Deutsch
English
Project manager: Prof. Dr.-Ing. Wesling / Project coordination: Dr.-Ing. Henning Wiche
Funding period: 01.09.2024 - 31.08.2027
Funding agency: ERDF / State of Lower Saxony
Application number: ZW7-8701 1686
The overall project objective of the joint research project (Additive Manufacturing of Multimaterial Components for Sustainable Energy Conversion -AM2H2) is to increase the efficiency of hydrogen reformers through the use of multimaterial additive manufacturing. In this context, the project partners are developing reformer components with a high degree of functional integration and the novel materials required for this. These materials are to be adapted to the specific requirements of the application and additive manufacturing. In addition, the additive manufacturing process and a new type of process technology are being developed in the project to enable the production of the aforementioned multi-material reformers.
The objective of the wAM2H2 sub-project is to provide material systems for the construction of monolithic reactors (as opposed to bulk reactors) for ammonia splitting using additive manufacturing. A monolithic reactor generally offers the possibility of adjusting the flow conditions of the process gases in a more defined way. The combination with additive manufacturing results in further degrees of freedom. The core structure / substrate of the reaction unit can consist of both metallic and ceramic materials. Metallic materials are processed directly (powder or wire-based) in the laser metal deposition process. In the production of ceramic structures, the production of a green body based on the selective drying of ceramic slurry by means of laser exposure and subsequent thermal treatment is envisaged (laser-induced slip casting). The metallic-ceramic catalyst is applied to these core structures in a first step in the classic manner via wash-coating and then calcined. In a second step, direct application / drying can also be carried out in the additive process. The advantages of additive manufacturing are the (almost) free geometric choice of the substrate structure and the local adaptability of the catalyst (in terms of composition, density, volume) depending on the changed boundary conditions (local pressure, NH3 / H2 / N2 content) when the process gases flow through the reactor. As an option, additional gas channels equipped with Pt membranes can be inserted into the structure to integrate hydrogen separation directly into the ammonia splitter. Higher efficiencies with high degrees of purity of the hydrogen produced can thus be realized. Appropriate material systems for the additive generation of such structures do not yet exist. They are to be developed as part of the project. Furthermore, additional material systems for additional support structures of the reformer core unit must be developed. These must be adapted with regard to the overall thermal expansion and heat dissipation on the core reformer for the best possible efficiency.
Project partners: Leibniz Universität Hannover, Laser Zentrum Hannover, Hochschule Hannover
Background:
Commercially available technologies for the transportation and storage of pure hydrogen require high working pressures and cryogenic temperatures. As there is a risk of explosion when handling hydrogen, the safety requirements during handling and storage must be regarded as very high. Due to this risk, social acceptance is also a major challenge when introducing hydrogen as an energy storage medium. A promising storage solution is the reversible binding of hydrogen in synthetic fuels such as ammonia or methanol, which do not require complex, cryogenic storage and transportation conditions. Since the direct combustion of methanol or ammonia in a fuel cell has a low efficiency or is not suitable for other industrial applications, so-called reformers are preferable, which convert the synthetic fluid into a hydrogen-containing synthesis gas by means of a catalyst. The hydrogen obtained in this way reacts with oxygen in the fuel cell and generates electricity and process waste heat.