Ammonia Fuels Research Articles

CHARACTERISTICS OF AMMONIA COMBUSTION AND MODERN GORENJE STABILIZATION STUDIES

In the light of current problems such as difficulties with ammonia ignition, low combustion stability and high NOx emissions, the features of basic ammonia combustion are considered and the available stabilization technologies are summarized. Gorenje gorenje. Among these technologies, the mixed combustion of ammonia, hydrogen and methane stands out, as well as methods of enhancing heat transfer, such as high oxygen pressure, and external assistive technologies, including plasma. Gorenje The aspects of ammonia combustion stability in various types of engines such as internal combustion engines, gas turbines and boilers are discussed. Gorenje The need for future research in the field of ammonia fuels, including the development of gorenje gorenje stabilization technologies, mixed combustion of ammonia with hydrogen, ammonia with solid fuels, and others, is emphasized. The importance of adapting various gorenje stabilization technologies gorenje depending on specific application areas to optimize the ammonia combustion process is noted. The prospects of ammonia-hydrogen mixed combustion systems are discussed, and the need for further research and development in this area is emphasized. Gorenje It is also noted that there is limited experimental data on the mixed combustion of ammonia with solid fuels, which provides potential for research in this direction. Gorenje Achieving a carbon peak and carbon neutrality is an essential strategic course in the context of countering global warming and is becoming an internal necessity to stimulate high-quality economic development. This prospect will necessarily entail significant transformations in the energy structure of Russia.

Technical–Economic Analysis for Ammonia Ocean Transportation Using an Ammonia-Fueled Carrier

This study performed a technical–economic analysis for ship-based ammonia transportation to investigate the feasibility of international ammonia transportation. Ammonia is considered to be a vital hydrogen carrier, so the international trade in ammonia by ship will considerably increase in the future. This study proposed three scenarios for transporting ammonia from the USA, Saudi Arabia, and Australia to South Korea and employed an 84,000 m3 class ammonia carrier. Not only traditional very low sulfur fuel oil (VLSFO)/marine diesel oil (MDO) but also LNG and ammonia fuels were considered as propulsion and power generation fuels in the carrier. A life-cycle cost (LCC) model consisting of capital expenditure (CAPEX) and operational expenditure (OPEX) was employed for the cost estimation. The results showed that the transportation costs depend on the distance. The unit transportation cost from the USA to South Korea was approximately three times higher than that of Australia to South Korea. Ammonia fuel yielded the highest costs among the fuels investigated (VLSFO/MGO, LNG, and ammonia). When using ammonia fuel, the unit transportation cost was approximately twice that when using VLSFO/MDO. The fuel costs occupied the largest portion of the LCC. The unit transportation costs from Australia to South Korea were 23.6 USD/ton-NH3 for the LVSFO/MDO fuel case, 31.6 USD/ton-NH3 for the LNG fuel case, and 42.9 USD/ton-NH3 for the ammonia fuel case. This study also conducted a sensitivity analysis to investigate the influence of assumptions, including assumed parameters.

Environmental-economic sustainability of hydrogen and ammonia fuels for short sea shipping operations

Alternative fuels of low or zero carbon content can decarbonise the shipping operations. This study aims at assessing the lifetime environmental-economic sustainability of ammonia and hydrogen, as alternatives to diesel fuel for short sea shipping cargo vessels. A model is employed to calculate key performance indicators representing the lifetime financial sustainability and environmental footprint of the case ship using a realistic operating profile and considering several scenarios with different diesel substitution rates. Scenarios meeting the carbon emissions reduction targets set by the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) for 2030 are identified, whereas policy measures for their implementation including the emissions taxation are discussed. The derived results demonstrate that the future implementation of carbon emissions taxation in the ranges of 136–965 €/t for hydrogen and 356–2647 €/t for ammonia can support these fuels financial sustainability in shipping. This study provides insights for adopting zero-carbon fuels, and as such impacts the de-risking of shipping decarbonisation.

PtZn alloy nanoparticles with enhanced activity and stability synthesized by a simplified polyol process for electro-oxidation of ammonia

This work reports the synthesis of bimetallic alloy PtZn nanoparticles (NPs) using one-pot glycerol-assisted polyol technique in the presence of Pt(acac)2 and Zn(acac)2 for the electrocatalysis of ammonia fuels. Three different compositions of PtnZn/C (n = 1, 2, 3) electrocatalysts are synthesized in which Pt-content is varied with a fixed Zn-content. PtZn NPs are characterized by X-ray diffractometry (XRD), scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) for their crystal structures, elemental compositions, and morphological studies. The high-angle annular dark field-scanning TEM-EDS elemental mapping has confirmed that NPs are alloyed with Pt and Zn elements. The electronic structures of alloy NPs are further analyzed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and found a ligand effect resulting in the downshift of d-band center. The incorporation of Zn in NPs decreases the oxygenated species on Pt surface proven by cyclic voltammetry. PtZn NPs are employed for the electrocatalysis of ammonia fuels, namely NH4OH, NH4Cl, NH4NO3, and (NH4)2SO4, where PtZn/C system has shown better electrocatalytic activity than Pt/C. Stability tests are conducted using chronoamperometry for all electrocatalysts of which PtZn/C electrocatalysts have been observed to have good sustainability in the electrochemical environment compared to Pt/C.

