Alberta based petrochemical manufacturer and supplier, Northern Petrochemical Corporation, has procured a 295-acre site near Grande Prairie for starting construction of the carbon-neutral petrochemical facility as per a contract signed between the company and the Municipal District of Greenview in north-western Alberta.

The facility will be exploiting natural gas feedstocks in conjunction with carbon capture and sequestration methods for producing 200 tonnes of blue hydrogen and blue ammonia annually. The produced blue hydrogen and blue ammonia will be exported to countries like China, Japan and South Korea. Proceeding further in the planned venture, the company has already awarded contract to KBR for providing the engineering design and license for the ammonia-methanol technology jointly produced by KBR and Johnson Matthey.

Natural gas, predominantly comprising of methane and other high alkanes, is a feedstock for the production of both hydrogen and ammonia. Hydrogen is produced by chemically reducing natural gas and is further applied as an intermediate to produce ammonia through the Haber-Bosch process. Hydrogen is a zero-greenhouse gas emitting fuel that is gaining a lot of popularity in the transportation and energy sectors. On the other hand, ammonia predominantly serves the agricultural sector by being an active ingredient in all nitrogen-containing fertilizers.

As per ChemAnalyst, the commissioning of a carbon-neutral facility in Canada is expected to strengthen its footing in the list of countries adopting sustainable solutions. Furthermore, the exports of blue hydrogen and blue ammonia will prove to be major assets in uplifting the country’s economic gains. The demand for hydrogen and ammonia are taking long strides across the globe owing to the exponential increase in their consumption in the end-user industries. The planned facility will play a vital role in ensuring sufficient supplies in the international market that will be reflected in the form of downward trending ammonia and hydrogen prices.