CF Industries has awarded a licensing and engineering contract to Topsoe to support a front-end engineering and design study of a new low-carbon ammonia plant in Louisiana, USA.

It is a mammoth undertaking: Most nations want to become climate-neutral by 2050 – and with them the companies in the chemical industry. Because on the one hand it produces energy-intensively, and on the other it cannot do without carbon, the chemical industry is having a particularly hard time decarbonizing. But this only spurs the industry's researchers and engineers on even more.

Under a MOU signed between Air Liquide and Vopak, both the parties will work together to develop infrastructure for ammonia import, cracking and hydrogen distribution in Singapore. The partnership aims to support Singapore’s National Hydrogen Strategy which focusses on establishing low-carbon hydrogen supply chains.

These are the birth pangs of a new economy: the increasing demand for chemical products is bringing growth to the industry, which at the same time has to cope with the necessary transformation towards climate neutrality. For chemical plant construction, both of these factors mean a lot of work in the coming years - in addition to enormous challenges, huge opportunities await.

MOL Group’s new polyol complex in Tiszaújváros has a capacity of producing around 200,000 tonnes of polyol per year. With this project, the company aims to establish new standards in terms of efficiency, environmental friendliness and automation by combining proven technologies with innovative solutions.

Bloom Energy has partnered with Shell to explore opportunities for innovative large-scale, renewable hydrogen energy projects. The parties aim at developing replicable, large-scale, solid oxide electrolyzer systems for hydrogen production.

Under a joint research project agreement, 3M will work together with HD Hyundai Korea Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering to develop large liquid hydrogen storage tanks using a high-strength, low-density hollow glass microsphere from 3M.

AFC Energy has designed, built and commissioned the cracker demonstration plant which will deliver 140 tonnes of fuel cell grade hydrogen per annum. The demonstration is claimed to be the world’s largest ‘ammonia to hydrogen’ modular cracker demonstration in operation.

Guangxi Hongkun Biomass has selected Topsoe’s Hydroflex technology for producing sustainable aviation fuel at its plant in the Qinzhou Port Area Free Trade Pilot Zone of Guangxi, China. The project is expected to process 300,000 tons of feedstock annually.

With an aim to accelerate and scale green hydrogen production, Bekaert and Toshiba have collaborated for the membrane electrode assemblies technology which is a vital component for PEM electrolyzers.