Hycamite (Hycamite TCD Technologies), a Finnish cleantech company founded in 2020, specializes in producing clean hydrogen and high-quality solid carbon through thermo-catalytic decomposition (TCD) of methane or natural gas without releasing greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere.
Challenges: hydrogen fuel
Hydrogen (H₂), the most abundant element in the universe, is not just a fundamental building block of stars—it's also a vital ingredient in the synthesis of ammonia. Production of ammonia plays a crucial role in producing a wide range of products we use on a daily basis, including fertilizers for crop nourishment and plastics for modern life.
Traditionally, the world has relied heavily on steam methane reforming (SMR) to produce over 60 million tons of hydrogen annually. However, this method comes with a significant environmental cost. It's an energy-intensive process that contributes approximately 2% to global carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions, releasing between 5 and 9 tons of CO₂ for every ton of hydrogen it generates.
Hycamite Technology
Hycamite has created a way to use thermocatalytic decomposition (TCD) to break down methane into clean hydrogen and high-value carbon solids. By using catalysts, Hycamite has significantly lowered the temperature of methane pyrolysis below 800 ºC, thus requiring only 13% of the energy needed to produce hydrogen via electrolysis. This significant energy reduction makes the process more cost-effective and environmentally friendly. The catalysts also favor the formation of high-value carbon nanotubes and carbon nanofibers.
How Hycamite converts methane into hydrogen
The diagram below depicts the process of Hycamite’s thermocatalytic decomposition (TCD) of methane or natural gas.
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