Tag Archives: NH3 Production: Renewable

Coupling Integral Molten Salt Reactor Technology into Hybrid Nuclear: Direct Ammonia Production via H2 High Temperature Steam Electrolysis

Posted on October 1, 2017 by | 1 comment

John Kutsch
Terrestrial Energy USA, United States

NH3 Fuel Conference, Minneapolis, November 2, 2017
AIChE Annual Meeting, Topical Conference: NH3 Energy+

ABSTRACT

Demands for safe, secure supplies of potable water across the planet are increasing faster than can be provided by natural, ever-depleting sources of fresh water. At the same time, world demand for electric power is also accelerating.

Making H2 from Natural Gas is not an optimal or very efficient process that is also un-economic at higher and erratic gas costs.

An Integral Molten Salt Reactor (IMSR) is uniquely suited to provide the very high temperatures (600 °C+ working temps) that are needed to generate both significant amounts of High Temperature Steam Electrolysis (HTSE)-derived Hydrogen & Oxygen (a feed for industrial oxygen uses) and Electricity needed for advanced economies and industry. Continue reading →

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Nitrogenase Inspired Peptide-Functionalized Catalyst for Efficient, Emission-Free Ammonia Production

Posted on October 1, 2017 by | 1 comment

Stephen Szymanski*, Wayne Gellett
Proton OnSite, United States

NH3 Fuel Conference, Minneapolis, November 1, 2017
AIChE Annual Meeting, Topical Conference: NH3 Energy+

ABSTRACT

Ammonia-based fertilizers have enabled increases in food production to sustain the world’s population. Currently the major source of ammonia is the Haber-Bosch process, which requires high temperature and pressure and has low conversion efficiency, such that very large plants are required for economical production. Ammonia is therefore one of the most energy and carbon intensive chemical processes worldwide, largely due to the steam methane reforming step to produce the required hydrogen. Because of the very large plant scale and resulting centralization of production, ammonia may also be transported long distances to point of use, adding additional energy and emissions. Distributed, sustainable ammonia production would therefore have a huge impact on global energy use and related carbon emissions. Electrochemical solutions are well-suited to modularity and integration with renewable energy sources and can operate at much milder temperatures and pressures, but a catalyst is needed which is selective to ammonia generation vs competing reactions. Continue reading →

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Lower Pressure Ammonia Synthesis

Posted on October 1, 2017 by | 2 comments

Mahdi Malmali1*, Alon McCormick1, Edward L. Cussler1, Joshua Prince1, Mike Reese2
[1] University of Minnesota; [2] University of Minnesota West Central Research and Outreach Center, United States

NH3 Fuel Conference, Minneapolis, November 1, 2017
AIChE Annual Meeting, Topical Conference: NH3 Energy+

ABSTRACT

Ammonia is a very important chemical, mainly produced through the Haber-Bosch process. This process requires high temperature (>400 °C) and pressure (>150 bar) in order to ensure fast kinetics and high conversions, respectively.1 As a result, ammonia synthesis is known to be very complex and energy-intensive.2 To alleviate the complexity and energy requirements of ammonia synthesis, and to reduce the CO2 emissions, we are proposing an innovative reaction-absorption process to synthesize carbon-free ammonia in small plants.3 This green ammonia can be synthesized in wind-powered plants, with hydrogen from electrolysis of water and nitrogen from pressure swing adsorption of air.4 Continue reading →

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Fast-Ramping Reactor for CO2-Free NH3 Synthesis

Posted on October 1, 2017 by | 4 comments

Joseph Beach1*, Jonathan Kintner1, Adam Welch1, Jason Ganley2, Ryan O’Hayre2
[1] Starfire Energy; and [2] Colorado School of Mines, United States

NH3 Fuel Conference, Minneapolis, November 1, 2017
AIChE Annual Meeting, Topical Conference: NH3 Energy+

