Omani start-up produces Blue Ammonia from mineralisation in world first

MOMENTOUS RESULTS: Pilot project by Muscat-based carbon removal firm 44.01 yields 500 kg of Blue Ammonia using mineralisation process

BUSINESS REPORTER

In a first for the Sultanate Oman, 44.01 (a local Omani technology start-up) has carried out a pilot project to produce Blue Ammonia. This project was made possible by 44.01’s CO2 mineralisation process, which turns captured CO2 into rock, making this the world’s first Blue Ammonia using mineralisation.

Blue chemicals such as Blue Ammonia and Blue Hydrogen are made by removing surplus CO2 emissions which have been captured during the manufacturing process.

44.01 carried out a pilot project where they took captured CO2 from an ammonia plant and turned that captured CO2 into rock using their mineralisation technology.

This is a potential solution which can help the nation’s energy and industrial sectors to decarbonise, in line with the Sultanate of Oman’s commitments to decarbonisation under the Paris Agreement.

Talal Hasan (pictured), co-founder and CEO, 44.01, commented: “What’s exciting is that ammonia is just one product we can turn Blue. We can replicate this for any other chemical which has CO2 emissions and can help multiple industries decarbonise their products with our technology.”

“We are so excited to have produced Oman’s first Blue Ammonia and the world’s first Blue Ammonia using mineralisation. Although this was just a demonstration with small quantities, this is something we can scale up to give industries in Oman an edge over their competitors globally.”

“As part of this pilot we made around 500kgs of Blue Ammonia. We will be looking to ramp this up as we scale our technology,” he added.

The world’s first shipment of blue ammonia was dispatched by Saudi Aramco from Saudi Arabia to Japan on September 27, 2020 for use in a power station for the production of zero-carbon power.

More recently in May 24, 2021, ADNOC in the UAE have announced the development of a world-scale blue ammonia production facility at the Ta’ziz Industrial Chemicals Zone in Ruwais.