Hydrogen is critical to a clean energy future, but moving it around is a major hurdle. A lightweight gas, it's costly to store and transport, often requiring extreme pressure or temperatures.
To solve this, researchers have been turning to Liquid Organic Hydrogen Carriers (LOHCs) - special liquids that can safely store hydrogen. While the concept isn't new, efficiently extracting hydrogen from LOHCs like methylcyclohexane (MCH) remains a challenge.
Now, Monash University and Korean company SMU Airrane, a global leader in membrane commercialisation, are developing a semi-pilot membrane system that could finally crack the code. This could unlock hydrogen export across shipping routes, make clean hydrogen cheaper for industries, and even power things like planes and cargo ships in the future.
This project uses a clever combination of custom-built membranes and catalysts to extract hydrogen at low temperatures, which means it's cheaper, safer and uses much less energy than current methods. At Monash University, early proof-of-concept work has already shown this approach can work.
The Australian Government's Global Connections Fund – Bridging Grants program will now take the technology to the next level - scaling it up and testing it under real-world conditions.
The pilot hydrogen release system project will be tested at Monash University and CSIRO's new Membrane Pilot Facility.
Director of the Monash Centre for Membrane Innovation, Professor Matthew Hill, said while hydrogen is key to the clean energy transition, transporting it is a major challenge.
"We believe our membrane system is the missing link to supply-chain success – a way to cleanly and efficiently release hydrogen at the point of use, without relying on complex high-temperature processes," Professor Hill said.
"Let's say Australia produces hydrogen using solar power. Instead of liquefying or compressing it, we bond the hydrogen to a liquid carrier and send it off in regular fuel tankers – the same ones already used in the oil industry. Once it arrives, our system unlocks the hydrogen on-site and the empty carrier liquid is returned and reused. It's clean, efficient and uses infrastructure we already have."
Professor Hill said solving the transport challenge is just as important as producing green hydrogen, drawing on Australia's LNG industry built by prioritising export capability first, eventually leading to more affordable local use.
"We believe this technology could forge a similar path to growing Australia's clean hydrogen industry." Australia's success with LNG shows that focusing on exports first may help build the infrastructure and scale needed to bring down costs for local production over time.
The global LOHC market is projected to exceed USD 5 billion by 2030, with growing demand in transport, shipping, aerospace and industrial hydrogen systems.
The project is expected to be completed in 2026.
About the Monash Centre for Membrane Innovation
The Monash Centre for Membrane Innovation (MCMI) is a state-of-the-art facility combining research and engineering capability to help scale up novel membranes and separation technologies for applications in clean energy, manufacturing and sustainability.
