Atlantic Hydrogen Licenses Hydrogen Enriched Natural Gas Plasma Technology to Rosetti Marino

17 September 2008

Canada-based Atlantic Hydrogen (AHI) has licensed its technology for the on-site production of hydrogen enriched natural gas (HENG) for the vehicle refueling and small power generation markets to Rosetti Marino, a large engineering and construction contractor of offshore platforms and process modules located in northern Italy.

AHI’s CarbonSaver is an in-line pulsed plasma discharge reactor that separates hydrogen from methane molecules (CH₄) while rendering the carbon as a solid (which appears to be a high-quality nano-structured material). Put another way, it is a plasma reformer that can produce hydrogen from methane without the generation of greenhouse gases during the process.

The current state of development of the CarbonSaver takes a natural gas feed and delivers 50 Nm³/h HENG with a 20% H₂ content.

A number of studies (earlier post, earlier post) have shown that a hydrogen-natural gas blend used as a vehicle fuel can result in a significant extension of the lean limit; an increase in engine thermal efficiency; a reduction in CO₂ and HC emissions; and a reduction in NO_x under certain conditions.

HENG leads to almost complete CO burn-out and less thermal NO_x and CO₂ in lean burn combustors, according to AHI.

The energy required to produce the plasma for the CarbonSaver is between 600W – 800W per cubic meter of 20% hydrogen enriched natural gas, according to the company. The voltage required to produce the plasma depends on a number of factors, including the plasma distance (gap), the type of media used (i.e., natural gas), the operating pressure, and the operating temperature. Typically the system plasma voltages range from 1kV – 20kV.

The CarbonSaver requires the equivalent of between 3-4 kWh to produce a cubic meter of pure hydrogen. Electrolysis requires between 4-5 kWh to produce a cubic meter of pure hydrogen and SMR (steam methane reforming) requires approximately 0.2 kWh to produce a cubic meter of pure hydrogen.

Northern Italy has Europe’s highest concentration of natural gas vehicles. Rosetti intends to develop skid-mounted versions of AHI’s patented CarbonSaver technology for on-site hydrogen enrichment of natural gas.

Rosetti expects to be manufacturing its first demonstration units within a year.

In June, AHI announced that is was launching a large-scale demonstration project of the technology. The three-year, C$10 million demonstration project will focus on validating the technology at commercial pressures and flow rates, placing a value on the extracted carbon and developing a commercialization strategy.

EnCana Corporation, through its Environmental Innovation Fund, is contributing C$3 million to the project and the Province of New Brunswick, through the Climate Action Fund and Canada’s ecoTrust for Clear Air and Climate Change, is contributing C$2 million.

Resources

• T. Boutot, Z. Liu and T. K. Whidden, Y. Yang (2007) Kinetic Modeling and Experimental Studies of Hydrogen Production by Non-equilibrium Plasma Discharge Decomposition of Methane and other Hydrogen-Containing Species