State-owned Saudi Aramco has partnered with Germany’s Linde Engineering to develop a new ammonia cracking technology.

As part of the agreement, the two firms will evaluate an ammonia cracking catalyst developed by Aramco and the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology against other catalysts.

Aramco and Linde plan to build a demonstration ammonia cracker using the new technology in northern Germany.

“This agreement is part of our ongoing technology and business development efforts to establish a commercially viable lower-carbon hydrogen supply chain. We believe the advanced ammonia cracking technology we are co-developing with Linde Engineering will play a key role in realising our objectives,” says Ahmad al-Khowaiter, senior vice-president and chief technology officer at Aramco.

Linde also plans to offer the technology to current and prospective customers.

“By completing the missing link in the export chain, cleaner energy can be shipped from regions with high renewable and clean energy potential to those with more limited resources” Van der Velden, Linde

“Effective ammonia cracking technology supports the world’s urgent need for decarbonisation,” says John van der Velden, senior vice-president for global sales and technology at Linde Engineering. “By completing the missing link in the export chain, cleaner energy can be shipped from regions with high renewable and clean energy potential to those with more limited resources.”

The high cost of ammonia conversion and reconversion to hydrogen, as well as a lack of existing cracking infrastructure, are both potential hurdles to hydrogen import plans based on ammonia as a carrier. Some voices in the industry argue that displacing existing grey ammonia or using ammonia directly as a bunker fuel or in power generation is a more economic option for low-carbon ammonia projects.

But a growing list of companies are investigating developing ammonia cracking at scale. Aramco was one of 18 companies—including oil majors ExxonMobil, Shell and BP—to commission a feasibility study on a central ammonia cracker capable of producing 1mn t/yr of hydrogen at the port of Rotterdam. The UAE’s Adnoc signed a memorandum of understanding with Germany’s Thyssenkrupp Uhde to investigate the development of large-scale cracking facilities using the latter’s technology. And trading firm Trafigura has entered a partnership with startup Amogy to investigate using the latter’s ammonia cracking technology at scale.

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Author: Polly Martin