{"id":36405,"date":"2023-08-25T09:00:05","date_gmt":"2023-08-25T08:00:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.innovationnewsnetwork.com\/?p=36405"},"modified":"2023-09-25T09:05:30","modified_gmt":"2023-09-25T08:05:30","slug":"proton-ventures-your-trusted-partner-green-ammonia-value-chain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.innovationnewsnetwork.com\/proton-ventures-your-trusted-partner-green-ammonia-value-chain\/36405\/","title":{"rendered":"Proton Ventures: Your trusted partner for the green ammonia value chain"},"content":{"rendered":"

Proton Ventures develops green projects and infrastructure supporting the transition to an emission-free ammonia and hydrogen industry.<\/h2>\n

Proton Ventures is an engineering solutions provider<\/a> in the green ammonia industry. The company was founded in 2001 by former CEO Hans Vrijenhoef, previously the plant manager of a now defunct ammonia plant in Rozenburg, the Netherlands. In the early days, Vrijenhoef already had the vision to use ammonia as a zero-carbon fuel and hydrogen carrier. 20 years later, we see that vision becoming a reality, driven by global efforts to reduce the human impact on climate change.<\/p>\n

Proton Ventures has its fair share of projects<\/a> in this emerging landscape, ranging across scoping studies, feasibility studies, front end engineering designs (FEEDs), and engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) projects. One of the distinguishing strengths of Proton Ventures is its technology-agnostic approach as system integrator, allowing for selection of the most suitable licensors, technology providers and original equipment manufacturers for each specific project.<\/p>\n

Green ammonia production for fertiliser applications<\/h3>\n

Green ammonia production has been a key focus throughout Proton Ventures\u2019 two decades in existence. Instead of focusing on world-scale ammonia plants producing up to one million tonnes per annum, Proton Ventures has historically focused on modular ammonia plants with a production capacity in the range of 3-60 MT per day of ammonia. This allows ammonia plants to be located next to modular electrolysers combined with solar photovoltaic (PV) and wind capacity. The modular approach allows for improved flexibility throughout the overall ammonia plant.<\/p>\n

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Fig. 1: Signing ceremony for the Green Ammonia Pilot Plant (GAPP) project, at the Mohammed VI Polytechnic University. Copyright: Proton Ventures B.V.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Proton Ventures is currently executing an EPC project for an industrial-scale 4-MT-per-day Green Ammonia Pilot Plant (GAPP), to be built at the OCP Group chemical complex in Jorf Lasfar, Morocco. This pilot facility will consist of both a two megawatt (MW) alkaline electrolyser and a two MW proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolyser for hydrogen production, compressed hydrogen storage, nitrogen purification, and a Haber-Bosch ammonia synthesis loop. Another key aspect of the project is the emulator that can simulate intermittent electricity profiles from any potential location in the world and feed this profile to the electrolyser system. Thus, this facility will allow for the de-risking of large-scale green ammonia facilities. After start-up, Proton Ventures will operate the facility for the first year, after which the facility will be operated by the Mohammed VI Polytechnic University, such that future engineers in the green ammonia industry will already be trained during their formal studies.<\/p>\n

Project development for large-scale green ammonia production<\/h3>\n

Proton Ventures is also active within the TransHydrogen Alliance, which aims to produce ammonia in areas with abundant solar and wind resources, such as Brazil and Morocco, with subsequent transport and possibly cracking of ammonia to hydrogen in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Herein, the aim is to produce ammonia on a larger scale, e.g. from one million metric tonnes per annum and beyond. The benefit of the TransHydrogen Alliance is that production and utilisation are coupled, ensuring supply while keeping the overall system cost as low as possible.<\/p>\n

In February 2023, Casa dos Ventos and Comerc Efici\u00eancia, a renewable energy efficiency company which is part of the Comerc Energia Group, signed a partnership with the TransHydrogen Alliance. The purpose of the agreement is to enable the export of green ammonia produced in the Industrial and Port Complex of Pec\u00e9m (CIPP), in the state of Cear\u00e1. The plant is to be built on a 60-hectare site with a capacity of up to 2.4 GW of electrolysis, producing 960 tonnes of hydrogen per day. With all phases implemented, the plant will produce 2.2 million tonnes of ammonia per year. The parties signed a Memorandum of Understanding to jointly develop a viable partnership targeting production of the first phase for export to Europe through the Port of Rotterdam in the year 2027.<\/p>\n

Commercial projects like those detailed above are mainly based on available technology. However, Proton Ventures also works on innovative solutions for ammonia synthesis, such as novel electrolyser technologies, and improves ammonia synthesis technologies. Improving hydrogen production via electrolysis is key, as it typically accounts for at least 90% of the energy input for ammonia production. Proton Ventures has aided the development of the Battolyser \u2013 a combination of an iron-nickel battery and an alkaline-type electrolyser \u2013 from a university laboratory to a standalone company. Within the EU project ARENHA, Proton Ventures has also patented a low-pressure ammonia synthesis technology that can significantly improve the single pass conversion via a sorbent-enhanced separation step. The demonstration plant is currently under construction.<\/p>\n

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Fig. 2: Railcar loading and unloading facility in Sillam\u00e4e, Estonia. Copyright: Proton Ventures B.V.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Ammonia storage and handling<\/h3>\n

One of the most significant projects developed by Proton Ventures are the refrigerated storage tanks in Estonia (BCT) and Bulgaria (Agropolychim), which are among the largest operating ammonia storage tanks in Europe. For example, the two tanks in Estonia each have a capacity for 30 kt of refrigerated ammonia at -33\u00b0C. The tanks are double containment storage tanks complying with modern safety standards. The facilities in Estonia also consist of railcar loading and unloading systems, a marine loading arm facility, and four UAN tanks of 20 kt each. Full containment storage tanks can also be realised through Proton Ventures\u2019 engineering and design expertise.<\/p>\n

The global trade of green ammonia is set to expand exponentially over the coming decades, as ammonia is increasingly used as shipping fuel, stationary fuel and as a hydrogen carrier. The developments for new and improved ammonia import and export terminals to meet this need have considerably multiplied. In light of these developments, Proton Ventures and various consortium partners have received numerous contracts to design and\/or construct state-of-the-art terminals around the world, for example:<\/p>\n