The key project of the national key research and development plan "Natural Gas Cracking and Hydrogen Production Co-Production Nanocarbon Material Technology" was launched in Shanghai

Recently, the launch and implementation plan demonstration meeting of the "Natural Gas Cracking Hydrogen Production Co-Production Nanocarbon Material Technology" project of the Ministry of Science and Technology's national key R&D plan "Hydrogen Energy Technology" was held in Shanghai. After questioning, technical guidance and comprehensive evaluation by the project expert group, the project implementation plan successfully passed the expert demonstration, which also means that this key project was officially launched in Shanghai.

This national key R&D plan is led by the Shanghai Institute of Microsystems and Information Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and jointly undertaken by Shanghai Hydrogen Field New Material Technology Co., Ltd., Shanghai University of Science and Technology, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Harbin Institute of Technology and other "industry-research" advantageous units. Key projects, aiming at the carbon emission reduction development needs of natural gas hydrogen production technology, carry out research on high value-added carbon materials technology for natural gas hydrogen production co-production, which will provide important technical support for carbon emission reduction in the field of natural gas hydrogen production in my country. Among them, Shanghai Hydrogen Field Company is a key part of the project to achieve technology implementation and commercial promotion.

The project consulting expert group consists of Academician Cheng Huiming of Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Professor Lu Xionggang of Shanghai University, Professor Zhu Tong of Tongji University, Professor Li Zhuo of Tongji University, Researcher Song Fei of Shanghai Light Source Science Center, and Professor of Shanghai Baowu Clean Energy Co., Ltd. is composed of Dr. Rao Wentao, and the responsible expert group is composed of Professor Guo Shaojun of Peking University and researcher Sun Shucheng of Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences.

At the meeting, the project expert group fully affirmed the overall implementation plan of the project, and emphasized that in the future research process, the project team should focus on the coordination and linkage between various topics, focus on potential implementation paths of landmark results, and ensure that all aspects of the project are Key nodes were controlled and the overall research goals were successfully achieved. In addition, the expert group focused on the research direction, technological innovation points, and possible challenges and problems faced by the project implementation, and put forward targeted guidance.

It is understood that the overall goal of the "Hydrogen Energy Technology" special project of the national key research and development plan is: guided by major needs such as promoting the energy revolution and building an energy power, systematically lay out hydrogen energy's green production, safe and dense storage and transportation, and efficient utilization technologies, and integrate Through basic foresight, common key, engineering application and evaluation standards, my country’s hydrogen energy technology research and development level will enter the international advanced ranks by 2025.

In response to my country's dual carbon goals of hydrogen energy construction, catching up and leading global hydrogen production technology, the country will establish a project in the field of natural gas cracking and hydrogen production in 2023. Yu Qingkai, chief scientist of the project and researcher at the Shanghai Institute of Microsystems and Information Technology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said that in the context of carbon peaking and carbon neutrality, "natural gas cracking hydrogen production and co-production nanocarbon material technology" will be a key factor for the development of my country's natural gas. Low-carbon applications provide a highly competitive technology route. "19% of my country's hydrogen production comes from steam methane reforming technology. However, the huge amount of carbon dioxide emitted is difficult to adapt to the future 'dual carbon' development needs. Direct cracking of methane to produce hydrogen and co-produce solid carbon not only effectively solves the problem of hydrogen production from natural gas Carbon emission reduction issues, and it is expected to obtain large quantities of high value-added carbon materials.”

This year's "Government Work Report" of our country proposed to "accelerate the development of cutting-edge emerging hydrogen energy, new materials, innovative drugs and other industries." This is the first time that hydrogen energy has been included in the "Government Work Report" as a cutting-edge emerging industry. In recent years, many countries around the world have also launched fierce competition in the technology of natural gas thermal cracking to produce hydrogen and co-produce carbon materials. According to incomplete statistics, there are currently more than 30 innovative companies around the world carrying out direct cracking of natural gas to produce hydrogen, and they have attracted widespread attention from governments, enterprises and capital. For example, the American company Monolith Materials received a US$1 billion loan from the US Department of Energy in 2022 and reached a cooperation agreement with Goodyear, a world-renowned tire company. It can currently pyrolyze 20,000 tons of natural gas annually to generate 15,000 tons of carbon black and 5,000 tons of hydrogen; Germany's BASF has continued to develop mobile carbon bed catalytic natural gas cracking hydrogen production technology with the support of the German government since 2013, and will focus on promoting it at the first Carbon Neutral Expo in 2023. It has currently carried out pilot verification in Ludwigshafen.

Shanghai's taking the lead in technological research and innovative breakthroughs in this field will help my country's research and development of core cutting-edge hydrogen energy technologies. At the same time, this technology has no carbon emissions and can be used as an effective complementary technology for the preparation of "green hydrogen". It is oriented to hydrogen metallurgy, such as hydrogen for blast furnaces, hydrogen for cold rolling and hot rolling, and forming new productivity in hydrogenation stations and other fields.