AFC Energy announced the commencement of its first “ammonia to hydrogen” cracker demonstration plant. Located in the UK using ammonia sourced from OCI Global, this will be world’s largest ammonia to hydrogen modular cracker demonstration in operation.
Designed to produce fuel cell grade hydrogen at a rate of 400kg/day, AFC Energy’s cracker system consumes a small fraction of the power consumed by electrolysers, highlighting an ideal distributed hydrogen source potential, whether for use in stationary (including motive refueling) or maritime applications.
The cracker demonstration plant has been designed, built and commissioned by AFC Energy over the course of 2023 leading to the successful first production of cracked hydrogen this week. The demonstration plant, including purification technology, will now be operated and validated over several months with targeted ISO grade (99.97%) hydrogen production.
Hydrogen produced by AFC Energy from the plant could be supplied to customers of the Company’s H-Power Generators (including Speedy Hydrogen Solutions) and third party customers.
The Company’s newest cracker technology advancements (launched in March 2023) whose purity was validated by the UK’s National Physical Laboratory earlier this year, are expected to be retrofitted into the demonstration plant in 2024 (replacing the existing cracker technology), further improving cost and efficiency performance, and adding to its market leading characteristics which have to date been demonstrated at lab scale.
The ammonia used was supplied by OCI Global, a leading producer of hydrogen based products, including ammonia and methanol with ammonia production facilities in the Middle East, Africa, US and Europe. The ammonia sold to AFC Energy to be cracked into hydrogen for use in fuel cell applications, was delivered via OCI’s Port of Rotterdam terminal, where it imports its ammonia from the US and MENA.
Engineering will start in 2024 to containerise the ammonia cracker platform, including purification technology, to enable mobile, distributed hydrogen production at the point of consumption with an initial focus on European and Asian markets. The containerised cracker platform then becomes a standalone product capable of being sold to hydrogen consumers, positioning AFC Energy at the forefront of this emerging global market.
The Company also expects to commence cracking green ammonia for the next stage of the project.
AFC Energy has signed its first Letter of Intent with the trading arm of one of Europe’s largest energy companies to market the potential for ammonia as a hydrogen carrier fuel to its customers. AFC Energy is currently in dialogue with multiple European project partners, demonstrating the high growth potential of the Company’s modular, scalable cracker technology.
Adam Bond, Chief Executive, AFC Energy, said:
“With an ammonia cracker offering market leading efficiency, low power consumption and the production of fuel cell grade hydrogen, AFC Energy’s first pilot project is a major step forward in unlocking the barriers of hydrogen logistics and transport. The cracker system, in containerised form, will be capable of replication across Europe and Asia with our ability to generate low cost, decarbonised hydrogen from internationally traded green and blue ammonia being a key step forward in the evolution of the global hydrogen market.”
Photo of AFC Energy
Press release https://is.gd/qBjGKw