Title: Pd and Carbon Molecular Sieve Membranes for Hydrogen Separation and Production
Speaker: Dr. Alfredo Pacheco, Researcher, Tecnalia (Spain)
Date: March 2021
Dr. Pacheco presented the challenges involved in the simultaneous production and separation of hydrogen gas. He discussed recent developments of supported palladium alloy and carbon molecular sieve membranes and subsequent design of advanced membrane catalytic reactors to produce sustainably hydrogen from steam reforming of methane and fuels (MeOH, DME). The talk encompassed a number of key examples and case studies supporting the development of industrially relevant materials and novel processes.
Title: Mechanistic Aspects of Catalytic Reactions for Hydrogen Production, Purification, and Utilization
Speaker: Dr. Kyriaki Polychronopoulou, Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Director of CeCaS, Khalifa University
Date: April 2021
Dr. Polychronopoulou presented her recent works on the mechanistic aspects of catalytic reactions relevant to the hydrogen (H2) production, purification and utilization. The critical catalyst’s characteristics to be considered to design industrially-durable catalysts, including the control and role of acid sites, defects engineering strategies and metal-support interfaces were discussed in depth. She presented a high level analysis of key chemical engineering processes involved into dry reforming of methane, as well as CO-PROX and heptane hydrocracking.
Dr. Lourdes Vega, Director of the Research and Innovation Center on CO2 and H2 (RICH) and Professor of Chemical Engineering at KU, participated in a panel on the “Challenges and opportunities for green hydrogen production,” which was hosted by the Chemical Engineering Department of King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, on Monday, 7 December 2020.
During the panel, she spoke about the how the hydrogen economy can help tackle various critical energy challenges while also strengthening energy security.
Following is an overview of Dr. Vega’s talk during the panel:
Of special interest to the region is the production of hydrogen using the available resources. In 1982, it was found that RuO2-loaded CdS-particles dispersed in aqueous sulfide solutions could split H2S into hydrogen and sulfur under visible light illumination, which indicated the possibility of operating industrial procedures for H2S splitting. From a thermodynamic viewpoint, the direct decomposition of H2S requires much less energy than H2O splitting indicating that H2S decomposition is theoretically a more favorable route for H2 generation. After a general overview, I will present some of the work we are doing on materials and process for producing green hydrogen, focused on photocatalytic water splitting and hydrogen sulfide conversion. A combined computational modeling-experimental approach is used for this purpose, in which DFT calculations allow to investigate reaction mechanisms and to predict unknown properties, guiding the search for the optimal photocatalytic material. Results on our work on materials for high-capacity, reliable-availability H2 storage including storage in porous media (MOFs and hybrid materials) will also be presented. Finally, I will give some perspectives on key challenges and opportunities for large-scale hydrogen utilization.
Prof. Lourdes Vega participated as an invited speaker in a panel session, titled “How to control risks introduced by new sustainable technologies, hydrogen case study” during the Aviation Sustainability Conference, held on 25 November 2020. Dr. Vega discussed the role of hydrogen as a promising technological enabler on the path towards sustainable aviation. As the Director of the Research and Innovation Center on CO2 and Hydrogen (RICH), she contributed valuable insight into how hydrogen-based technologies can be leveraged to power aircrafts, as well as the technological challenges and opportunities for the development and implementation of green hydrogen at the scale needed for aviation, in a sustainable and safe manner.
