Professor Shul Yong-gun’s Research Team Suggests New Concept for Converting Heavy Oil into Hydrogen Fuel

- Important Implications for Renewable Energy Systems

A research team led by Yonsei Professor Shul Yong-gun (Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering) and Kyushu University Professor Park Joo-il (Institute for Materials Chemistry and Engineering) has proposed a new concept for converting heavy oil into hydrogen fuel.  Joining Professors Shul and Park on the research team were Yonsei Professors Jeon Yuk-won and Park Dae-hwan (Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering), Ewha Womans University Professor Choy Jin-ho (Center for Intelligent NanoBio Materials), and Kyushu Professors Yoon Seong-ho and Isao Mochida (Institute for Materials Chemistry and Engineering).  The results of the research, which was supported in part by the National Research Foundation of Korea and GS Caltex, were published on October 9 in the prestigious journal Scientific Reports. Their article, “Hollow fibers networked with perovskite nanoparticles for h2 production from heavy oil,” lays out a new concept for the development of a highly active and stable reforming catalyst that can be used in the process of converting heavy hydrocarbons, such as gas oil, into hydrogen-rich gas fuels.  In designing a catalyst using perovsite nanoparticles, the authors suggest, an ultraclean, efficient, and cost-effective conversion process can be achieved, an important step in addressing the growing global need for renewable energy systems.  Ultimately, the research should have important applications in terms of developing the essential infrastructure for a hydrogen fuel economy, as current methods for producing hydrogen fuel from heavy oils are not commercially viable.  According to Professor Shul:  “The research findings on hydrogen production using durable catalysts in reforming processes will contribute to developments in the hydrogen production process, as well as to the establishment, globally, of a hydrogen fuel cell infrastructure.”