Methanol-to-Hydrogen Could Play Role in Transportation, Distributed Power

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Written by Paul Wiseman for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--With hydrogen gaining steam as a versatile and clean alternative fuel, its biggest challenge lies in storage and transportation. It is the universe's most abundant element, but also its lightest. For transportation and storage, it must be compressed somehow--liquefied through deep chilling or by conversion to a related liquid form, such as ammonia or methanol.

Ammonia's ready availability as a feedstock for fertilizer and other uses makes it attractive as a hydrogen carrier. But another, more stable option is also in the mix: methanol.

Element 1 (Bend, Oregon), a maker of small- to medium-scale methanol-to-hydrogen generators, recently contracted with MMM Energy (Toronto, Ontario) for the development, manufacturing and commercialization of Element 1's technology to Europe, Latin America, Australia and elsewhere. The former also has some units deployed in the U.S.

Dave Edlund, the chief executive officer of Element 1, says the company offers three models, starting with the "S" for "small." Developed about eight years ago, there are about 200 S models in use, mostly in Asia. There are also some long-running units in South Africa, as well as Taiwan.

The S model's hydrogen is used in fuel cells to make electricity. "The actual deployed product is an electrical generator that uses methanol and water. The output is electricity," Edlund said. He explained that the added water accounts for about one-third of the hydrogen created.

In the U.S. and Europe, their larger models are more in demand: the L (Large) and M (Mobility), which provide enough hydrogen to let fuel cells hold electricity in the kilowatts or even megawatts. End users there are seeking distributed power for critical infrastructure backup, such as data centers and EV-charging stations.

Using a methanol-based hydrogen generator to power a fuel cell would eliminate exhaust fumes including particulate matter, sulfur oxides, nitrogen oxides, CO2 and most CO, which would offer climate-change advantages. But perhaps the bigger benefit would come in reducing carbon monoxide deaths from internal-combustion-powered portable generators.

Convenience
So where does an end user get methanol? Edlund pointed out that methanol is abundant, being "one of the top 10 traded commodity chemicals globally. And I think, when you look at liquid chemicals, it's No. 1, in trading volume." And, like oil and gas, there is a trackable commodity market price.

Like ammonia, methanol is shipped by sea, rail and truck around the world. It's also used in auto racing, available in 55-gallon drums from many fuel distributors.

Unlike ammonia, methanol is a liquid at all temperatures and pressures, Edlund said. Ammonia, on the other hand, is a compressed and liquefied gas. That means "you can put methanol into a plastic or lightweight sheet metal tank that is any shape." Because ammonia is pressurized at 200 psi at 100˚ F, it requires heavy cylinders like those for propane, which also must be pressurized to become liquid. So storing or shipping methanol in containers involves less weight than ammonia.

The methane system's use of water as an additional hydrogen source increases the productivity of each gallon when it's used in a fuel cell. "The fuel cell converts that hydrogen, with oxygen from air, into electricity and water," said Edlund. "The water that comes out of the fuel cell can be captured and used as the make-up water to mix with methanol. When you do that, you just increased the effective hydrogen content of that methanol by 50%." That means methanol can generate more electricity, by weight, than ammonia.

Transportation
Because of methanol's storage and energy density advantages over ammonia, Edlund sees EV use, both land and sea, as its future. As the government promotes battery-electric vehicles (BEVs), the methanol/fuel cell model would seem to have advantages in range and in speed of refueling, the latter matching that of gasoline or diesel, depending on distribution of access--a challenge it would share with BEVs.

Maritime use of methanol is already ramping up, inviting more production, so Edlund feels there will be room for further production growth in land-based vehicles as well.

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