NITRIUS

Overview

NITRIUS produces industrial nitrogen by burning byproduct hydrogen in a sealed chamber of ordinary air. Air is roughly 78 % nitrogen, 21 % oxygen and 1 % other gases, mostly argon. The reaction 2H₂ + O₂ → 2H₂O binds all the oxygen into water, which condenses and drains away. What remains is nitrogen at 98–99 % purity. A tall separation column then drops out the argon, which is denser than nitrogen at 1.784 g/L against 1.251 g/L.

The economics rest on two facts: the hydrogen is free, and there is no refrigeration. Cryogenic air separation cools air to −196 °C and consumes 0.5–1 kWh per kilogram of nitrogen; NITRIUS runs at ambient temperature and pressure, using only a small circulation pump instead of refrigeration equipment. Production cost is approximately €0.0008/kg — twenty-five times below large cryogenic plants at €0.02/kg and up to 625 times below small ones at €0.06–0.50/kg.

Applications

Inert atmosphere for food packaging and preservation, which accounts for roughly 40 % of nitrogen demand; petrochemicals, to prevent unwanted reactions; metallurgy, for protection against oxidation.

Fertilizer production is the strategic case. Nitrogen at 98–99 % purity feeds directly into the Haber-Bosch process to make ammonia, the base of ammonium nitrate, urea and nitroammophoska. Because the units are small and modular, ammonia production can be sited on farms and agricultural enterprises rather than in a central plant.

Byproduct water is clean and usable for irrigation or technical needs.

Operating Principle

Byproduct hydrogen from BATTERATOR is fed through a controlled burner into a sealed vessel filled with ordinary air. Combustion binds all the oxygen into water vapour — 2H₂ + O₂ → 2H₂O — with explosion risk contained by metering hydrogen delivery through the burner rather than premixing it with air. The resulting water vapour condenses and is drained as clean liquid water. What remains — predominantly nitrogen with a small argon fraction — passes into a gravimetric separation stage: because argon is denser than nitrogen, it settles out, and nitrogen at 98–99 % purity is drawn off at standard temperature and pressure.

For applications requiring 99.999 % purity, such as electronics, a membrane stage can be added — but this is unnecessary for bulk use.

Limitations: 98–99 % purity is below the 99–99.999 % industrial standard for high-technology applications; the process depends on a free hydrogen stream and is not competitive if hydrogen must be purchased; hydrogen combustion requires strict metering.

Key Parameters

Stoichiometry (per 1 kg H₂, no excess hydrogen):

| Input | Nitrogen output | Water output |

|---|---|---|

| 1 kg H₂ | 26 kg N₂ | 9 kg H₂O |

By volume at STP: 1 m³ H₂ yields approximately 1.86 m³ N₂ (about 2.32 kg) and 0.5 m³ of water vapour condensing to roughly 0.45 L.

Single unit:

| Parameter | Value |

|---|---|

| Hydrogen feed | 80 m³/h (7.2 kg/h) |

| Nitrogen output | ~187 kg/h (~150 m³/h) |

| Water output | 64.8 kg/h |

| Annual output (8,000 h) | ~1.5 million kg N₂ |

| Nitrogen purity | 98–99 % |

| Pump power | Low — a small circulation pump, not refrigeration-scale |

| Operating conditions | ambient temperature and pressure |

Cost structure per kg N₂:

| Item | Value |

|---|---|

| Energy (0.0014 kWh/kg at €0.10/kWh) | €0.00014 |

| Maintenance (burner, column) | €0.0005 |

| OPEX total | €0.00064 |

| CAPEX amortization (5 years) | €0.00016 |

| Total production cost | €0.0008/kg |

Against cryogenic separation: €0.02/kg for large air separation units, €0.06–0.50/kg for small ones, at 0.5–1 kWh/kg energy.

Architecture and Components

Sealed combustion vessel; metered hydrogen burner and feed system; water condensation and drain; tall gravimetric separation column for argon removal; circulation pump. Optional membrane stage for ultra-high purity.

CAPEX per unit is approximately €1,500 all-in. A 1,000-unit hub costs approximately €1.2 million with a scale discount. Each unit fits within a standard container.

Absent by design: refrigeration, coolants, thermal insulation, high-pressure compressors — the entire cryogenic apparatus.

Advantages

Technical: operates at ambient temperature and pressure, so none of the brittleness and thermal-cycling problems of cryogenic systems; no refrigeration removes about 80 % of the energy cost; no coolants or insulation removes a further 20–30 % of capital cost; simple enough to maintain without specialist crews.

