Ammonia as an Energy Carrier for Renewable Energy Conversion and Storage

Abstract

An emerging energy carrier, ammonia (NH3), has attracted ever-increasing attention due to its high hydrogen content (17.65 wt. %) and its ease of storage, transportation, and handling [1,2]. This work aims to investigate the feasibility of utilizing ammonia as an energy carrier for intermittent renewable energy conversion and storage via an electrochemical flow cell, which includes two independent electrocatalytic processes (Fig. 1): ammonia production via nitrogen reduction and electricity generation via ammonia oxidation [3,4]. Firstly, the effects of structural design and operating parameters on the flow cell performance are investigated. Our preliminary results have shown that the ammonia yield reaches 27.9 μg h−1 mg−1 and the power density reaches 20.7 mW cm-2. Secondly, an in-depth analysis and discussion on the simultaneous transport of mass and charge through the flow cell are conducted. Thirdly, a techno-economic assessment for using ammonia as an energy carrier is performed. These research findings will provide crucial insights into the utilization of ammonia as an energy carrier for renewable energy conversion and storage.AcknowledgementThis work was fully supported by a grant from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Project No. 52022003)References[1] Y. Zhao, B.P. Setzler, J. Wang, J. Nash, T. Wang, B. Xu, Y. Yan, An efficient direct ammonia fuel cell for affordable carbon-neutral transportation, Joule, 3 (2019) 2472–2484.[2] Y. Guo, Z. Pan, L. An, Carbon-free sustainable energy technology: Direct ammonia fuel cells, J. Power Sources, 476 (2020) 228454.[3] Y. Liu, Z. Pan, O.C. Esan, X. Xu, L. An, Performance characteristics of a direct ammonia fuel cell with an anion exchange membrane, Energy Fuels, 36 (2022) 13203-13211.[4] Y. Liu, Z. Pan, O.C. Esan, X. Liu, H. Wang, L. An, Efficient electrocatalytic nitrogen reduction to ammonia with FeNi-Co/carbon mat electrodes, J. Alloys Compd, 927 (2022) 166973.Figure 1. Ammonia as an energy carrier for renewable energy conversion and storage. Figure 1