Low-cost sodium borohydride production for the hydrogen economy
R&D Focus Areas:
Hydrides, Liquid organic carriers
Lead Organisation:
Boron Molecular Pty Ltd
Partners:
University of Technology Sydney, GrapheneX
Status:
Active
Start date:
August 2022
Completion date:
August 2025
Key contacts:
Professor Zhenguo Huang: zhenguo.huang@uts.edu.au
Boron Molecular Pty Ltd. Dr Oliver Hutt: ohutt@boronmolecular.com
GrapheneX. Stephen Wee: stephenwee@live.com
Funding:
CRC Projects
Project total cost:
AUD$4,725,000. Cash contribution AUD$3,275,000.
Project summary description:
The global hydrogen storage market is expanding, with projected 6.5% annual growth to US$25.4 billion by 2027. However, all current options for hydrogen storage and delivery are inefficient and/or involve safety issues. Sodium borohydride (NaBH4) represents a strong alternative for storing and transporting hydrogen at scale, due to its high hydrogen content (10.8 per cent of its mass, wt%), effective hydrogen evolution controllability and easy handling. As a hydrogen carrier, NaBH4 can produce hydrogen via hydrolysis at room temperature without any energy input.
However, NaBH4 is currently expensive to produce, which prevents its wide applications. This is because the current production is based on a 70-year-old Brown-Schlesinger process, which is capital and energy-intensive, requires high temperatures and high pressures and generates large amounts of CO2.
This project will develop a blueprint for an industry-scale, cost-effective process to produce NaBH4 as a safe and efficient hydrogen carrier.
Related publications and key links:
Not applicable at this time.
Higher degree studies supported:
Not applicable.
October 2022