CO from ironworks transformed into green energy - H2!

Technology to produce bio-hydrogenusing marine archaea has been developed,
allowing 5 percent (more than 100billion KRW) of the demand for hydrogen to be met

□  A new technology has been developed by domestic researchers to convert carbonmonoxide (CO？a major component of byproduct gases emitted from diversesteelworks) into hydrogen by using marine extremophiles as an enzymaticcatalyst. The new technology is expected to contribute to the development ofhighly economically beneficial green energy resources for the future.

o  Kwon Do-youp, the minister ofLand, Transport and Maritime Affairs, has announced that researchers have succeededin developing the world’s most efficient technology for the practicalproduction of bio- hydrogen by using the marine archaea NA1, separated from its habitat near hydrothermal vents in the Pacific.The announcement was made on June 19 at the ceremony for the completion of thePractical Production Plant, along with a presentation on the results of the ‘Bio-hydrogenproduction technology research & development project - Using marine thermophilicarchaea’ at the Republic of Korea Ocean Research & Development Institute. The project wasinitiated as a part of the ‘Marine Bio-Energy Technology Development Project.’

o  Hydrogen production from converting CO through themarine archaea NA1 was 15 times greater than existing hydrogenproduction technology using anaerobic bacteria. The archaea (NA1) is known to be the most proficient amongall hydrogen-generating microbes.

o  The research team headed by Dr. Kang Sung-Gyun at KORDI has established bioreactors of 5liter, 30 liter and 300 liter volumes for thermophilic anaerobic hydrogenproduction. They are the first in the nation to practically produce marine bio-hydrogen.

They have also developed technology to produce 10o kgs and 10 kgs ofbio-hydrogen a day respectively using formic acid and carbon monoxide as rawmaterials, after employing a 1-ton reactor through the ‘Research to Optimizethe Production of Bio Hydrogen’ project.

The results of their research have achieved the world’s highest levels in termsof bio-hydrogen production technology using formic acid or carbon monoxide.

o  These achievements open up exciting prospects for the reduction ofcarbon monoxide, a representative environmental pollutant, and the productionof new and renewable energy from hydrogen through the efficient reuse ofbyproduct gases emitted from steel mills.

o  Carbon monoxide makes up about 60 percent of the Linz-DonawitzConverter gas (LDG gas) from steel mills. Carbon monoxide has been used as a heatsource for the self-generation of power by mills or is emitted into the air. Fromthis amount, more than 2 million tons of gas is known to be re-used each year. Byusing these gases more efficiently in the production of bio-hydrogen, twoexpected effects are achieved: the reduction of environmental pollutants andthe production of new and renewable energy sources.

□  Theresearch team has announced their plans to complete the building of a plant forpractical production research and to kick off the 2^nd-stage researchproject examining the potential for the mass production of hydrogen.

o  When the mass production technology is completed by 2018 and bio-hydrogenis produced using carbon monoxide, about 5 percent of the domestic demand forhydrogen (10,000 tons production a year, 100 billion won worth of sales forhigh-purity hydrogen) is expected to be met with this new bio-hydrogen.

〔When using 10,000 tonsof hydrogen in industries〕

     ① When power is produced using fuel cells, yearly powerconsumption for40,000 households may be satisfied*

        ＊ Under the assumption that ahousehold consumes 300 KWh on average a month.

     ② 50,000 hydrogen cars couldbe powered each year*

        * Under the assumption that a car travels 20,000 km a year on averageand 1kg of hydrogen is consumed to travel 100 km.

o  According to recent research on the economiceffects of bio-hydrogen (by Park Jeong-soo, Professor at Sogang University), the cost for hydrogenproduction may decrease from the current $7 ~20 per kg* to $2 ~ 3 when the 2^nd stage hydrogen productivityimprovement research is completed in 2015. 

      * Current unit price of hydrogen in Korea: 3,000？ 5,000 KRW per ㎏ (for low-purity hydrogen), and 10,000 KRW per kg (for high-purityhydrogen)

□ Particularly deserving of scholarly attention isthe fact that the technological achievements that have been made over the pastdecade ？ from the securing of the original biological resources (NA1) from theabyss of the Pacific to developing core technology for hydrogen production ？ allcontributed to the domestic researchers.

o  In detail, the technology required for the separation and cultivationof thermococcus onnurineus (NA1), one of the original biological resources ofthis research, and for gene analysis, analysis of hydrogen production mechanisms,strain improvement, and optimization of bio-hydrogen production have all beendeveloped through domestic research prowess.

   * It is an extremophile living in the abyss, which thrives at hightemperatures from 63 to 90℃. It is a type of archaea collected from the areas around hydrothermalvents at depths of about 1,650 m.

o    NA1 is reported to show the world’s highest bio-hydrogen productivityas it contains eight hydrogenase clusters* and uses carbon monoxide, formic acid and starch as rawmaterials.

   * This was published in the world-class Journal of Bacteriology inNovember 2008.

  ** This was published in the Biotechnology Letters in 2012, and itsinternational patent application was completed in Russia.

o  In particular, a paper on the productionmechanism of bio-hydrogen from NA1 by theteam headed by Dr. Lee Jung-Hyunand Kang Sung-Gyun waspublished in the top journal ‘Nature’ in September 2010. Their research resultswere listed as among the Top 5 of the ‘Top 100 Greatest Scientific Achievements’as selected by the National Science & Technology Commission in 2011.

□ The research team hasalso announced that they will complete development of the 1^st-stageoriginal core technology in the marine bio-hydrogen production technologydevelopment project and advance to the 2^nd stage practicaltechnology development process to boost hydrogen productivity. To this end, theteam will work on the biological reaction process with tests for up to 2 tons,or the maximum pilot scale, until 2015.

MinisterKwon also promised to maximize investment in practical research in order tosupply bio-hydrogen to the market as early as possible in order to satisfy thedrastically rising demand for hydrogen, an eco-friendly energy source which canbe used for automobiles and fuel cells.