»Acta demonstrates potential breakthrough for automotive fuel cells
ξ demonstrated its new catalyst for hydrogen generation at the world's largest fuel cell exhibition in Tokyo
ξ the first public demonstration of what is a new exciting breakthrough in the critical area of supplying hydrogen to power fuel cells for the automotive and other industries
ξ installing a hydrogen supply chain to keep cars fuelled is impractical and prohibitively expensive
ξ the issue of hydrogen transportation and storage is therefore the leading technical barrier to commercialisation
ξ Acta developed a new catalyst that will produce hydrogen from ammonia
ξ ammonia is one of the most practical hydrogen carriers available
ξ ammonia is already one of the most widely used and transported chemicals in the world
ξ it is far easier and safer to handle than pure hydrogen and contains no carbon which produces greenhouse gases
ξ a fuel cell car could be able to store ammonia in its tank
ξ Acta's onboard ammonia electrolyser catalyst will break the ammonia into nitrogen and hydrogen
ξ hydrogen will feed the fuel cell that will generate the electricity to power both the car and the electrolyser
ξ Acta's electrolyser uses less power than is generated by the fuel cell,
ξ unlike a water electrolyser that uses more power than is generated by the fuel cell
ξ Acta demonstrated its working ammonia electrolyser catalyst at the world's largest fuel cell exhibition: Fuel Cell Expo in Tokyo
ξ the catalyst, which was developed at customer request, aroused significant interest from global automotive companies as well as from other hydrogen users
ξ prototype catalysts have already been despatched to interested parties and trials are underway
ξ Acta's ammonia electrolyser catalyst was subject to a patent application in January 2007.
ξ Paolo Bert is Acta's Chief Executive

Hydrogen Generation
ξ 7-series electrodes for ammonia electrolysis
ξ 8-series electrodes for water electrolysis
ξ 9-series catalyst powder and pellets for ethanol reforming
ξ Anion Exchange Membrane from Tokuyama

»Ammonia Electrolysis to Power a Hydrogen Fuel Cell

ξ Frederic Vitse and Gerardine G. Botte /Department of Chemical Engineering Russ College of Engineering and Technology Ohio University/
ξ an integrated fuel cell power system is presented, which includes an ammonia electrolytic cell for in-situ hydrogen production
ξ combined to a proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC)
ξ ammonia electrolysis in alkaline media as a source of hydrogen was selected
ξ low energy consumption during electrolysis in alkaline media
ξ high faradaic efficiency of the electrolytic process,
ξ high specific energy (in kWh/kg),
ξ simplicity of storage, and
ξ absence of production of poisoning, toxic, or greenhouse gases

»Electrolysis of Ammonia: an in-Situ Hydrogen Production Process

ξ Gerardine G. Botte, Luciano Benedetti, and Juan Gonzalez. Chemical Engineering, Ohio University, 183 Stocker Center, Ohio University, Athens, OH 45701
ξ liquid ammonia represents a convenient way of storing supplies of hydrogen,
ξ boasting a specific energy density (kWh/l) 50% higher than liquefied hydrogen
ξ ammonia is also easily condensed at ambient temperature (under 8 bar of pressure), which makes it a good choice for transportation and storage
ξ even though ammonia is flammable within defined limits (16%-25% by volume in the air) and
ξ toxic (above 25 ppm) its presence can be detected by its characteristic odor (above 5 ppm)
ξ ammonia is produced world-wide in large quantities (more than 100 million ton/year),
ξ which allows the effect of economy of scale on the cost of production
ξ its decomposition by electro-oxidation in alkaline media at low overpotentials is NOx and COx free with nitrogen and water as products of reaction

The Electrochemical Engineering Research Laboratory (EERL) at Ohio University (OU) is working on the development of a new technology
for the production of hydrogen in-situ from the electrolysis of ammonia.
The reactions take place in alkaline medium as shown [3-5]:

2NH₃(aq) + 6OH- -> N₂(g) + 6H₂O + 6e<sup>- (1)

2H₂O + 6e- -> 3H₂(g) + 6OH- (2)

Reactions (1) and (2) take place at the anode and cathode, respectively.
At 25 oC the ammonia oxidation potential is -0.77 V versus Standard Hydrogen Electrode (SHE),
only 0.06 V less negative than the value of -0.83 V vs. SHE for hydrogen evolution in alkaline solution.
Therefore, thermodynamic values are much in favor of the production of hydrogen coupled to the oxidation of ammonia
compared to hydrogen production by electrolysis of water, for which the theoretical cell voltage is 1.23 V.
One of the advantage of this process is its ease of integration with renewable energy (electricity) sources.
Because the energy consumption is low, the cell could operate with renewable energy
(or by stealing part of the energy of a PEM hydrogen fuel cell if the ammonia electrolytic cell operates close to the theoretical potential).
Therefore, hydrogen could be produced on demand, minimizing the needs for hydrogen storage.
The theoretical energy consumption during ammonia electrolysis can be calculated from the standard potential of the cell
and is equal to 1.55 Wh/g H2 while the electrolysis of water requires at least 33 Wh/g H2 at standard conditions,
this means that theoretically the electrolysis of ammonia consumes 95% lower energy than a water electrolyzer.
The scalability of the technology as well as its ability to easily operate in an on-demand mode
facilitates the technology's ability to interface with renewable energy sources
including those whose production of electricity may vary with time (for example, wind and solar energy).
Recently, we had developed novel catalysts that enhance the oxidation of ammonia in alkaline medium.
The catalysts are made by electrodeposition of nobel metals on carbon fibers.
The novel electrocatalysts allow the achievement of current densities of up to 75 mA/cm2 at cell voltage of 0.45 V.
Within this context, the objective of is to evaluate the technical and economical feasibility of producing hydrogen from the electrolysis of ammonia
for distributed power generation using the novel electrodes.

»Ammonia by Wikipedia
ξ NH3 boils at -33 °C, the liquid must be stored under high pressure or at low temperature</sup>