>6 billion MMBTU
190,000+
of natural gas is use by the US manufacturers every year to drive the processes.
manufacturing plants in the United States use natural gas as their primary (92%) source of energy.
Over the past two decades, natural gas has all but displaced coal, fuel oil, and diesel as the primary fuel for the US manufacturers.
Despite its lower carbon footprint, combustion of natural gas for industrial heating now contributes 317 million tonnes of CO₂ emissions per year in the United States alone.
Broad industrial decarbonization requires significant investments to advance existing infrastructure and technological innovation at scale.
Despite the urgent need, viable decarbonization solutions for America's small and medium manufacturers remain out of reach.
H Quest's modular decarbonization systems do not require new infrastructure or costly capital investments. They generate ready-to-burn zero-CO2 hydrogen at the point of use for the low price of natural gas.
Decarbonization of natural gas at the point of use
H Quest's modular decarbonization systems can integrate seamlessly with conventional industrial boilers and furnaces or natural gas delivery pipelines across the United States.
Each electrically-powered system would process 200 mcf of natural gas to liberate one ton of hydrogen per day. Compared to electrolysis, H Quest's process can deliver four times more hydrogen for each kWh of renewable electricity.
Carbon is removed from the fuel feed before it can be combusted and emitted into the air as CO₂. Importantly, this carbon is sequestered in the form of high-value products -- enabling our decarbonization systems to literally pay for themselves.
Microwave plasma pyrolysis
In a box smaller than a kitchen microwave oven, focused microwave energy creates and supports a ball of plasma. As the stream of natural gas passes through this high-energy zone, it heats much more rapidly than possible with conventional methods – at 10,000 degrees per second – with no combustion or emissions of CO₂.
High value products
Each ton of hydrogen liberated from natural gas comes along with 3 tons of a carbon co-product. Thanks to the exceptional product flexibility, H Quest is not confined to a single carbon market and has ample room for growth. H Quest demonstrated complete pathways from a methane molecule to carbon black, graphene, carbon nanotubes, synthetic graphite and ethylene.
Low-cost hydrogen
Microwave plasma pyrolysis cracks natural gas – immediately forming carbon products and liberating hydrogen, while requiring 4x less electricity than electrolysis: only 12 kW-hr per kg of H₂. Additional energy savings are possible by integrating with combined heat and power systems.
Hydrogen is provided at cost-parity with natural gas thanks to low CAPEX, reduced energy requirement, co-production of high-value materials, and extensive natural gas infrastructure.
Zero CO₂ emissions
Since the conversion process is electrically powered, it has zero scope 1 CO₂ emissions. Reduction of the Scope 2 emissions varies with the final percentage of hydrogen in the fuel blend and the carbon footprint of the electricity. Scope 3 emissions reductions are significant thanks to displacement of conventional carbon materials. Overall, net-negative operation is achievable with renewable electricity or natural gas.
Deployment Scenarios
At the point of use, enabling industrial users of natural gas to immediately, seamlessly, and affordably reduce their CO2 footprint.
At the point of production, valorizing stranded resources or abating flaring and venting of associated petroleum gas for the oil and gas producers.
During natural gas transmission, by blending hydrogen directly in the distribution networks for the residential and commercial customers.
Decarbonizing manufacturing of petrochemicals and carbon materials. H Quest demonstrated production of ethylene, graphite, graphene, carbon black, CNTs, and other established and emerging materials.