Despite the progress made, the storage and transport of hydrogen present technical challenges. For long distances, a carrier medium is useful for transporting hydrogen. Ammonia has the advantage that it can be released directly on site using a cracker, which breaks the gas down into its components. The resulting gas can be fed directly to the consumer—such as a fuel cell—immediately after the purification step. However, unconsumed feedstock can damage the consumer, and the requirements for tolerable content vary significantly depending on the design.
The goal of the research was to develop a measuring cell for conversion control in the ammonia cracker that serves to protect the consumer. This requires high stability and accuracy of the measuring cell so that a single calibration is sufficient. Low maintenance, cost-efficiency, and portability of the system were additional system requirements.
The measuring cell is designed to determine the residual ammonia content in a dry N2/H2 gas mixture containing 75% by volume H2 and is intended to enable real-time monitoring. The developed solution is based on innovative thermal emitters and operates without a chopper. Custom sensor elements can be quickly integrated, as the design allows for installation via fittings.
Component selection and manufacturing processes were optimized to ensure that the final price remains competitive.
Using the demonstrator, it was possible to thoroughly study the effects of the radiator and the chamber design on the system’s performance.
The research and development work described here was funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWE) as part of the research project “Photoacoustic Sensor for Hydrogen Production” (NH3-BZ).
Funding code: 49MF220229
