North Carolina–based low-carbon technology company 8 Rivers Capital has unveiled a breakthrough methane-based hydrogen production process which captures 99pc of its CO₂ emissions and could achieve production costs of less than $1/kg in the US market.

The technology, called 8RH2, uses natural gas and pure oxygen, utilising the CO₂ produced in the combustion process as a heat transfer medium in a proprietary reformer before sequestering the CO₂. 

The process eliminates the need for amine or cryogenic-based CO₂ separation processes, lowering costs to levels “unrivalled” in the market, the company says.

”We are excited to collaborate with partners and stakeholders to deploy the 8RH2 technology worldwide” Hosie, 8 Rivers

8 Rivers highlights the potential to produce ultra-low carbon ammonia from the hydrogen produced via the patented 8RH2 process.

“This breakthrough in hydrogen technology is a testament to our commitment to innovation and environmental stewardship,” says Cam Hosie, CEO of 8 Rivers. “We are excited to collaborate with partners and stakeholders to deploy the 8RH2 technology worldwide and to drive the transition to net zero on a global scale.”

The hydrogen production cost is estimated to be less than $1/kg, based on a facility on the US Gulf coast, assuming a natural gas cost of $3/mn Btu and electricity priced at $40/MWh, Steve Milward, senior vice-president of engineering and operations at 8 Rivers, tells Hydrogen Economist.

“At the back end of our process, having generated the hydrogen, we have no amine and no cryogenic separation. So if you remove the capital cost of all that equipment, which is about 25pc of the capital cost of equivalent technology, then that is where the difference is,” he says

8 Rivers commissioned a “well-known engineering company” to conduct an independent technical analysis of its internal modelling of the technology’s performance. “They came back to us in early December of 2022 and said there were no showstoppers,” Milward says.

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Author: Stuart Penson