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Ammisorb

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The Extraction Problem No One Has Solved. Until Now.

Conventional ammonia plants rely on cryogenic condensation at very high pressures - physics that only pays off at gigascale. At the modular scales needed for decentralized green ammonia, that approach collapses. The Sorption Booster replaces it with staged chemical sorption.

Why conventional fails

Cryogenic condensation doesn't scale down.

Chillers run on the assumption of high partial pressures of ammonia in the synthesis loop. At sub-100 TPD scale, those pressures drop, ammonia stays gaseous, and the entire economic case unwinds.

High pressure dependence

150-250 bar compression dominates energy and CAPEX.

Cryogenic energy penalty

Refrigeration below −30 °C makes small-plant OPEX uncompetitive.

Single-pass inefficiency

<70% of NH₃ separates per loop, driving recycle loop costs up.

Sorption Booster process

A staged sorption cycle.

  1. 01

    Adsorption

    NH₃-rich gas contacts a proprietary sorbent at < 50 bar and near-ambient temperature.

  2. 02

    Capture

    Selective chemical binding pulls NH₃ from the loop with >99% efficiency.

  3. 03

    Regeneration

    Mild thermal swing releases concentrated NH₃ without cryogenic compression.

  4. 04

    Return

    Hydrogen and unreacted nitrogen rejoin the synthesis loop with negligible loss.

Sorption Booster working principle Animated diagram: synthesis gas enters the absorber, ammonia is captured by the sorbent, nitrogen and hydrogen exit, and heat regenerates the sorbent to release liquid ammonia. N₂ H₂ NH₃ Simplified design Ammoniated sorbent Ammonia-free sorbent Absorber Regenerator Gas N₂ + H₂ + NH₃ Gas N₂ + H₂ Heat NH₃ Liquid NH₃
Simplified schematic of the Sorption Booster cycle - illustrative, not to scale.

Key metrics

The numbers that make modular bankable.

>99%
Single-pass efficiency

Vs. under 70% for conventional cryogenic condensation.

<50 bar
Operating pressure

No 250-bar compression; smaller vessels, simpler safety case.

Up to-25%
CAPEX

Modelled across reference modular plant designs.

Up to-22%
OPEX

Driven by lower compression and refrigeration loads.

Key questions

The questions engineers ask first.

Why is extraction the bottleneck in green ammonia, not synthesis?

Because synthesis has been solved and extraction has not. Renewable electricity, electrolysis and Haber-Bosch synthesis all work at modular scale today. Separating the ammonia back out of the synthesis loop is the step that still relies on hundred-year-old physics, and at small scale it is where the economics break.

In a decentralised plant, the extraction step alone can absorb up to a quarter of total capital cost and more than 20% of operating cost. That is usually enough to stop a project reaching a final investment decision.

Why does conventional ammonia extraction fail at small scale?

Conventional extraction liquefies ammonia by compressing the synthesis gas to very high pressure and chilling it to cryogenic temperature. Both steps are capital-intensive, and both were designed for plants producing thousands of tonnes per day where that cost spreads across enormous output.

At sub-100 TPD scale the partial pressure of ammonia in the loop is lower, so more gas must be processed for the same output and refrigeration duty rises sharply. Single-pass separation stays under 70%, which forces a large recycle loop and compounds the cost.

What does the Sorption Booster do?

The Sorption Booster separates ammonia from the synthesis gas and delivers it as liquid ammonia. It replaces the conventional compress-and-chill separation stage, operating below 50 bar with no cryogenic refrigeration. It is a modular unit that sits downstream of the synthesis reactor.

Does it work with any ammonia synthesis technology?

Yes. The Sorption Booster is synthesis-agnostic - it operates on the gas stream leaving the reactor, regardless of how the ammonia was made. Ammisorb does not build ammonia plants and does not compete with synthesis technology providers. The unit is designed to be integrated into other companies' plant designs.

All frequently asked questions

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