Abstract
Wind energy, air and water can be combined to make anhydrous ammonia and ammonium nitrate, two important nitrogenous fertilizers that are usually synthesized using natural gas as the primary feedstock. The growing shortages and rising costs of methane have caused much concern for the agricultural sector because they directly influence the availability and price of nitrogenous fertilizers. The ultimate effect of this trend is an increase in food prices and inflationary pressure on the economy. Hence a process using abundant, replenishable sources of energy and feedstock chemicals in lieu of natural gas is attractive as a conservation measure. A study has shown that it is technologically feasible to reduce the scale of an ammonia processing plant to produce a tiny fraction of the output rates of full scale commercial plants. Such a system can be adequately powered by a wind turbine driving an electrolysis cell to produce the required hydrogen feedstock. The cost of the fertilizer produced will be competitive if natural gas prices and distribution costs continue to rise as they have in the past several years.
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