Centralised and localised hydrogen generation by ammonia decomposition

Ammonia is a strong candidate as a hydrogen vector and has the flexibility to be used directly as a fuel or decomposed to form pure hydrogen. The format of an ammonia decomposition plant is only starting to emerge, with two types becoming significant: centralised locations feeding into the national gas network, and decentralised units, to supply fuelling stations, the chemical industry, or remote applications. In this paper, we review the aspects critical to decompose ammonia in both cases. While the centralised cracking flowsheet can use equipment standard to current hydrogen production methods, the localised cracking unit requires a more innovative design. Energy and safety considerations may favour low temperature operation for decentralised applications, requiring high activity catalysts, whilst centralised industrial sites may operate at higher temperatures and use a base metal catalyst. Purification to deliver hydrogen suitable for fuel cells is one of the biggest challenges in developing the flowsheet.