Fossil Energy

Getter Materials for Cracking Ammonia

Related Patents:  5976723

Contact: David R. Anderson

Phone: (208) 526-0837

E-mail:  Send E-mail

The efforts made by the U.S. and other industrialized countries at controlling polluting emissions over the past 30 years have greatly reduced the amounts of air-borne pollutants that have been linked with serious environmental and health risks. Nevertheless, much still needs to be done to reduce harmful chemicals pumped into the atmosphere from combustion-driven economies. One approach is by using ammonia. Ammonia is essentially nonflammable and is readily obtained and handled in liquid form without the need for expensive and complicated refrigeration technology. INL researchers have identified and developed materials capable of catalyzing the disproportionate of ammonia at rates sufficient for use in internal combustion engines or fuel cells to access the enormous potential of hydrogen fuels as an environmentally sound energy source.