ABSTRACT

Starfire Energy is developing a fast-ramping reactor for making CO2-free NH3 for fuel, energy storage, and agricultural applications. A fast-ramping reactor is desired to follow (a) variable electricity generation from CO2-free sources such wind and solar power plants or (b) variable availability from CO2-free baseload electricity generation such as nuclear or hydroelectric power plants. The reactor builds upon the Haber-Bosch process by (a) introducing a higher activity supported Ru catalyst (over 4.5 mmol g-1 h-1 at 1 atm and over 45 mmol g-1 h-1 at 10 atm) and (b) further enhancing the catalysis by applying an electric potential or electric field to the catalyst. The catalysts and processes are the subjects of PCT patent application PCT/US17/20201. The catalysts and processes have been characterized in a differential reactor and are being incorporated into a prototype reactor designed to produce 3 kg NH3 per day. The presentation will feature data from the differential reactor and prototype reactor testing and modeled cost of CO2-free NH3 at larger production scales. Continue reading →

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The Role of “Green” Ammonia in Decarbonising Energy Systems: Practical Demonstration and Economic Considerations

Posted on September 26, 2017 by | 2 comments

Ian Wilkinson
Siemens, United Kingdom

NH3 Fuel Conference, Minneapolis, November 1, 2017
AIChE Annual Meeting, Topical Conference: NH3 Energy+

ABSTRACT

Ammonia has the potential to contribute significantly to the decarbonisation of energy systems, by offering a practical, carbon-free hydrogen storage and transportation vector as well as a green fuel in its own right. To better understand the prospects and challenges surrounding the use of ammonia in energy systems, Siemens is leading a collaborative project to build and test an ammonia-based energy storage system at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in the UK. Together with its project partners (the UK Science and Technology Facilities Council, the University of Oxford and the University of Cardiff), and supported by Innovate UK, Siemens will demonstrate the full energy cycle of renewable power converted into ammonia and then back into electricity for grid export. Continue reading →

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Comprehensive Evaluation of NH3 Production and Utilization Options for Clean Energy Applications

Posted on September 26, 2017 by | Leave a comment

Yusuf Bicer1, Ibrahim Dincer1, Greg Vezina2*
1 Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science, University of Ontario Institute of Technology, and 2 Hydrofuel Inc., Canada

NH3 Fuel Conference, Minneapolis, November 1, 2017
AIChE Annual Meeting, Topical Conference: NH3 Energy+

ABSTRACT

The project proposes a comprehensive investigation on the analysis, assessment and optimization of ammonia synthesis processes under renewable energy portfolio, including low-cost hydro, wind, solar, geothermal, ocean, biomass, etc. Furthermore, ammonia production via hydrocarbon decomposition, which will be investigated in the study, is a promising option to utilize fossil fuels in a cleaner and environmentally benign way. Case studies for various locations and applications in communities, cities and provinces to develop and implement clean solutions are performed. The objectives of this project include energy and exergy analyses, environmental impact assessments, thermo-economic analyses and evaluations, optimization studies, experimental investigation, scalability and feasibility analyses. The analyses results will show the optimized solutions for the ammonia synthesis depending on different locations in Canada. Moreover, emerging ammonia synthesis methods will be investigated which can bring additional cost and efficiency benefits. Continue reading →

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Dutch Initiatives to Store Sustainable Energy in the Form of Ammonia

Posted on September 25, 2017 by | 1 comment

Hans Vrijenhoef
Proton Ventures, The Netherlands

NH3 Fuel Conference 2017, Minneapolis, November 1, 2017
AIChE Annual Meeting, Topical Conference: NH3 Energy+

ABSTRACT

Proton Ventures BV is a company dedicated to supply mini ammonia units for storing decentralised produced (sustainable) energy. Proton has developed a commercial unit for the production of small amounts of ammonia, which can store up to 25 MW of power or equivalent (bio-) gas energy.

