By Dr. Kamal Hadidi
President
Isklen LLC
Dr. Kamal Hadidi is a plasma scientist and entrepreneur with over 30 years of experience in
plasma-based technologies. He received his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from the University
of Pierre et Marie Curie in Paris, France, in 1992. In 1995, he joined the MIT Plasma Science
and Fusion Center in Cambridge, MA, where he spent 12 years developing plasma-based
technologies for industrial applications. In 2007, Dr. Hadidi joined Varian Semiconductor
Equipment Associates as a principal scientist, where he developed plasma-based technologies
for semiconductor fabrication.
Dr. Hadidi has founded multiple companies over the last two decades. He founded Amzil Inc.,
which developed hazardous metals monitors, and Amastan Technologies, later renamed 6K
Energy Inc., which focused on processing and production of high-value materials such as
lithium-ion anode and cathode materials, as well as additive manufacturing. In 2022, he
founded Isklen LLC, which focuses on developing technologies for the decarbonization of the
chemical industry.
Innovating Chemical Manufacturing: Low-Temperature Solutions for Energy
Efficiency and Emissions Reduction
Many chemical manufacturing processes, developed decades ago, contribute significantly to
greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and high energy consumption. For example, the Haber-
Bosch (HB) process used to produce ammonia relies on thermocatalysis to dissociate
feedstock molecules such as nitrogen and methane to manufacture chemicals such as
ammonia, nitric acid, and hydrogen. However, in these processes, energy is applied to heat
up entire reactors rather than specifically destroying the chemical bonds to produce reactive
radicals, leading to heat losses and inefficiency. Despite optimization over the years, these
technologies are approaching their theoretical efficiency limits. For instance, ammonia
production alone accounts for 2% of global energy use and more than 1% of total carbon
emissions. Other examples of energy-intensive processes include the Ostwald process for
nitric acid production, methane steam reforming for hydrogen, and the Claus process for
hydrogen sulfide destruction and sulfur production.
Given the scale of the chemical market (ammonia: 240 MT/year, nitric acid: 70 MT/year,
hydrogen: 70MT/year), any proposed new technology must meet three key criteria: scalability
to very large size, reduced energy consumption, and lower GHG emissions compared to
existing processes.
This talk will explore low-temperature technologies that focus on directly breaking chemical
bonds to create reactive radicals, offering a more efficient and environmentally friendly
alternative to century-old thermocatalytic processes. These technologies not only achieve
lower energy use and emissions but are also scalable to meet the massive global demand for
chemicals like ammonia, nitric acid, and hydrogen.
Dr. Hacib Ben Aissa
Product Development Manager
Professor Frede Blaabjerg
IEEE Fellow and Villum Investigator
Daniel Cook
President - Conservation Solutions Corporation
Dr. Kamal Hadidi
President
Professor Hamid Laga
Information Technology
Dr. Tedjani Mesbahi
Associate Professor (McF HdR)