Suiso, a UK cleantech startup founded in 2021, develops microwave plasma pyrolysis technology that converts natural gas and bio-methane to clean hydrogen and solid carbon with zero CO₂ emissions. The company’s technology is designed to be fitted directly to on-site hydrogen production, which eliminates the costs of hydrogen distribution, a significant barrier to the adoption of hydrogen energy.
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. 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 (CO₂) emissions, releasing between 5 and 9 tons of CO₂ for every ton of hydrogen it generates.
Additionally, centralized industrial plants produce hydrogen, which must travel a great distance to reach its users. Hydrogen transportation involves either pressurizing the hydrogen gas above 300 pounds per square gage (psig) or cryogenically cooling the hydrogen gas to -253 ºC to create liquid hydrogen. The International Energy Agency estimates that the costs of hydrogen transportation could be three times those of its production.
Suiso Technology
Suiso develops an on-site hydrogen gas production system based on microwave technology that converts natural gas and bio-methane into cost-competitive hydrogen gas and solid carbon without emitting CO₂. The company's hydrogen gas production systems are capable of producing from 200 kg to 1,000 kg of hydrogen per day, and they can be specified to deliver hydrogen with a range of purities for different uses, from domestic/combustion applications to vehicle fueling.
How Suiso generates hydrogen from methane
The diagram below depicts Suiso’s microwave chamber for converting methane into hydrogen and solid carbon black particles.
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