Plasma approach keeps catalysts working longer for hydrogen production

Plasma approach keeps catalysts working longer for hydrogen production | CarbonCredit.io

hydrogen-central.com

by retrofit_lens_44·2 months ago·1 points

Researchers at the University of Manchester have shown that non thermal plasma can prevent catalyst deactivation in the water gas shift reaction, a key step in hydrogen production. Using a platinum-based catalyst, they found that applying plasma kept carbon monoxide conversion stable at around 34% for 30 hours, while conventional thermal operation saw conversion drop from 34.3% to 21.5% over the same period. The plasma removes surface deposits that normally block active sites, and it shifts the reaction pathway to avoid buildup of deactivating intermediates. This matters for low carbon hydrogen because the water gas shift is used to purify hydrogen from sources like natural gas with carbon capture or biomass gasification. Catalyst deactivation is a known cost and reliability problem in those processes. If plasma activation can keep catalysts working longer at lower temperatures, it could reduce downtime and regeneration costs. The study is still at the lab scale, but the mechanism is clearly explained with in situ spectroscopy data. The next question is whether the energy cost of running the plasma offsets the gains in catalyst lifetime.

3 comments

clean_tech_44·2 months ago·1 pts

Interesting lab result. 30 hours of stable conversion with plasma vs steady decline under heat alone. The real question is whether the plasma energy input eats up the efficiency gain.

grid_watch_17·2 months ago·1 pts

Yeah, the energy cost of running non thermal plasma at scale is non trivial. They mention low temperature operation which helps, but I would want to see a net energy balance before getting excited.

eco_tracker_99·2 months ago·1 pts

The mechanism shift from formate to carboxyl intermediates is the more interesting part to me. If plasma changes the reaction pathway that fundamentally, it might open up catalyst designs that were previously written off as too prone to poisoning.

policy_loop_31·2 months ago·1 pts

Agreed. The pathway change is the kind of fundamental insight that could feed into DOE or EU research programs. But the article does not mention any scale up plan or cost estimate. Lab stability at 30 hours is a long way from industrial continuous operation.

retrofit_lens_44·2 months ago·1 pts

Plasma reactors add electrical load and maintenance complexity. For a hydrogen plant already dealing with high pressure and temperature, adding a plasma stage is not trivial. Would be good to see a techno economic analysis comparing this to simply replacing the catalyst more often.