Eneos starts production of hydrogen carrier

The Japanese refiner Eneos has started up a demonstration plant in Brisbane, Australia, to produce methylcyclohexane (MCH), an organic chemical being developed as a liquid hydrogen carrier. The plant uses Eneos’s method of making MCH in an electrochemical cell from toluene and water, circumventing the need for a step to electrolyze water into hydrogen. The electrolyzer for the plant has 150 kW of capacity and is running on solar power. Over the 8-month trial period, Eneos will ship the MCH to Japan, where it will extract 2–3 metric tons of hydrogen. The firm plans to build a 5 MW electrolyzer for the process by 2025.