First successful demonstration of onboard ammonia-H2 cracking

The demonstration occurred on board the Bertha B, an OSV operated by Zumaia Offshore, during a coastal voyage along the north coast of Spain in the Bay of Biscay. The vessel departed from the port of Bermeo. 

The hydrogen produced by the onboard reactor was used to power a small PEM fuel cell, which was used to meet some of the vessel’s auxiliary power demands. 

The project included the Basque technology incubator, TECNALIA, Ajusa, as well as the gas transportation and supply specialist Enagas, and ship operators Zumaia Offshore and Erhardt Offshore. The project also included classification society ABS.

The project used an ammonia to hydrogen membrane reactor developed by H2Site, a hydrogen production technology company. The company asserts that its cracking technology achieves high conversion efficiency due to its reaction and separation in a single stage, representing a substantial improvement compared to other transformation technologies.

“The combination of the reaction and separation stages also permits the unit to be more compact, which offers particular advantages for applications where space is limited, such as maritime applications,” Jose Antonio Medrano, the Technical Director of H2Site, commented.

The technology design company is also focusing development efforts on improving the efficiency of the ammonia conversion process, which will be key to efforts to scale up the technology, Medrano added. 

The project participants are continuing to explore larger scale projects where its technology could be applied to the decarbonisation of the maritime sector.  

On 15 January 2024, The Motorship reported that H2Site is participating in an EU-funded project to bring forward the introduction of ammonia cracking technology connected with a PEM fuel cell into the marine industry. The project, which is focused on large deepsea vessels with an engine capacity of 1-10MW, is also intended to evaluate a novel ammonia engine capable of running on an ammonia/hydrogen blend of fuels.