Among the many challenges for cracking researchers is their choice of material to build their catalysts from. There is hope that cheaper, more readily-available materials will replace the Ruthenium-based catalysts that have dominated the field up to this point. This week two new pieces of research suggest a way forwards using alkali metal-based materials: Lithium and Calcium.
Mitsubishi Power has announced the development of single and mixed-fuel ammonia combustion boilers for industrial applications. Importantly, Mitsubishi also announced that optimal combustion conditions for ammonia have been successfully identified to minimise NOx formation and ammonia slip.
Australia-based Origin Energy and shipping company Mitsui O.S.K Lines (MOL) have joined forces to explore where they can develop the green ammonia supply chain between Australia and Asia. The new joint study (to be completed by the end of this year) will also determine the feasibility of Australian green ammonia export projects supplying key markets by 2026.
Itochu will purchase blue ammonia from Abu Dhabi, under a new agreement with OCI NV and ADNOC. Itochu will also team up with Petronas Canada (subsidiary of the Malaysian state energy company) will team up for a feasibility study into a 1 million tonne per year blue ammonia production plant in Alberta.
Woodside Energy, JOGMEC, Marubeni and two Japanese power utilities signed a joint research agreement this week to investigate the feasibility of a blue ammonia supply chain between Australia and Japan.
ADNOC announced this week that it will embark on a joint study with three Japanese organisations – INPEX, JERA, and the government agency JOGMEC – to explore the commercial potential of blue ammonia production in the UAE. Also this week, TAQA Group and Abu Dhabi Ports announced plans for a green ammonia export facility to be based in the Khalifa Industrial Zone Abu Dhabi (KIZAD). A 2 GW solar power plant will power electrolyzers that will feed green hydrogen into the ammonia production facility, with a pipeline to connect the setup to storage tanks at nearby Khalifa Port.
This week: 45 GW mega-project in Kazakhstan, world-first industrial "dynamic" green ammonia plant, Japan's Idemitsu to use Tokuyama facility for ammonia imports, co-combustion test, more successful funding rounds, green ammonia in Ireland, South Africa's potential to fuel green shipping: new report, Obsky LNG becomes Obsky hydrogen/ammonia and more developments in the Middle East.