Hydrogen is the energy source for a green future. We at C&CS GmbH are making our contribution to green technology and have expanded our research expertise: the chemists Dr. Hans-Jürgen Eberle and Dr. Arno Tißler are now working with us on the further development and imminent market readiness of the new catalyst they have developed for the accelerated establishment of the temperature-dependent o-/p-hydrogen equilibrium during liquefaction.
energy savings through optimized reaction kinetics
The founder and managing director of C&CS, Dr. Julius Nickl says: “Heisenberg already predicted that there are two different forms of hydrogen (allotropes): an ortho-hydrogen with parallel and a para-hydrogen with anti-parallel nuclear spins. At room temperature, the para portion is only 25%, the rest is ortho-H2; at the very low H2-liquefaction temperature (- 252 °C) there is only p-hydrogen. If the cooling process were to be carried out without opH2-catalyst, this would mean that about 2/3 of the originally liquefied hydrogen would evaporate within days due to the slow equilibration and the heat evolution associated with the op-rearrangement.”
The new catalyst system, for which a patent has been applied for, is based on iron oxide, like the standard catalyst used to date, but in contrast has two types of active centers. The new catalyst system therefore enables a wide temperature range and leads to an extremely rapid equilibrium.
Our researchers are working hard to maximize the catalytic activity and property profile of the novel catalyst system for the entire process in a liquefaction plant.
Technical background
One of the most beautiful – because readable for everyone – articles on this topic is this one by Prof. Haberstroh: https://doi.org/10.1002/cite.202300128.
If you have any questions about the new catalyst, please feel free to contact us!
