Two years after the world first learned of Syzygy Plasmonics clever ammonia e-cracking to produce hydrogen using light, tests are complete and the order book is open. The steel industry and power generation sectors are key targets
Climate goals in energy importing regions like Asia and Central Europe are forcing importers of liquified natural gas (LNG) to look for lower-carbon energy carriers. Many of them are turning to low-carbon ammonia as a solution.
A portion of that imported ammonia will be cracked to produce hydrogen for hard-to-abate sectors like power generation and steel production. Conventional thermal ammonia cracking is energy intensive and emits harful nitrogen oxides (NOx) when ammonia is burned as part of the process.
This week Syzygy Plasmonics, in Houston, Texas, USA, has revealed its first light-powered reactor cell for industrial chemical reactions has met initial performance targets and is now available for order.
It will be sold in in stacks designed to produce up to 5 tons of hydrogen a day. Syzygy says it has completed more than 1,500 hours of testing of its Rigel™ cell to produce hydrogen from ammonia. Testing of the first-of-a-kind 200 kg/d light-powered ammonia e-cracking cell began in late 2023 and is ongoing.
Ammonia cracking is an energy-intensive process, requiring a furnace containing a nickel catalyst to be heated to temperatures of 850-900°C. But Syzygy’s Rigel reactor only requires 12kWh of electricity to crack NH3 into 1kg of H2 — potentially reducing the cost of converting imported green ammonia back into green hydrogen, while entirely eliminating NOx emissions.
Syzygy has pioneered the new technology that harnesses the energy from ultra-high efficiency artificial lighting to e-crack ammonia, removing the need for combustion. When powered by renewable electricity, Rigel cell stacks are designed to deliver no-NOx hydrogen from low-carbon ammonia.
“The testing at our Houston facility is going exceptionally well,” said Syzygy CEO Trevor Best. “We’re ready to deliver 5-tons-of-hydrogen-per-day projects today. In 2025 we’ll be ready for 10-ton installations, and then for 100-ton projects in late 2026.”
With strong initial results, Syzygy has the data points needed to enter the market. These results also show a strong path forward to continue achieving even greater efficiency and performance in future reactor cell designs. Syzygy is establishing a strong efficiency baseline at the reactor cell level and adding the energy required for balance of plant equipment and processes to determine overall system efficiencies. Including the energy required for an entire e-ammonia cracking plant, test results show that Syzygy technology should be able to produce hydrogen using only 12 kWh/kg in 2025. In 2026, the product roadmap calls for reducing that further to just 10 kWh/kg, further improving efficiency and operating costs.
Syzygy Plasmonics says it is a deep-decarbonisation company. It builds reactor cells that use light instead of combustion to electrify chemical manufacturing and power a cleaner, safer world. Syzygy is commercialising a universal photocatalytic reactor platform designed to consume greenhouse gases and produce low-carbon hydrogen.
When powered with renewable electricity, this tunable technology is designed to reduce both cost and emissions from many different chemical reactions. The company’s mission is to create a world where chemicals, fuels, and fertilizer are low cost, carbon neutral, and accessible to everyone.
For more information visit plasmonics.tech.
