Jianli Hu*, Hanjing Tian, Yan Luo, Xinwei Bai, West Virginia University, USA; Dushyant Shekhawat, Christina Wildfire, Victor Abdelsayed, Michael J. Spencer, National Energy Technology Laboratory, USA; Robert A. Dagle, Stephen Davidson, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, USA; Albert E. Stiegman, Florida State University, USA
15th Annual NH3 Fuel Conference, Pittsburgh, PA, October 31, 2018
NH3 Energy+ Topical Conference at the AIChE Annual Meeting
ABSTRACT
A scalable, cost-effective catalytic process of ammonia synthesis is developed by using microwave excitation under mild reaction conditions. In this research project funded by DOE ARPA-E, our interdisciplinary team of WVU, NETL, PNNL, FSU and two industrial partners have demonstrated that ammonia synthesis can be carried out at 200-300 °C and ambient pressure. This transformational process integrates system elements of electromagnetic sensitive catalysts and microwave reactor design. Taking advantages of state-of-the art non-equilibrium microwave plasma technology, catalytic ammonia synthesis undergoes a new reaction pathway where the barrier for the initial dissociation of the dinitrogen is decoupled from the bonding energy of the intermediates. Continue reading
