hte and precious metals specialist Heraeus Precious Metals signed a R&D service agreement.

The main focus of this collaboration is the screening of different materials for catalytic ammonia cracking in order to obtain hydrogen. As part of this screening project, a cutting-edge, state-of-the-art high throughput system from hte was used to identify the ideal catalyst for commercial applications.

According to Ingo Gräf, Global Head of Innovation Chemicals at Heraeus Precious Metals, “Precious metals play an indispensable role in the chemical and energy industries. Thanks to high throughput testing at hte, we were able to test a large number of precious metal-based catalysts.  In the process, it was very important to us that testing was carried out under industrially relevant conditions with respect to pressure, temperature, and feed composition, which poses a major challenge especially for ammonia cracking. As a result, we were able to develop an extremely high performing and exceedingly stable ruthenium catalyst which we will now launch on the market. This will enable even more efficient and sustainable ammonia cracking processes in the future and therefore represents a significant contribution to the transition to a sustainable hydrogen economy.”

“The pursuit of sustainable, affordable, and reliable generation processes and the efficient transportation of green hydrogen take center stage when it comes to the strategic considerations of companies and entire industries. As a global provider of solutions for digitalized R&D lab workflows, hte is proud to be part of this important and amazing journey. We appreciate Heraeus Precious Metals’ deep trust in our services for accelerating the identification of a suitable catalytic material. We’re very much looking forward to further strengthening our relationships in future projects,” remarked Markus Bold, CEO of hte.