NGIF in grants funding for emerging pyrolysis technology

NGIF Accelerator, through its Industry Grants programme, said April 4 it had provided a funding contribution of C$411,371 to Molton Alloy Technologies (MAT) of Calgary, which is developing reactors for methane pyrolysis and CO₂ decomposition.

MAT, a new start-up company born from the University of Calgary, has developed new low-emissions technologies for methane conversion to solid carbon and hydrogen and CO₂ conversion to solid carbon and oxygen. The NGIF funding will assist in the scale-up of the technology and deliver field-scale designs for field pilot testing.

Using a stable liquid metal alloy as a catalyst, MAT’s technology selectively creates hydrogen with ultra-low emissions and separable solid carbon. The pure carbon solids produced can be used as feedstock for a variety of products, including graphene, carbon nanotubes, and carbon lubricants.

Ultimately, MAT wants to design and build a small field-scale unit to demonstrate the technology and its capabilities in a real-world setting. The system provides substantial environmental benefits by reducing emissions by approximately 97% per unit of hydrogen generated when compared to traditional processes.

“MAT’s technology is a game-changer with respect to the conversion of methane to solid carbon and hydrogen and the transformation of carbon dioxide to carbon, oxygen, and carbon monoxide,” MAT CEO Jingyi Wang said. “The support from the NGIF Accelerator has been crucial in helping us to refine the reactor and molten alloy catalyst designs as well as scale up our technology to move it from lab to real-world application.”