科学理解，从而提高新技术的效率。该项目将使我们能够(I)精确地控制施加到样品上的微波场，因为这些场直接影响反应条件，从而确定反应路径和选择性和效率，(Ii)更好地了解所涉及的微波相互作用和催化过程，以及(Iii)展示用于监测和控制反应的高效微波系统。一系列新技术将被用来应对这些挑战，例如新的磁共振微波加热腔，微波脱氢过程中X射线分析的开放式结构，以及固态微波源的进步。氢气很难储存和运输作为燃料。人们普遍认为，燃料电池汽车等以氢为基础的技术商业化和市场接受的一个主要科学和技术障碍是缺乏廉价、安全和有效的储氢方法。这仍然是科学界面临的一个主要问题。目前的储氢方法使用高压或危险材料。尽管在全球范围内进行了广泛的研究，但在过去的几十年里，没有一种材料满足了可行的储氢材料的关键要求。任何此类材料都必须在成本、安全性和能量密度方面达到与石化产品相当的水平。此外，作为燃料的氢的储存和运输所需的国家基础设施并不存在，而一般来说，我们更广泛的国家基础设施大多是围绕石化储存、运输和使用网络建立的。以环保的方法从化石燃料中提取氢，可以使世界继续使用现有的燃料运输基础设施和石化商店，而不会对环境造成任何影响。为了克服围绕氢的问题，我们最近展示了一种方法，将微波与电磁设计的催化剂相结合，以便在使用时从柴油等碳氢化合物中快速释放大量非常纯净的氢。这个为期24个月的项目将开发超高效的微波系统和微波吸收催化剂，同时还将揭示人们对微波脱氢过程知之甚少的基础科学。

In this project a clean, efficient method will be developed to extract very pure hydrogen from fossil fuels using microwaves. Hydrogen is often called the 'fuel of the future' since it has a high energy density and when used in fuel cells the only product is water. However, it is difficult to store. Microwave assisted heterogeneous catalysis has been shown to release very pure hydrogen from fossil fuels, suppressing all unwanted side products such as carbon dioxide and methane, and leaving only solid carbon. This could solve the hydrogen storage problem and provide a green method of using the vast reserves of oil upon which the entire world relies, thus decarbonising the entire fossil fuel economy.The discovery of microwave dehydrogenation of fossil fuels is still new, and needs intensive investigation in order to realise the potential impact of the technology upon the decarbonisation of the world. There are major research challenges to be overcome. The key challenges are to drive these microwave reactions efficiently, controllably and repeatably. The net energy balance of the process is currently poor and not much more chemical energy can be obtained (in the form of H2) than the microwave energy that we put in. This work will advance the scientific understanding of the process, thereby improving efficiency of the new technology.This project will enable us to (i) precisely control the microwave fields applied to the sample, since these fields directly influence reaction conditions, consequently determining reaction pathways and selectivity and efficiency, (ii) better understand the microwave interaction and catalytic processes involved, and (iii) demonstrate an efficient microwave system for the monitoring and control of the reaction. A suite of new techniques, only made available by recent advances in microwave science, will be used to meet these challenges, such as new magnetic resonance microwave heating cavities, open structures for X-ray analysis during microwave dehydrogenation and advances in solid-state microwave sources.Hydrogen is difficult to store and transport for use as a fuel. It is widely recognised that a major scientific and technological barrier to the commercialisation and market acceptance of hydrogen based technologies such as fuel cell vehicles is the lack of a cheap, safe and effective hydrogen storage method. This remains a major problem for the scientific community. Current hydrogen storage methods use high pressure or dangerous materials. Despite extensive research globally, over the past few decades covering a vast range of hydrogen storage materials, no single material has met the critical requirements for a viable hydrogen storage material. Any such materials must achieve parity with petrochemicals in terms of cost, safety and energy density. In addition, the national infrastructure required for the storage and transportation of hydrogen as a fuel does not exist, whereas generally, much of our wider national infrastructure is built around the petrochemical storage, transportation and usage network. Extracting hydrogen from fossil fuels in an environmentally friendly process could enable the world to continue using the existing fuel transport infrastructure and petrochemical stores with no impact upon the environment at all.To attempt to overcome the issues surrounding hydrogen, we have recently demonstrated a method that uses microwaves in combination with electromagnetically designed catalysts in order to rapidly release large amounts of very pure hydrogen from hydrocarbons such as diesel at the point of use. This 24 month project will develop ultra-efficient microwave systems and microwave absorbing catalysts and will in parallel, uncover the fundamental science of the microwave dehydrogenation process, little of which is known.