Integration of hydrogenation and dehydrogenation based on dibenzyltoluene as liquid organic hydrogen energy carrier

Abstract

The heat transfer oil dibenzyltoluene (DBT) offered an intriguing approach for the scattered storage of renewable excess energy as a novel Liquid Organic Hydrogen Carrier (LOHC). The integration of hydrogenation and dehydrogenation in H0-DBT/H18-DBT pairs demonstrated that the feasibility of hydrogenation and dehydrogenation reaction conducted in one reactor with the same catalyst, which would be proposed to simplify the hydrogen storage process. The optimal reaction temperature based on the inhibition of ring opening and cracking was investigated combined with the 1H NMR analysis. Meanwhile, the ideal catalyst 3 wt% Pt/Al2O3 for high hydrogen storage efficiency was screened out. Cycle tests of hydrogenation and dehydrogenation integration reaction had shown that the hydrogen storage efficiency was 84.6% after five cycle tests. The integration of hydrogenation and dehydrogenation reaction based on DBT exhibited the ideal thermal stability, which demonstrated its potential as a reversible H2 carrier.