Kontak Hydrogen and Electric Aircraft

Kontak is an early-stage technology company in Seattle, Washington.  

We have patented a novel device for safely and gently separating hydrogen from nitrogen in anhydrous ammonia.  While this process is common at industrial scales, it is unheard of at scales allowing hydrogen to be stored, transported and used for buses, heavy-duty trucks and zero-emission aircraft.  By surgically breaking the hydrogen-nitrogen bond, nitrogen is released into the atmosphere and pure hydrogen is sent to a fuel cell, internal combustion engine or a hydrogen gas turbine.

Four problems stand in the way of the wide-spread acceptance of hydrogen…

safety, capacity, cost and infrastructure.  Kontak elegantly solves all four.  Safety: By storing hydrogen on ammonia, there is no free hydrogen until it is released and sent a short distance to a fuel cell or engine.  Capacity: Hydrogen on ammonia achieves 17.3% weight-by-weight storage capacity; more than twice the capacity of compressed hydrogen.

Further, storage tanks for ammonia are far lighter and less expensive than for compressed hydrogen.

Cost: Kontak can deliver hydrogen for $1.76 per kilogram compared to $16.51 per kilogram for compressed hydrogen in Southern California.  Infrastructure: ammonia is one of the most widely available industrial compounds and is transported by ship, rail and truck on a daily basis.

In commuter and eVTOL aircraft, Kontak offers a critical and unique advantage: as the aircraft flies, it becomes lighter offering added payload and range.  100% refueling with ammonia takes 5 minutes instead of 30 minutes to recharge batteries to 80% of their capacity.

Write, call or e-mail: Barton Norton, Board Chair, Kontak Hydrogen, 100 Timber Ridge Way NW, Suite 5116, Issaquah, WA  98027  +1 (425) 442-5929  https://kontakhydrogenstorage.com/ or [email protected].

Claims are based on engineering calculations to be confirmed with prototype tests later in 2021.