Welcome to the new edition of our DARE2X interview series! In these brief chats, we introduce you to our project partners, exploring their roles in developing our innovative and decentralised ammonia (NH3) technology. Discover how this DARE2X solution will be made safe and learn about its numerous benefits for society. On this occasion, we spoke with our partners at Hulteberg Chemistry & Engineering!

Hulteberg Chemistry & Engineering is one of the key partners in a consortium of world-leading research institutions, and innovative R&D-performing SMEs from different countries. Tell us a little bit about your group and research activities.
The Hulteberg Chemistry and Engineering AB team (HB) behind the DARE2X project is composed of:

• Professor Christian Hulteberg, Founder and CEO of HB. He has over 20 years’ experience in the fields of hydrogen energy, biomass gasification as well as Environmental and Chemical Engineering. He provides technical and commercial expertise to the team.
• Bianca Rolim, Research Engineer. She has over 7 years’ experience in product development and technology assessment and is the contact person for the technical development in the DARE2X project at HB.
• Josephine Digné, Research Engineer. She has over 4 years’ experience in process design and scale-up and is the contact person for the process development in the DARE2X project at HB.

Wanting to know more, could you provide more details about your organisation?
HB was founded almost 20 years ago and focuses on heterogeneous catalysis. HB is regularly involved in projects aiming at designing and upscaling of catalysts and adsorbents with focus on environmental technology.
The operation is based in Malmö, Sweden, where offices, laboratories and production are situated. The laboratory facilities enable the performance of micro- and pilot-scale experiments with the necessary analysis. The production capacity is 100 tonnes per year and is dispersed over a number of products, ranging from extrudates and monoliths to catalysed hardware, e.g. heat exchangers.

Following up, in your opinion, which aspects of your research in DARE2X are the most innovative?
The material development and testing to achieve an optimised adsorbent for up-concentration of ammonia. This allows for an industrially established purification technique such as Pressure Swing Adsorption (PSA) to have a novel use in the ammonia purification.

One of the key pillars of implementing the DARE2X solution is to raise awareness about how our disruptive ammonia technology will be safe and sustainable. How will your contribution to DARE2X improve everyday life for society?
Ammonia is a global chemical commodity that is vital for fulfilling the world’s nutritional needs through its use as fertiliser, but it also accounts for large CO2 emissions during its traditional manufacturing route.
In the DARE2X project, ammonia is produced carbon-free in the plasma reactor, but before it can be used it needs to be purified, and traditional purification methods are not compatible with the operating conditions after the plasma reactor. That is where HB comes in with its novel ammonia purification unit that operates at mild temperatures and pressures. This allows the ammonia to be used for fertilizer and indeed other production processes in a carbon-free manner.

Finally, the R&D, innovation, and demonstration of the DARE2X technology involve significant efforts and hard work in the consortium. What are the main challenges in your work in DARE2X?
The process integration and upscale of the DARE2X technology. The challenge lies in assembling the ammonia reactor and purification unit and finding the optimal process parameters to improve yield and decrease costs.