New York-headquartered ammonia power start-up Amogy and Japan-based JGC Holdings Corp will work together to develop large-scale ammonia-cracking technology for low-carbon hydrogen production.
JGC Holdings is an engineering and construction company that specialises in building plants such as refineries, LNG facilities and ethylene production units.
The Japan-based engineering firm said it chose Amogy’s low-ruthenium content catalyst for its ammonia cracking demonstration project, aiming to establish a large-scale, competitive hydrogen supply chain.
JGC is also part of Japan’s New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization, which promotes the research and development of next-generation fuels, and in this case, ammonia.
To date, Amogy has demonstrated its ammonia cracking technology on a small scale, such as on a tug, an aerial drone and a farm tractor.
Amogy’s technology cracks ammonia fuel into nitrogen and hydrogen, with the hydrogen then supplied to a fuel cell or internal combustion engine.
But while “small-scale ammonia cracking technologies have been commercialised, expanding energy-efficient processes remains a challenge”, Amogy said in a statement.
Hence, this will be the first pilot plant deployment of Amogy’s advanced ammonia cracking technology.
“Large-scale ammonia cracking technology is one of the last elements to be developed and commercialised to realise a clean hydrogen-ammonia supply chain globally at industrial scale,” said JGC Holdings vice president and technology commercialisation officer Masahiro Aika.
JGC will lead the design and development of the large-scale ammonia cracking system to enable widespread hydrogen production from ammonia by 2030.
As for Amogy, besides supplying the catalyst, it will also provide support to ensure the technology’s optimal performance and reliability in large-scale operations.
Amogy has a portfolio of ammonia cracking catalysts, which include both precious-metal-based and base-metal-based formulations that provide efficient ammonia conversion into hydrogen.
These catalysts deliver significantly higher activity compared to other commercial offerings, enabling increased hydrogen production rates at much lower operating temperatures, the company said in a statement.
“This first pilot plant deployment of our ammonia cracking catalyst represents a major achievement for Amogy and a breakthrough for the hydrogen industry,” said Amogy’s CEO and co-founder Seonghoon Woo.
