Molten Industries, an American cleantech startup founded in 2021, develops methane thermal pyrolysis technology to produce clean hydrogen and graphite. By capturing the carbon in solid form, this technology prevents carbon emissions.
Challenges: produce carbon-free hydrogen
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. Ammonia production is at the heart of creating a plethora of products that we rely on daily, from the fertilizers that nourish our crops to the plastics that are woven into the fabric of modern life.
Traditionally, the world has leaned 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 the global carbon dioxide (COâ‚‚) emissions, releasing between 5 and 9 tons of COâ‚‚ for every ton of hydrogen it generates.
Molten Industries Technology
Molten Industries has developed a scalable, cost-effective thermochemical pyrolysis technology that decomposes methane into hydrogen gas and solid carbon (graphite). Molten Industries pyrolysis reactor avoids the problem of carbon deposition and clogging. Molten Industries technology could be cheaper than that produced through water electrolysis or existing steam methane reforming with carbon capture.
Molten Industries methane pyrolysis
The diagram below depicts Molten Industries thermochemical pyrolysis reactor.
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