Economic: €0.0008/kg against €0.02/kg for large cryogenic plants. Per unit, €150,000 annual revenue at €0.10/kg against €960 in combined OPEX and amortization — roughly €149,000 profit per unit per year.

Modularity: scales from one unit to a thousand, sited at the point of consumption, which removes truck delivery and its cost and carbon.

Strategic: reduces dependence on external supply chains at a time when China leads nitrogen production and Russia is a major exporter, and both have become politically constrained suppliers for Western buyers. Product classifies as "green" nitrogen.

Environmental: no harmful emissions; the only byproduct is clean water suitable for irrigation.

Integrations

BATTERATOR — source of the free hydrogen; NITRIUS exists because BATTERATOR produces H₂ and O₂ as byproducts of electricity generation

ARBOK-Ammonia · Arbok-Lacmus · ARBOK-FERTILIZER

Downstream: nitrogen feeds Haber-Bosch ammonia synthesis, opening the $129 billion fertilizer market. Deployable as a component of a large chemical plant or as standalone on-site units.

Deployment & Operation

Deployment sits wherever hydrogen is already a byproduct — alongside BATTERATOR installations, other ARBOK hydrogen-producing processes, or renewable energy sites. Placement at the point of consumption eliminates logistics.

Scale-up path: single unit for a food plant or local chemical operation → modular hub of up to 1,000 units → green nitrogen export hubs sited near farms or renewable generation, supplying regions with nitrogen deficits in Africa and Asia.

Safety: hydrogen is metered through the burner rather than premixed with air, which is what keeps combustion controlled.

TRL

TRL 7 — assigned 2026-08-06.

Proof of concept with completed calculation, modelling and testing. Patent application in progress.

Market Potential

The global industrial nitrogen market stood at $21.47 billion in 2025, growing 6.7 % year on year, with volume of roughly 150 million tonnes. Demand splits across food (approximately 40 %, for product preservation), petrochemicals (inert environments) and metallurgy (oxidation protection). European prices for 98–99 % gaseous nitrogen run €0.10–0.20/kg, or $0.11–0.22/kg, having risen with energy costs.

Adjacent markets reachable through Haber-Bosch integration: nitric acid at $32.7 billion in 2025 with 2.9 % CAGR (approximately $294/tonne in the USA, $280 in China, $444 in Germany), and nitrogen fertilizers at $129.36 billion with roughly 171 million tonnes of nitrogen equivalent produced annually.

Structural driver: European deindustrialization has cost 2 million manufacturing jobs over ten years and new plants are rarely built; US industrial investment stagnates; China and Russia have become politically constrained suppliers. Local, low-capital, modular production addresses exactly this gap.

Typical Project Economics

Single unit:

| Item | Value |

|---|---|

| Annual output | 1.5 million kg N₂ |

| Revenue at €0.10/kg | €150,000 |

| OPEX + CAPEX amortization | €960 |

| Net profit | ~€149,000/year |

1,000-unit hub:

| Item | Value |

|---|---|

| Annual output | 1.5 billion kg N₂ |

| Revenue at €0.10/kg | €150 million |

| Revenue at €0.20/kg | €300 million |

| OPEX | €0.96 million |

| CAPEX amortization | €0.24 million |

| Total cost | €1.2 million |

| Net profit | €148.8–298.8 million/year |

| Margin | ~99.2 % |

| CAPEX payback | 3–4 days of operation |

For comparison, a cryogenic plant at 100 tonnes per day capacity requires CAPEX exceeding $10 million, with OPEX consuming up to 30 % of revenue through energy alone.

Risk Factors

The entire economic case rests on hydrogen being free. Without a byproduct hydrogen stream the method is not competitive against air separation, which costs roughly $20 per tonne of nitrogen. NITRIUS is therefore inseparable from BATTERATOR or an equivalent hydrogen source, and inherits that technology's maturity risk.

Purity of 98–99 % is below the 99–99.999 % industrial standard and excludes high-technology applications without an additional membrane stage.

Hydrogen and oxygen mixtures are explosive; safety depends entirely on metered burner delivery holding under all operating conditions.

Status is proof of concept, not industrial deployment, and the headline cost figures — €0.0008/kg, 99.2 % margin, 3–4 day payback — are calculated rather than measured in operation. Note that the source material gives production cost as both €0.0008/kg and approximately $0.001/kg in different versions.

Related Technologies

BATTERATOR · ARBOK-Ammonia · Arbok-Lacmus · ARBOK-FERTILIZER · ARBOK-NITROCELLULOSE (BIOCELL)