Korean researchers have developed technology that can produce and supply high-purity hydrogen stably and economically by utilizing current urban LNG supply networks.

The Korea Institute of Energy Research (KIER) announced on June 10 that it has developed a high-purity hydrogen production unit that can produce and supply high-purity (99.999 percent or more) hydrogen at an affordable price.

The hydrogen production unit is the key in building hydrogen infrastructure. It consists of a cultivation module that extracts hydrogen by reacting natural gas and water vapor, and a refining module that produces hydrogen by adsorbing and separating impurities such as carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide and methane.

This technology produces hydrogen from natural gas rather than water. Once connected to a city LNG pipeline, it can produce and supply high-purity hydrogen which is 99.999 percent or purer cheaply in urban areas or near demand areas.

The research team increased efficiency of hydrogen production by designing a heat-exchanger-integrated convection heat transfer reformer and improved efficiency of hydrogen refining by developing a vacuum pressure swing adsorption (VPSA) on its own. The research team explained that the new technology can maintain hydrogen purity above 99.999 percent and carbon dioxide concentration below 0.2ppm.

In addition, the new technology boosts the efficiency of hydrogen production to 81 percent, which exceeds the 75 percent to 80 percent levels in the United States and Japan, and can produce and supply hydrogen without making additional investment by utilizing current LNG supply networks.