Ammonia Cracking: The Missing Link in the Global Hydrogen Supply Chain
November 13, 2025
Air Liquide has reached a major milestone in the path toward a low-carbon future. At the Port of Antwerp-Bruges, Belgium, the Group has successfully started up the world’s first industrial-scale ammonia cracking pilot unit with a 30 tons per day conversion capacity. This facility enables the conversion of ammonia into hydrogen while maintaining an optimized carbon footprint.
To understand the significance of this achievement, Armelle Levieux, Group Vice President Innovation & Technology and Executive Committee member supervising Hydrogen Energy, explained:
“This industrial pilot unit in Antwerp is more than a technological achievement. It overcomes a critical barrier to a truly global, low-carbon hydrogen economy. Transporting hydrogen over long distances has long been a challenge due to its light, volatile nature. By using ammonia as a hydrogen carrier, we can leverage existing infrastructure and supply chains, since roughly 25 million tons of ammonia are transported annually via road, rail, ship, and pipeline.”
The pilot demonstrates the missing link to convert ammonia back into hydrogen at an industrial scale, unlocking opportunities for decarbonization. This enables a scenario where ammonia is produced in regions rich in solar or wind resources and transported to industrial hubs worldwide to be converted into renewable hydrogen.
In Europe, the Renewable Energy Directive (RED III) requires that by 2030, at least 42% of hydrogen used in industry and 29% of energy consumed in transport must come from renewable sources. Air Liquide’s technology provides a concrete path to meet these targets.
Innovation in Air Liquide’s Ammonia Cracking Technology
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The Antwerp pilot is the first industrial-scale ammonia cracker in the world, processing 30 tons of ammonia per day.
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The cracking process involves passing ammonia through catalyst-filled tubes at very high temperatures to separate nitrogen and hydrogen.
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The pilot uses unique reactor tubes developed by Air Liquide to maximize energy efficiency, recovering and recycling heat within the system.
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The process achieves high ammonia-to-hydrogen conversion yields with zero direct CO₂ emissions.
The development required innovations in process safety, material testing, and molecule separation, reflecting extensive collaboration between R&D and engineering teams.
Scaling Up and Future Vision
Experience from this pilot will optimize future larger ammonia cracking projects. Air Liquide is already scaling the technology through the Enhance project, which will include a large-scale ammonia cracker and an innovative hydrogen liquefier in the same industrial site.
This pilot paves the way for new renewable hydrogen supply chains. A trend toward ammonia importation and cracking is emerging in Western Europe, South Korea, and Japan. By 2050, the renewable and low-carbon ammonia market could reach 200 million tons per year. Adding ammonia cracking to Air Liquide’s technology portfolio underscores their commitment to supporting customers’ long-term decarbonization strategies.
