How SEID is transforming green hydrogen production from natural gas

SEID claims to possess the solution that could transform Norwegian natural gas into the world's premier source for green hydrogen production through a process called cold methane pyrolysis.

The Norwegian company plans to commence pilot testing at the Risavika Hydrogen Hub in November 2023 to verify the technology before proceeding with international scaling. ColdSpark is qualified as an ETN cluster project through the Risavika Hydrogen Hub initiative.

SEID started its journey as an industrial air pollution control system provider back in 1997 and has installed air purification systems in 35 countries.

They've got 26 years of experience using physics to alter chemistry. In simple terms, the core principle of SEID's technology is to create a pulsating electric power field that breaks molecules apart. The technology is unique, cost-effective, and removes up to 99% of pollutants, making it a promising solution for our environment's cleaner and more sustainable future.

ColdSpark®, the solution that could transform Norwegian natural gas into green hydrogen, was conceived through a NOK 16 million research project in 2017-2020 and further supported by Horizon Europe with an additional NOK 30 million in 2022.

It was presented to Energy Transition Norway's technical committee in September of the same year, and subsequently established as a cluster project.

- The conventional method involves burning natural gas to generate hydrogen, which generates substantial CO2 emissions. SEID creates hydrogen by breaking down molecules without the presence of oxygen, thus avoiding the release of harmful gases that need to be captured and stored, explains the Chief Technology officer in SEID, Terje Hauan.

- When 4 kg of natural gas is processed through SEID's pulsating electric power field, it results in 1 kg of hydrogen and 3 kg of solid carbon at the other end, with zero CO2 emission.

And the process' by-product, solid carbon, has a wide range of applications which gives SEID a stance in the circular economy: It is a vital component in steel production, it can substitute iron as a strengthening element in concrete. It can also be used in battery materials, added for heating, incorporated in asphalt, and in agriculture to enhance soil quality.

Let's go back to the beginning and take a look at how it all started with SEID’s air purification system.

Almost without any exception, industrial processes or factories require some form of air pollution control systems installed to avoid unwanted emissions of pollutants into the environment.

- In industrial facilities requiring air from production processes to be purified before being released, the polluted air passes through SEID’s cold plasma reactor, where it is filtered, and the outlet air doesn't pose a threat to our lungs or the environment when released into the atmosphere, explains Hauan.

- In this field, the bond within the CO2 molecule itself is broken, leaving it separated from the rest of the molecules, and the composition that doesn't pose a threat to our lungs or the environment is then released into the atmosphere.

Although he humbly describes himself as "a simple man from Tasta", Hauan understood that this principle could be used to develop other technologies.

The team quickly managed to secure investors and enlisted four new PhD’s to advance the concept which produces hydrogen from natural gas while uses only one-seventh of the energy required to produce hydrogen from water via electrolysis.

The reason why the Cold Spark-method called cold pyrolysis is so much more energy efficient than electrolysis, is that as the main molecule (methane) in natural gas have weaker bonds compared to the water molecule.