High purity hydrogen production by low temperature catalytic ammonia decomposition in a multifunctional membrane reactor

Catalytic ammonia decomposition for the generation of high purity COx free hydrogen has been performed in a multifunctional membrane reactor with Pd membrane walls for the hydrogen separation and a high performance Ru-carbon catalyst. By adjusting the experimental conditions an enhancement of the efficiency of the system for the hydrogen production has been achieved. The chemical thermodynamic equilibrium conversion has been exceeded using an improved catalyst, at temperatures lower than those reported in the literature. In addition, both the membrane and the catalyst components were very stable. The system showed no loss of performance after having been operated for several cycles. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.