Industrial Applications for Refineries and Hydrogen Production
By Ir. Jebin James, Process Development Lead – Duiker Clean Technologies
Northwest Europe is emerging as a key hydrogen region, accounting for about 60 % of Europe’s use, mainly in refining and chemicals. Ports such as Rotterdam, Antwerp, Hamburg, and Wilhelmshaven are developing into import and production hubs. Rotterdam is leading through projects like the Maasvlakte Electrolyzers Park and a planned regional hydrogen backbone. Yet, high costs, slow pipeline rollout (beyond 2030) and looming green hydrogen mandates pose challenges. This drives interest in hydrogen carriers as practical options for import of hydrogen.
This presentation explores Duiker Clean Technologies’ approach to unlocking hydrogen via ammonia, combining refinery-proven combustion expertise with an advanced cracking reactor system. Ammonia offers clear logistical advantages as a hydrogen carrier, but its deployment depends on safe and efficient conversion.
At the core is Duiker’s Stoichiometric Controlled Oxidation (SCO) process, which enables stable combustion of up to 100 % ammonia while controlling emissions to low ppm levels. The heat generated in the SCO is directly applied to the dedicated cracking reactor. This is equipped with optimized catalyst systems that achieve near-complete NH₃ conversion to H₂ and N₂ at high pressures. Downstream, a pressure swing adsorption (PSA) unit purifies the cracked gas, delivering pipeline-ready hydrogen with high purity and without recompression. Using essentially three main unit operations: SCO, cracking reactor and PSA the process achieves ammonia conversion with no water or waste by-products.
Presentation file here