Blue Ammonia Production

Ready to power the energy transition

Blue ammonia production offers a pathway to decarbonise ammonia, and crucially a versatile future fuel and carrier for the energy sector. Using existing infrastructure and supply chains, blue ammonia is part of the solution for storing and transporting low carbon hydrogen globally. 

Drawing on over two decades of partnership in ammonia, Johnson Matthey and thyssenkrupp Uhde now offer an integrated catalyst and technology solution for blue ammonia production. 

Ready for today's market with proven technology and primed for the large-scale demands of the energy transition, our LCH™ Ammonia technology combines the advanced uhde® ammonia process with Johnson Matthey’s award-winning LCH technology. This supports blue ammonia production with over 98% carbon capture efficiency.

What is blue ammonia?

Blue ammonia provides an established chemical feedstock that is already in use extensively around the world, primarily for fertilizer production.  It also offers a carbon free molecule for use as an energy vector.  By reforming natural gas to produce low carbon hydrogen, it can be efficiently converted into ammonia (NH3) via the Haber Bosch process, resulting in blue ammonia production with significantly reduced carbon emissions. 

Demand increase

Ammonia production projection — *Expected ammonia demand up to 2050 for the 1.5°C scenario (Source: IRENA report)*

As ammonia's use extends beyond its primary agricultural use, its production is poised to rapidly expand over the next 15 years.  Global projections estimate ammonia production will exceed 650 million tons by 2050.  For blue ammonia to fulfil its role as a key player in the energy transition, it must be produced where the hydrogen intermediate is generated with high carbon capture rates.

This is best achieved by using advanced reforming technology, like our LCH technology flowsheet, which employs our autothermal reforming (ATR) process. 

The advantage of this approach is that it keeps all the CO₂ under process conditions, at pressure, and in a concentrated form, supporting efficient capture using proven technologies.  Our ATR features a unique long neck, single nozzle design that means robust operation and long, efficient operating cycles, perfectly aligning with the demands of the ammonia industry.  Explore our flowsheet that offers an efficient process able to supply a clean, dry gas to the uhde® ammonia process loop, maximising its efficiency. 

Johnson Matthey LCH ammonia technogloy ATR

LCH technology to ammonia: Secure your future with advanced blue ammonia production technology

Applying 60 years of syngas value chain leadership, our integrated blue ammonia production solutions offer customers the flexibility of two proven flowsheets.

Our flowsheets offer JM’s award-winning LCH technology, which utilises our ATR with a fully integrated steam system. This setup maximizes the value captured from the gas by efficiently using it alongside the steam system, which extracts hydrogen from water splitting and provides cost-effective motive power to the flowsheet. This proven configuration ensures superior efficiency, cost-effectiveness, and high carbon capture rate performance, making it ideal for blue ammonia production. Alternatively, ATR can be combined with our GHR, which reduces the gas requirement per tonne of product and uses green power instead of steam to power drives across the flowsheet.

Explore processes for blue ammonia production

LCH technology ATR flowsheet with ammonia loop integration

Johnson Matthey blue ammonia production ATR flowsheet

Key features:

Fully integrated high-pressure steam system
Low methane slip throughout the cycle
Unique "long neck" design for maximised throughput and uptime
High velocity for better feed and oxygen mixing
Uniform temperature control to protect catalysts

Our alternative flowsheet offers the option to reduce the reliance on gas and increase the use of outside battery limit power (ISBL) taking the energy created from the ATR process and using it to drive further hydrogen production in our GHR (Gas Heated Reformer). This flowsheet significantly reduces the gas requirement to make the same level ammonia, and where green electrical power is available, it also reduces its carbon intensity.

LCH technology GHR + ATR flowsheet with ammonia loop integration

Johnson Matthey blue ammonia production ATR GHR flowsheet

Our unique GHR + ATR flowsheet integrates leading hydrogen and ammonia technology, offering the lowest carbon intensity in the market. It also provides the option to decouple ammonia and hydrogen production.

GHR + ATR flowsheet key features:

Highest feedstock efficiency for ammonia production
Lowest carbon intensity available, decreasing with the electricity grid
Options to decouple ammonia and hydrogen
Decoupled steam systems for outside battery limit (OSBL) power

Choose our leading blue ammonia solutions to achieve exceptional efficiency, cost-effectiveness, and minimal carbon intensity, ensuring your success in the evolving energy landscape.

Blue ammonia production: Ready now, fit for the future

JM is proud to be at the heart of the transition towards a low-carbon global energy mix. Our decades of syngas leadership, combined with next-generation LCH technology, provide our customers with the solutions to get ahead and stay ahead in the rapidly evolving energy and fuel markets.

Discover our recently announced projects to discover how we’re powering the hydrogen economy with LCH technology for hydrogen production:

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