PROJECT DESCRIPTION
BACKGROUND
The main objective of the LIFE SUNIFIX project is to scale up and demonstrate NitroCapt’s paradigm-shifting, climate-neutral production process and to give the European industry access to efficient, innovative green technology offering the most competitive nitrogen fertilisers in large volumes.
Today’s mineral nitrogen fertiliser production (Haber Bosch process) is a US$80 billion market and accounts for 2.5% of global fossil-based greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, representing a major GHG emission source of agriculture and food production. SUNIFIX® (Sustainable Nitrogen Fixation) is a patented climate-neutral process for the fixation of nitrogen with air, water and electricity as the only inputs.
The process combines a novel, state-of-the-art energy-efficient reactor based on plasma technology, and cutting-edge electromagnetic energy coupled with advanced turbine technology. Since the process has a competitive energy consumption and can operate intermittently, it can be powered directly by renewable electricity (even off-grid production units). By creating local self-sufficiency in affordable nitrogen fertilisers, which are not influenced by higher energy prices, local companies will be greatly incentivised to use our technology and the potential impact will be enormous.
The LIFE SUNIFIX project aims to build a pilot facility to validate the production components and systems at an industrially relevant scale (5% of full scale) and under full operating conditions at a competitive production cost. Together with three European associated partners from Sweden, Norway and Luxemburg, NitroCapt will demonstrate the technology through a pilot approach which will be a crucial part of replicating and scaling the SUNIFIX technology to other sites in Europe and globally.
Nitrogen is essential for growing plants and thus for agriculture. Until the end of the 19th century, the main nitrogen sources for agriculture were manure from cattle and guano (large piles of bird excrement from maritime locations particularly on the Pacific coast of South America). When these sources became depleted, new methods were developed to gather nitrogen from the air – first the Birkeland-Eyde process (thermal oxidation of nitrogen gas with an electric arc) in the early 1900s; then the cyanamid process; and finally from the 1920s, the Haber Bosch process. This had a significantly lower energy consumption based on burning hydrogen gas in the presence of nitrogen gas to produce ammonia. Haber Bosch is still today the process used by industry for this purpose.
Despite continuous improvements to the steam reforming and Haber Bosch processes since their introduction about a hundred years ago, the Haber Bosch process is still responsible for around 2.5% of global fossil-related GHG emissions.
Agriculture faces a huge challenge: to feed a world population growing towards 10 billion people, and to serve society with biomaterials while having to radically cut GHG emissions. Without exaggeration, this challenge has become even more urgent due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, resulting in a dramatic reduction in the supply of natural gas, Russia being a main gas supplier to the European fertiliser industry. The price of nitrogen fertilisers has soared 400% compared to the year before the invasion and farmers are unsure if they can afford or even source enough fertiliser to maintain their production volumes.
OBJECTIVES
The main objective of the LIFE SUNIFIX project is to scale up and demonstrate NitroCapt’s paradigm-shifting, climate-neutral production process. This will widen European industry’s access to innovative green nitrate solutions, offering very large volumes of sustainable green fertilisers with lower production cost than any other comparable technology, and that are world class in terms of low climate impact.
Sub-objectives:
- Verify the innovative process at pilot scale (5% of full scale) and under full operating conditions, including processes that secure a low energy consumption and production cost;
- Create and verify a standard design concept that can be used for the construction of full-scale facilities, in order to ensure a competitive production cost of the green nitrates;
- Test and quality control of the nitrates when used in relevant fertiliser applications;
- Disseminate the outcome of the project to potential stakeholders and target groups in Europe;
- Perform a fast replication and commercialisation, based upon the results of the demonstration.
RESULTS
The expected results are as follows:
- A production capacity of 1,100 t/year of nitrate fertiliser (corresponding to 180 t of elementary N) at a production cost of <EUR 1/kg elementary N;
- Performance data from using 1,100 t nitrates on farms in five European countries;
- Logistic and commercial system developed with each associated partner;
- Feasibility study for a full-scale production unit with each one of the associated partners;
- Approx. 50 farmers test the final fertiliser in five countries;
- 10,000 unique visitors to www.nitrocapt.com/;
- Five news releases;
- Keynote speeches at three conferences;
- Final conference with a range of visitors from fertiliser industry, distributors, agri-organisations and policy makers.
