Researchers discover way to store hydrogen using lignin-based jet fuel

Bin Yang, professor in WSU’s Department of Biological Systems Engineering, stands with Andrew Lipton, scientist at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, next to a nuclear magnetic-resonance instrument used in experiments on new sustainable fuels. (Photo: Andrea Starr and Eddie Pablo, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory).

An international team of scientists has discovered a way to store and release volatile hydrogen using lignin-based jet fuel that could open new pathways for sustainable energy production.

In a new study in the International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, Washington State University Professor Bin Yang and colleagues demonstrated that a type of lignin-based jet fuel they developed can chemically bind hydrogen in a stable liquid form.

The research has many potential applications in fuels and transportation and could ultimately make it easier to harness hydrogen’s potential as a high-energy and zero-emissions fuel source.

“This new, lignin jet fuel-based technology could enable efficient, high-density hydrogen storage in an easy-to-handle sustainable aviation fuel, eliminating the need for pressurized tanks for storage and transport,” Yang said.

For the study, researchers at WSU, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, the University of New Haven, and Natural Resources Canada set out to address one of the major challenges with using hydrogen as a fuel source.

The lightest element’s low density and explosive nature make storage and transport technically challenging, inefficient and expensive.

The January article details how the research team discovered the new hydrogen-storing process using chemical reactions that produced aromatic carbons and hydrogen from lignin jet fuel—an experimental fuel developed by Yang’s lab based on lignin, an organic polymer found in plants.

“Hydrogen is a versatile energy carrier that could help the U.S. meet its targets for zero-emission mobility, integration of renewables and decarbonization of industry,” Yang said.

The discovery points to new uses for the lignin jet fuel developed at WSU by Yang, who previously tested a new continuous process that creates the fuel from agricultural waste. 

Experiments have shown that the sustainably produced fuel could increase engine performance and efficiency while dispensing with aromatics, the pollution-causing compounds found in conventional fuels.

“This innovation offers promising opportunities for compatibility with existing infrastructure and economic viability for scalable production,” Yang said. “It could help create a synergistic system that enhances the efficiency, safety and ecological benefits of both sustainable aviation fuel and hydrogen technologies.”

Next, WSU researchers will collaborate with scientists at the University of New Haven to design an AI-driven catalyst that enhances and completes the reactions, making them more efficient and cost-effective.

Funding for the work came from the U.S. DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy and its Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies Office.