Ammonia could be key to making hydrogen a more widespread energy source, Clemson University researcher says

A research team led by Clemson University’s Ming Yang is laying the groundwork for a new way of extracting hydrogen from ammonia, a development that could help make hydrogen a more practical and sustainable energy source.

One of the current drawbacks to hydrogen is that it can be difficult to transport and store, said Yang, the Dean’s Assistant Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering.

“The problem solver is this: Instead of pressurizing the hydrogen and then carrying this tank with great care, why don’t we think of something as a chemical hydrogen carrier?” he said.

The team is focusing on ammonia, a well established chemical commodity that packs three hydrogen atoms into each molecule. The big challenge, though, is how to extract the hydrogen from the ammonia– and that is at the heart of the Clemson team’s research.

The conventional way of recovering hydrogen typically involves burning fossil fuels to heat up thermal catalytic reactors. Yang and his team are working to develop an alternative method called Magnetic Induction Heating (MIH).

Instead of burning fossil fuels to produce heat, MIH relies on a magnetic field driven by electricity, which could come from renewable sources such as wind and solar. The technique could raise ammonia to 300-400 degrees in seconds, eliminating the need to warm entire tanks of the chemical, Yang said.

“More importantly, with tailored ferromagnetic catalysts that we are going to develop, you would heat up only inside the reactor, which is a very small yet spot-on space for the intended hydrogen recovery function,” Yang said. “It would be quick, and that would save energy tremendously because thermal energy waste as the result of conduction and convection will be circumvented, and the catalytic reaction itself is accelerated by the magnetic fields in addition to the thermal energy.”

While the research is in the early stages, it could eventually help make hydrogen a more accessible way of powering clean vehicles and off-grid supercomputers in distributed and on-demand manners, Yang said.

The research is funded with a CAREER Award from the National Science Foundation.

As part of the award, Yang is also planning an education program that emphasizes “academic buoyancy,” the ability to bounce back after facing difficulties.

For K-12 students, Yang’s team will lead STEM outreach events and workshops to introduce young learners to energy concepts through hands-on activities. At the undergraduate level, he plans to offer research experience through Clemson’s Creative Inquiry program and South Carolina EPSCoR programs.

Graduate students will receive advanced training in catalysis and reaction engineering, preparing them to develop next-generation energy solutions.