Use of a 3D Workpiece to Inductively Heat an Ammonia Cracking Reactor

Ammonia, widely regarded as the "hydrogen carrier of the future," offers high hydrogen content, ease of production, and a well-established infrastructure for handling and transportation on a global scale. Meanwhile, ammonia cracking requires heat supply at high temperatures and induction heating provides efficient, precise, and rapid heating to conductive materials of different shapes and sizes. Therefore, this work presents a proof of concept for ammonia cracking using induction heating with 3 different reactor configurations: (1) a 3D metal workpiece; (2) a 3D metal workpiece and Ni/Al2O3 catalyst; and (3) only Ni/Al2O3 catalyst. The performance of the inductively heated reactor is also compared to the one using an electric furnace. The results showed that the reactor configuration containing both the workpiece and the catalyst was the most efficient in terms of electric power usage to achieve high temperatures quickly; the least efficient configuration is the one with just the catalyst. While the workpiece surface showed minor structural changes after time on stream, the system’s performance was not affected. Overall, the introduction of the 3D workpiece allowed for fast and uniform conversion and heating within the reactor enabling efficient and dynamic process control when applying induction heating to chemical reactors.