IHI Corporation has developed a device capable of producing carbon dioxide-free ammonia using green hydrogen derived from renewable energy. A small scale-test was recently conducted at the hydrogen research facility “Soma Lab” within the Soma IHI Green Energy Center (SIGC) in Soma City Fukushima Prefecture (see note 1), confirming that green ammonia could be produced at the targeted efficiency.

Ammonia is currently produced using hydrogen derived from reforming natural gas and nitrogen from the air. However, this process generates carbon dioxide emissions from the natural gas. Decarbonizing fuels (see note 2) and developing a method for producing green ammonia that does not emit CO₂, is crucial to achieving a carbon-neutral society. Green ammonia production using Power-to-X technology, which converts renewable energy into more easily usable forms, is expected to be a method of producing ammonia without CO₂ emissions.

IHI is pushing forward with efforts to establish Power-to-X technology, which converts variable renewable energy into heat or hydrogen for efficient energy use. To date, the company has undertaken pilot initiatives harnessing heat converted from renewable energy to dry and reduce sludge volumes at Soma City’s sewage plant, turning it into fertilizer and producing synthetic methane from hydrogen using a water electrolyzer and carbon dioxide to fuel community buses (see note 3). The Soma Lab recently installed a green ammonia test unit (see note 4) employing Power-to-X technology. Testing that encompassed everything from hydrogen production through ammonia synthesis confirmed ammonia production at the target efficiency.

IHI will continue conducting further tests to optimize operating conditions of the production test rig, gather performance data, and validate the entire process. As a promising option of the methods for green ammonia production, IHI will accelerate R&D of this technology using Power-to-X technology, with the aim of scaling up and commercializing it at an early stage.

Notes
1. Soma IHI Green Energy Center
Address: 2-1-1 Koyo, Soma City, Fukushima Prefecture
Site area: 54,000m²
Overview: Opened in April 2018, this facility aims to realize a decarbonized, circular economy by building a sustainable, locally sourced and consumed, hydrogen-based smart community. The Soma Lab, established in 2020, serves as an advanced technology development center for hydrogen utilization. It conducts research and demonstration tests on hydrogen usage and energy carrier conversion technology, harnessing hydrogen from surplus electricity with the goal of positioning hydrogen as a central energy source.

News releases
Opening of Soma IHI Green Energy Center
https://www.ihi.co.jp/all_news/2018/other/1190445_1626.html

Opening of Soma Lab
https://www.ihi.co.jp/all_news/2020/other/1196903_1611.html

2. Fuel decarbonization
https://www.ihi.co.jp/en/sustainable/environmental/climatechange/ammonia_energy/

3. Fueling community buses with synthetic methane
Japan’s First Green Methane Supply for Community Bus Started!
A new attempt to use synthetic methane (Green Methane) produced by surplus electric power from renewable energy effectively as vehicle fuel

4. Green ammonia production test unit
Feed Gases: Hydrogen, Nitrogen
Pressure: 20 megapascals
Catalyst: iron-based
Ammonia production capacity: one kilogram daily

Related paper
IHI Technical Review, Vol. 61, No. 2 (2021)
Development of Hydrogen-Based Distributed Energy System
https://www.ihi.co.jp/en/technology/sdgs/topic01/pdf/12.pdf

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