Effects of combustion and emission performance of ammonia/natural gas engines ignited by diesel

Ammonia fuel engines face problems such as low combustion efficiency, ammonia escape, and high N2O emissions. However, natural gas reserves are abundant, and the combustion speed is fast. In order to explore whether the mixing of natural gas can promote the combustion of ammonia fuel, this article discusses the combustion and emission performance of ammonia/natural gas hybrid fuel engines through simulation research. The results indicate that mixing ammonia fuel with natural gas can greatly improve the combustion efficiency of ammonia in the cylinder. Appropriate natural gas can greatly improve the power and economic efficiency of engines. Although the N2O emissions of the engine have significantly decreased, the CO2 and NOx emissions of the engine have significantly increased, and the engine's overall emission performance has become worse. Considering the engine's overall performance, this article selects A50/N50 as the optimal mixture ratio for ammonia/natural gas. The article's research results have effectively improved the problems existing in ammonia engines, providing research direction and data support for the development of ammonia fuels.

Zero-Carbon and Carbon-Neutral Fuels: A Review of Combustion Products and Cytotoxicity

The use of zero-carbon and carbon-neutral fuels reduces emissions of conventional pollutants, but their emissions can be toxic and have various adverse effects on human health. This article reviews the possible combustion products of zero-carbon and carbon-neutral fuels, as well as their cytotoxic effects and potential health risks. At the same time, the review outlines biological models and toxicity detection methods commonly used in pollutant toxicity studies. Metals, nitrogen oxides (NOX), and ammonia (NH3) emitted from the combustion of metal fuels, hydrogen fuels, and ammonia fuels in zero-carbon fuels are harmful to human health. Exhaust emissions from carbon-neutral fuels, particularly biodiesel, and their blends with gasoline/diesel are cytotoxic, leading to severe cellular damage, such as oxidative damage, inflammatory responses, DNA damage, cell death, or apoptosis. Moreover, the normal function of the human body’s respiratory, cardiovascular, immune, digestive, urinary, and nervous systems may also be impacted by these fuel emissions according to cytotoxic research. Cytotoxicity of fuel combustion products is usually related to the fuel type, time, dose, and cell line used in the experiment. This review provides some ideas for the exhaust emission management of zero-carbon and carbon-neutral fuels and human health assessment. It also presents a theoretical and experimental basis for further research, including in vivo experiments.

MILD combustion of a premixed NH3/air jet flame in hot coflow versus its CH4/air counterpart

Moderate or intense low-oxygen dilution (MILD) combustion is suitable for solving the problems of unstable flames and high NOx emissions (ENOx) of ammonia fuels; however, studies on this are rare. This paper numerically investigates the MILD combustion characteristics of a premixed NH3/air jet flame in hot coflow (JHC) under different jet equivalence ratios (ΦJ), coflow temperatures (TC), and oxygen levels (XO2,C). For comparison, similar CH4/air MILD-JHC flame characteristics are calculated. The results show that the NH3 flame generally has a lower temperature increase and heat release, as well as a larger reaction zone, than CH4. This suggests that the NH3 flame can develop into a MILD regime more easily than CH4. ENOx of the NH3 flame is two orders of magnitude higher than that of CH4 flame at all TC and XO2,C values for ΦJ < 1. At ΦJ > 1, ENOx of the NH3 flame rapidly decreases to nearly zero, but unburned NH3 emissions (ENH3) and H2 emissions (EH2) are significantly high (∼1000 ppm) and the combustion efficiency is low. Moreover, ENOx increases rapidly (gradually) with XO2,C (TC), whereas ENH3 and EH2 are considerably low at TC ≥ 1300 K and XO2,C ≥ 1% for the NH3 flame. ENOx primarily originates from NO; however, N2O is also important at low ΦJ and TC values. Therefore, considering ENOx, ENH3, EH2 and the burning efficiency, the optimal conditions for NH3 MILD combustion are ΦJ = 1, TC ≥ 1500 K, and XO2,C = 1%–3%. In addition, compared with conventional flames, NH3 MILD combustion can reduce ENOx by one to two orders of magnitude.

