Hydrogen production using ammonia, which had been virtually impossible due to the lack of legal grounds, is expected to become possible. With the safety and reliability of the technology confirmed through demonstrations in the North Chungcheong green hydrogen industry regulatory free zone, a legal basis has been established to use ammonia as a feedstock for hydrogen extraction.
The Ministry of SMEs and Startups, the Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment, and North Chungcheong Province said on the 7th that, based on the special zone demonstration results, the safety of ammonia-based hydrogen production and utilization facilities has been officially verified.
The Korea Gas Safety Corporation (KGS) also revised the related safety standard with the climate ministry, the "standards for facilities, technology, and inspection for manufacturing hydrogen extraction equipment." The measure is seen as removing institutional barriers so that toxic gas ammonia can be handled more safely and its industrial use can expand.
Until now, hydrogen extraction equipment was required to use only hydrocarbon fuels such as city gas, LPG, and methanol/ethanol, leaving no legal basis for hydrogen production using ammonia as a feedstock. To overcome these constraints, the North Chungcheong special zone built the nation's first ammonia-based hydrogen production and utilization facilities in Sep. last year and demonstrated technical stability through pilot operations.
Accordingly, the hydrogen extraction equipment standards revised on the 28th of last month include facilities that use ammonia as a feedstock within the scope of application and newly establish standards for materials, structures, devices, and performance required for handling toxic gas. With this standards revision institutionally allowing hydrogen extraction via ammonia thermal decomposition, commercialization prospects have opened.
The achievement is the result of cooperation between the central government and local governments, and this is the first case of leading the establishment of an ammonia-based modular hydrogen production process and the development of safety standards. Special Zone Innovation Planning Director Lee Hyeon-jo said, "If the commercialization of ammonia-based hydrogen business is accelerated, it will become an important driving force for expanding the base of the domestic hydrogen industry and achieving carbon neutrality."