MT. Illinois— Prime Plasma, Inc. offers DC plasma technology for the production of clean hydrogen and electrically conductive carbon black (ECB). announced that it would be introduced to Korea.In addition to being used by the company as fuel, this hydrogen is also combined with captured CO2 to make e-methanol and e-DME (dimethyl ether).The end goal is to help Korea achieve a hydrogen economy.
Prime Plasma’s plan in Korea is being implemented in cooperation with Bio Friends, Inc., the world’s leading manufacturer of eDME.“After considering all other methods, we decided to use a prime plasma DC process that can convert aliphatic hydrocarbons such as methane, renewable natural gas or biogas into pure hydrogen and electrically conductive carbon black,” said Bio Friends. Dr. Cho Won-joon, CEO, says.”Moreover, Prime Plasma technology is 100% environmentally friendly with zero CO2 emissions.”
The main application of the hydrogen plant provided by Bio Friends is to fuel hydrogen charging stations and fuel cell electric vehicles (cars and trucks) in South Korea.By 2040, South Korea is expected to have 1,200 charging stations to meet the needs of 6.2 million fuel cell electric vehicles.ECB demand in Korea and Japan is also expected to show strong growth to meet the new demands of the lithium-ion battery and specialty electrical conductor industries.
Prime Plasma’s DC technology requires less than 25% of the thermodynamic energy required to make hydrogen through electrolysis of water or steam methane reforming (SMR).Additionally, SMR creates carbon dioxide exports and potential waste and storage problems.
“Our DC process is clearly superior to the AC version,” notes Dr. Ravi Landava, president of Prime Plasma.”The lower power requirements and the absence of extremely high temperatures and sputtering in the plasma region allow us to produce higher quality carbon black.”
Engineering studies conducted by Prime Plasma and Bio Friends show that the basic design for producing 7 tonnes/day of 99.99% pure hydrogen and 21.2 tonnes/day of ECB requires a methane feed rate of 28.8 tonnes/day and 5 MW of power (grid, solar or wind power) is required.ECB’s dominant market value is between $2,000 and $3,000 per tonne.
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