In recent years, ammonia has been attracting attention as a carbon-free alternative fuel to petroleum that does not emit carbon dioxide.Ammonia is a flammable gas and can be widely used in thermal power generation and industrial furnaces as an alternative fuel to gasoline and light oil.However, it has the disadvantage that it is difficult to burn and may generate harmful nitrogen oxides when burned.
This time, Assistant Professor Satoshi Higuma of Professor Masato Machida's Laboratory, Graduate School of Advanced Science, Kumamoto University has succeeded in developing a new catalyst that efficiently burns ammonia and produces nitrogen instead of harmful gas.
So far, Assistant Professor Higuma and his colleagues have been conducting research on a "catalytic combustion method" that solves the problem of ammonia fuel.The catalytic combustion method is a method in which a substance that promotes or suppresses a chemical reaction is added as a catalyst when burning fuel or the like.What was developed this time is a new catalyst that improves the flammability of ammonia and at the same time suppresses the production of nitrogen oxides.
Although it can be manufactured easily and at low cost by a method widely used in general materials and industrially, when ammonia is burned using this new catalyst, it is highly active and selectively produces nitrogen. It was confirmed that it was formed (suppressed the formation of nitrogen oxides) and that the catalyst itself did not deteriorate even at high temperatures.This result contributes to global warming countermeasures that do not emit carbon dioxide and the construction of a society that makes advanced use of renewable energy, and we plan to conduct research and development under conditions that are closer to practical use in the future.
Paper information:[Journal of Catalysis] Catalytic ammonia combustion properties and operando characterization of copper oxides supported on aluminum silicates and silicon oxides
