Hydrogen is the energy carrier for a green future. We at C&CS GmbH are contributing to green technology and have expanded our research expertise: chemists Dr. Hans-Jürgen Eberle and Dr. Arno Tißler are now working with us on the further development and rapid market readiness of their new catalyst for the accelerated establishment of the temperature-dependent o-/p-hydrogen equilibrium during liquefaction.
Energy savings through optimized reaction kinetics
Dr. Julius Nickl, founder and CEO of C&CS, says: “Heisenberg already predicted that there are two different forms of hydrogen (allotropes): ortho-hydrogen with parallel and para-hydrogen with antiparallel nuclear spins. At room temperature, the para-component is only 25%, the rest is ortho-H₂; however, at the very low H₂ liquefaction temperature (-252 °C), only p-hydrogen exists. If the cooling process were carried out without an ortho-p-H₂ catalyst, the slow establishment of equilibrium and the heat generated by the ortho-p rearrangement would result in approximately two-thirds of the originally liquefied hydrogen evaporating within days.”
The new, patent-pending catalyst system, like the previously used standard catalyst, is based on iron oxide, but unlike the latter, it features two types of active centers. This new catalyst system thus enables a wide operating temperature range and leads to an extremely rapid equilibrium.
Our researchers are working intensively 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 best articles on this topic – because it is readable for everyone – is this article by Prof. Haberstroh: https://doi.org/10.1002/cite.202300128.
If you have any questions about the new catalytic converter, please feel free to contact us!
