Amobia says it has reinvented a century-old technology

Ammonia may be the most underrated chemical in the world. Without it, crops would not be fertilized and billions of people would starve.

Humans began making ammonia in large quantities just over a century ago, and since then, the process used to make it, known as Haber-Bosch, has not changed much. A new beginning, Amobiasays it has modified the Haber-Bosch process to reduce costs by up to 40%.

To prove that the technology works on a larger scale, Ammobia has raised $7.5 million, the company exclusively told TechCrunch. Investors include Air Liquide’s investment arm ALIAD, Chevron Technology Ventures, Chiyoda Corporation, MOL Switch, and Shell Ventures.

If the startup is successful, it could pave the way for ammonia to be used beyond fertilizers.

Some view ammonia as an alternative to hydrogen Decarbonisation of a range of industries. Countries such as Japan and South Korea have developed industrial and transportation roadmaps based on ammonia. Hydrogen, the other major competitor, is not As energy density Transport infrastructure is not as developed as ammonia.

“The big advantage of ammonia is that it is much easier and more cost-effective to transport and store,” Karen Burt, co-founder and CEO of Amobia, told TechCrunch. “This opens up a host of opportunities.”

But these opportunities will not be great if ammonia production does not improve its performance. The Haber-Bosch process is one of the world’s largest polluters, producing approximately 2% of global greenhouse gases.

To make ammonia, Haber-Bosch plants use an iron catalyst to force one molecule of nitrogen to react with three molecules of hydrogen. The reaction requires high heat (500°C) and pressure (about 200 bar or 2,900 psi) to maintain, both of which are provided by burning fossil fuels.

Fossil fuels also provide some of the gas needed as raw materials. Nitrogen is easy to obtain, as the gas makes up approximately 80% of Earth’s atmosphere, but most of the hydrogen used in ammonia production is made using steam to break down methane (CH) molecules.₄) found in natural gas.

The amobia process takes place at about 150°C lower temperature and ten times lower pressure. As a result, factories that adopt this technology are able to produce less pollution, even if they do not eliminate fossil fuels.

The startup also says its process saves upfront cost. Amoebas can use cheaper pumps and equipment because they do not need to be exposed to high temperatures and pressures.

This can give producers an advantage. Because almost all ammonia producers use Haber-Bosch, they have only two ways to cut costs: find a cheaper source of heat or a cheaper source of hydrogen. And in places like the United States, few of them are cheaper than natural gas.

Amoubia is not seeking to change that immediately. The startup asserts that its process works with any source of hydrogen or heat. But it has some key differences from traditional Haber-Bosch that can encourage cleaner sourcing of both.

Because amobia operate at lower pressure, it is easier to scale production up and down, which could allow renewable energy developers to tap into surplus electricity production to produce cheap hydrogen and thus cheap ammonia.

“Our technology is highly compatible with renewable energy, which results in a further reduction in costs because you don’t need to store hydrogen or store electricity,” Bart said. “In these cases, we have the strongest cost advantage.”

Lower temperature and pressure requirements also allow Ammobia to make its equipment smaller than a typical Haber-Bosch plant. Most facilities today produce ammonia Between 1000 to 3000 tons Bart said that the Amoubia commercial unit will produce 250 tons per day. Customers who need more can install multiple units, she said.

Ammobia hasn’t shared details on how it modified the Haber-Bosch device to operate at lower temperatures and pressures, but there are some hints. The company has Patent pending A reactor system that includes an absorbent to remove ammonia during its formation to free up space on the catalyst for another reaction to occur. The researchers also studied non-ferrous catalysts, including… Manganese nitrideWhich uses less energy to keep the chemical reaction going.

The startup has been operating a small unit for about a year, and the new funding will help the company build a pilot plant that has all the features of the commercial model on a smaller scale, about 10 tons per day.

“With this modular approach, we can build projects faster, and we can start at a medium scale,” Bart said. “We see a lot of customers looking for this type of solution, and there is no solution available today.”