US-based Syzygy Plasmonics announced successful final tests of its light-powered ammonia cracking technology. More than 1,500 hours of testing have validated the production of hydrogen from ammonia in the reactor cell, which is now available to order as a stacked, 5 tons per day capacity system.
Rice University & Syzygy Plasmonics have demonstrated a new copper-iron photocatalyst for ammonia decomposition. The potential to replace expensive, rare materials like ruthenium would be a significant step, and Syzygy aims to couple the new photocatalyst and light-driven, all-electric reactor technology developed at Rice to decarbonise chemical & fuel production. It’s been a big month for Syzygy, which also closed a successful, $76 million Series C funding round, with Aramco, Chevron, LOTTE and Toyota all participating.
Syzygy Plasmonics, LOTTE and Sumitomo Corporation of Americas announced they will join forces to deploy & test Syzygy’s fully-electric, photocatalytic ammonia cracking reactor at LOTTE Chemical’s HQ in Ulsan, South Korea. Syzygy’s reactor technology uses light from ultra-high-efficiency LEDs to crack ammonia into zero-carbon hydrogen, eliminating combustion emissions usually associated with chemical manufacturing. The announcement is one of several new ammonia collaborations this week, with LOTTE, ITOCHU and Sasol all announcing new agreements.
Welcome to the Ammonia Wrap: a summary of all the latest announcements, news items and publications about ammonia energy. This week: new funding and investment for ammonia energy (Starfire Energy, GenCell, Syzygy Plasmonics and Hazer Group), marine engines from the "Ammoniamot" consortium, Uruguay's national hydrogen strategy takes another step, Onahama Port to investigate hydrogen & ammonia imports and Sumitomo to develop Gladstone's hydrogen "ecosystem".