Louis Dreyfus & Technip Energies: on-deck ammonia cracking aboard a “mobile terminal”
By on June 03, 2025
Click to learn more. LDA’s mobile vessel will have integrated capacity for ammonia storage, transportation and cracking to hydrogen. Source: Louis Dreyfus Armateurs.
Louis Dreyfus Armateurs (LDA) has designed a vessel that would act as a “mobile terminal” for ammonia storage, transportation and on-deck cracking. The Floating Renewable Energy Solution for Hydrogen (FRESH) vessel is relocatable according to hydrogen demand, serving areas lacking conventional ammonia import infrastructure such as deep water jetties, onshore crackers and storage terminals.
On the ammonia cracking component, LDA has partnered with Technip Energies. The two parties signed an MoU in April this year which will see Technip’s proprietary ammonia cracking technology deployed onboard the FRESH vessel. Technip’s ammonia cracking process “involves vaporising and preheating liquid ammonia, then cracking it in a fired tubular reactor using a commercial catalyst. The recuperative concept recovers and reintegrates heat into the process, producing a hydrogen/nitrogen mixture.”
The 170-metre long FRESH vessel will have capacity to store about 45,000 m3 of imported ammonia (equivalent in storage size to a mid-sized gas carrier). The ammonia cracking component of the vessel will have capacity to produce about 50,000 tons per year of hydrogen gas (almost 100% pure) and an energy efficiency of over 90%, on deck. The hydrogen can then be compressed and offloaded to shore for supply to different demand centres. The FRESH vessel will be situated at port during production and regularly supplied by ammonia carriers.
The vessel design, which has received Approval in Principle by classification society Korean Register, aims to reduce the CAPEX of ammonia energy projects by eliminating the need to develop expensive port infrastructure.
This partnership with Technip Energies marks a significant milestone in our journey to operate a floating low-carbon hydrogen terminal. By integrating their ammonia cracking technology, we are taking a crucial step in developing a reliable and efficient solution while ensuring very low GHG and NOx emissions.
Mathieu Muzeau, Transport & Logistics MD at LDA, in his organisation’s official press release, 22 May 2025