Hans Vrijenhoef, as the director of the company, will give an overview of existing plans in The Netherlands to store this decentralised energy and to make use of this in an economic way. The N-Fuel units will be skid-mounted, safe in operation, and almost fully automated in order to keep CAPEX and OPEX costs lowest and show that ammonia units can be effective in saving costs versus other means of storage, like batteries. Continue reading →

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CO2-Free NH3

Posted on September 30, 2016 by | 3 comments

Ken-ichi Aika
Tokyo Institute of Technology, Japan

NH3 Fuel Conference, Los Angeles, September 20, 2016

DOWNLOAD

Download this presentation here [PDF, 600KB]

RELATED NH3 FUEL CONFERENCE PAPERS

2013: Ammonia as an Energy Carrier for Renewable Energy

LINKS

Ken-ichi Aika, Tokyo Institute of Technology
Learn more about the 2016 NH3 Fuel Conference

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Japan – a future market for Australian solar ammonia

Posted on September 8, 2016 by | 3 comments

Keith Lovegrove
ITP Thermal Pty Ltd, Australia

NH3 Fuel Conference, Los Angeles, September 20, 2016

ABSTRACT

Japan and Australia are intimately linked in energy trade. Australia counts energy exports as a major source of foreign exchange income and Japan, which uses nearly 4 times the primary energy as Australia, imports nearly all of it. Approximately 40% of Australia’s coal exports are bought by Japan and were worth $AUD15.4 billion in 2012-13. Over 70% of Australia’s LNG exports went to Japan in the same period and earned over $AUD12billion. Future energy supply is high on the agenda for Japan. Currently 43% of its primary energy is in the form of imported oil mostly from the Middle East. The cost of this together with energy security concerns is a major driver for change. Post the Fukushima Nuclear disaster, the previous 8% contribution from Nuclear dropped to zero and there is much opposition to reinstating it. Japan still has a strong policy agenda to reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions.

One of the identified routes to a cleaner energy future is the wider use of hydrogen as a fuel in both the transport and power generation sectors. There are a range of technology approaches that allow solar technologies to produce transportable alternative fuels that could form the basis for a future clean energy trade with Japan. If energy is transported as an energy dense liquid in conventional tanker ships, then the effective efficiency of transport over distances of 6000km (Australia to Japan) is greater than 98%. Three options for importing hydrogen fuel into Japan are under serious consideration; cryogenic liquid hydrogen, reversible hydrogenation of toluene, and conversion of hydrogen to ammonia. Ammonia is increasingly considered as the favourable path. It offers higher energy density, leverages an existing global industry and has the potential for direct combustion in combined cycle power plants and heavy transport. Considering Australia’s vast untapped solar resource together with the existing energy trade history plus a history of upstream investments by Japanese companies in Australian Energy developments, suggests the two countries are ideal partners in a future solar fuels trade.

DOWNLOAD

Download this presentation here [PDF, 3.8MB]

RELATED NH3 FUEL CONFERENCE PAPERS

2008: Ammonia Production and Baseload Solar Power [PDF]

LINKS

Keith Lovegrove, ITP
Learn more about the 2016 NH3 Fuel Conference

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The Investment Case for Sustainable Ammonia Synthesis Technologies

Posted on August 24, 2016 by | 4 comments

Trevor Brown
AmmoniaIndustry.com, USA

NH3 Fuel Conference, Los Angeles, September 20, 2016

ABSTRACT

For 100 years, we have made ammonia with the Haber-Bosch process, almost always using a fossil fuel feedstock. Recently, though, government policy, academic innovation, commercial opportunity, and human morality have combined to spur the development of new, “green” ammonia manufacturing processes: sustainable, low-carbon technologies.

These new synthesis methods augur a future in which, instead of the single, over-riding drive toward the economies of scale associated with Haber-Bosch, an array of different feedstocks, uses, and business models will support a multiplicity of competing technologies serving multiple markets. Continue reading →

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