MIRALON is an advanced material, being commercialized by Huntsman, purifying carbon nanotubes from the pyrolysis of methane and also yielding turquoise hydrogen. The material has multiple uses in energy transition. This data-file reviews the MIRALON technology, patents, and a strong moat. Our base case model sees 15% IRRs if Huntsman reaches a medium-term target of bringing MIRALON costs down to $10/kg.
“When we succeed at the kiloton scale, MIRALON will be a name that everyone knows”. This comment was made on a recent Huntsman podcast, describing a novel technology for pyrolysing methane, producing a carbon nanotube-based material (MIRALON) and a byproduct stream of turquoise hydrogen.
This data-file is our MIRALON technology review, based on assessing c45 patent families going back to 2004 and continuing through 2023. In our view, there are clear process innovations behind MIRALON, including methods for controlling the methane pyrolysis reaction, purifying the carbon nanotube product and regenerating the catalyst.
MIRALON fibers are 1mm long, 3-15nm wide, 25x stronger than steel, with similar performance characteristics to carbon fiber (similar strength, higher flexibility, but conductive and dissipating static charges) and other advanced materials.
Commercialization. A 1Tpa micro-plant has been running in Merrimack, New Hampshire in 2021. A 30Tpa pilot plant is being constructed in Texas in 2023. And a multi-kTpa scale reactor will follow. MIRALON was already used in the Juno space mission, while future applications are seen in battery binders, composites, electric vehicles, steel and cement.
Clean hydrogen? Huntsman and ARPA-E have said that CO2 intensity of the resultant hydrogen from the MIRALON process will be 90% below SMR hydrogen (i.e., below 1 ton/ton), which should open up access to $1/kg of 45V incentives under the IRA. Future formulations derived from gas that would otherwise have been flared, landfill gas or biogas could be deemed carbon negative.
Economics. We have updated our turquoise hydrogen models with a tab estimating the costs of the MIRALON process (chart below). Our base case sees 15% IRRs if Huntsman reaches its targets of deflating costs to $10/kg including $1/kg hydrogen and $1/kg IRA incentives. You can stress test inputs, outputs and pricing in our turquoise hydrogen model.
Huntsman is a chemicals company, headquartered in Texas, which IPO’ed in 2005, operates 70 production facilities in 30 countries, generated $8.4bn of revenues in 2022 and $1.2bn pa of adjusted EBITDA. The company has featured in our research into polyurethanes, carbon fiber, resins and niche mining chemistries.
Our conclusions on the MIRALON technology, the moat around the patents, the key process innovations and the remaining challenges are in this data-file linked below.