Graphitic Energy commissions pilot plant to produce clean hydrogen and graphite

This facility is the company’s first at-scale demonstration of its form of methane pyrolysis that converts natural gas into hydrogen and solid, graphitic carbon. Graphitic’s pilot plant is capable of producing several hundred kg/d of hydrogen and up to 1000 kg/d of solid carbon, during continuous 24/7 operations. It is expected to operate by the end of 2025.

“We have two primary goals for the pilot plant. The first is to obtain scale-up data for designing commercial scale plants, and the second is to produce large volumes of carbon to send to our carbon offtake partners,” said Graphitic’s Chief Technology Officer, Dr Patrick Hanks.

Graphitic’s approach to methane pyrolysis has virtually no direct CO₂ emissions, requires very little electricity, and can scale up to produce 100 000 tpy of hydrogen in a single process train. Graphitic’s process economics do not require government subsidies to be cost-competitive, and the company can profitably deliver both hydrogen and graphite at current market prices. In addition, the company’s technology can be sited anywhere natural gas or LNG are available, without the need to source renewable electricity or perform geological CO₂ sequestration.

“The world spent the last few years anticipating an ‘energy transition’, but it already happened during the fracking revolution of the 2010s. America is currently a forerunner in producing natural gas – one of the cheapest, greenest fuels available,” said Zach Jones, CEO and Co-Founder of Graphitic Energy. “Our development makes it even cleaner by extracting the carbon as solid graphite, which allows us to onshore a critical mineral used in everything from batteries to nuclear reactors. The hydrogen can help meet the domestic demand for over 10 million tpy, primarily from the refining and ammonia sectors. This is how we build American energy security and independence, while simultaneously decarbonising.”

The company’s pilot is supported by a recent US$15 million extension of its series A funding, bringing its total investment to over US$65 million. Investors in the extension included Energy Capital Ventures, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, and Trafigura.

“We have been impressed with the team’s ingenuity in solving for the clean hydrogen opportunity,” added Vic Pascucci, Co-Founder and Managing General Partner of Energy Capital Ventures. “Driving down the cost of clean energy is critical to global adoption, so we are excited about the path Graphitic Energy is taking. We have been studying pyrolysis and the broader hydrogen economy for several years.”

Read the article online at: https://www.globalhydrogenreview.com/hydrogen/11032025/graphitic-energy-commissions-pilot-plant-to-produce-clean-hydrogen-and-graphite/