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A new high‐energy density hydrogen carrier—carbohydrate—might be better than methanol
Author(s) -
Percival Zhang YiHeng,
Xu JianHe,
Zhong JianJiang
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
international journal of energy research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.808
H-Index - 95
eISSN - 1099-114X
pISSN - 0363-907X
DOI - 10.1002/er.2897
Subject(s) - chemistry , carbohydrate , renewable energy , hydrogen , chemical engineering , methanol , pulp and paper industry , waste management , organic chemistry , ecology , engineering , biology
SUMMARY High‐density hydrogen storage in the form of renewable carbohydrate becomes possible because cell‐free synthetic enzymatic pathway biotransformation (SyPaB) can 100% selectively convert carbohydrate and water to high‐purity hydrogen and carbon dioxide under modest reaction conditions (below water boiling temperature and atmospheric pressure). Gravimetric density of carbohydrate (polysaccharide) is 14.8% H 2 mass, where water can be recycled from polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells or 8.33% H 2 mass based on the water/carbohydrate slurry; volumetric density of carbohydrate is >100 kg of H 2 /m 3 . Renewable carbohydrate would be more advantageous over methanol according to numerous criteria: substrate cost based on energy content (cost per gigajoule), energy conversion efficiency, catalyst cost and availability, sustainability, safety, toxicity, and applications. Huge potential markets of SyPaB from high‐end applications (e.g., biohydrogenation for synthesis of chiral compounds and sugar batteries) to low‐end applications (e.g., local satellite hydrogen generation stations, distributed electricity generators, and sugar fuel cell vehicles) would be motivation to solve the remaining obstacles soon. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.