Hydrogen and ammonia as a primary fuel – A critical review of production technologies, diesel engine applications, and challenges

Renewable energy resources have been recognized as one of the promising sources of energy to meet the current energy demand without affecting the environment. Hydrogen and ammonia fuels are being explored as sustainable energy sources to replace fossil fuels. Green fuels have gained profound attention due to their environmentally friendly nature and human health concerns. Although these fuels are sustainable on a laboratory scale, implementing them on a commercial scale is still in the early stages of development. Numerous studies have reported the effectiveness of hydrogen and ammonia in diesel engines as efficient energy carriers. However, although previous research shed light on these fuels, their economic viability is still a concern. This review provides an in-depth analysis of hydrogen and ammonia production methods. Additionally, the effect of blends on diesel engines was determined by comparing the obtained data through performance, combustion, and emission characteristics. Parameters such as brake thermal efficiency, brake-specific fuel consumption, exhaust gas temperature, heat release rate, in-cylinder pressure, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, hydrocarbon, nitrogen oxides, and particulate matter were observed. The effects of noise and vibration resulting from the addition of hydrogen, ammonia, and biodiesel blends were also discussed in detail. Increasing the concentration of hydrogen and ammonia increases the formation of pollutants and reduces brake thermal efficiency. On the other hand, increasing the concentration of biodiesel decreases pollutants such as CO, HC, and CO2, but there is an increase in NOx. Based on the findings, it is evident that hydrogen and ammonia can be effective sources of energy to replace fossil fuels, and their production methods and usage need to be further optimized to achieve economic and societal benefits.

Ship Power Plant Decarbonisation Using Hybrid Systems and Ammonia Fuel—A Techno-Economic–Environmental Analysis

The shipping sector decarbonisation has attracted great attention due to the sector contribution to worldwide carbon emissions. This study aims at investigating the techno-economic–environmental performance of different ship power plants to identify sustainable solutions for a case study cargo ship. Four scenarios, considering conventional and hybrid power plants, the latter with installed batteries, both using marine gas oil and ammonia fuels, are analysed to estimate the pertinent lifetime key performance indicators characterising their economic and environmental performance. Additionally, taxation schemes of varying extent are considered, and a sensitivity analysis is carried out on the most uncertain input parameters, namely, fuel prices and capital cost. This study results demonstrate that the hybrid plant using ammonia exhibits the lowest environmental footprint associated with 66% carbon emission reduction, whilst increasing the lifetime cost by 40%. Taxation schemes close to 340 EUR per CO2 tonne are required to render it economically viable whilst meeting the IMO targets for 2050 on CO2 emissions reduction. The sensitivity analysis reveals that the economic parameters is highly sensitive to fuel price and the capital expenditure.

Knowledge gaps in fuel cell-based maritime hybrid power plants and alternative fuels

The maritime industry is facing a technological challenge regarding the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions as a way of achieving carbon neutrality by 2050. This research focuses on the use of alternative fuels and fuel cell technologies, combined in hybrid power plants with well-known technologies, such as internal combustion engines and gas turbines, to achieve high flexibility. In this work, hybridized proton exchange membrane fuel cells and solid oxide fuel cells are under investigation, together with hydrogen, methanol and ammonia fuels. Literature on fuel cell-based maritime hybrid power plants is analyzed and discussed to identify knowledge areas not fully covered yet and to open a debate on the topic from the perspective of maritime engineering A combination of proton exchange with solid oxide fuel cells and an evaluation of cargo space loss, as opposed to fuel storage, are identified as knowledge gaps among others.

Numerical investigation and optimization on laminar burning velocity of ammonia-based fuels based on GRI3.0 mechanism

As a carbon-free fuel, ammonia is an ideal fuel for future clean fuels, but the low combustion intensity limits the application of ammonia. The combustion performance of ammonia fuels can be effectively improved by mixing hydrogen and methane, but the mechanisms involved are different. In this study, three typical ammonia-based fuels, ammonia, ammonia-hydrogen and ammonia-methane, are numerically simulated for laminar burning velocity, and the applicability of different ammonia-based fuels mechanisms is examined and analyzed. The important reactions in the mechanisms are analyzed by sensitivity. The results show that both hydrogen and methane have a significant enhancement on ammonia fuel combustion, with hydrogen being more obvious, and the maximum laminar combustion velocity is achieved around an equivalence ratio of 1.1 for all three fuels. The reaction H + O2<=>O + OH, which is directly related to the OH radical concentration and combustion intensity, is the most sensitive reaction, while the lack of other sub-reaction mechanisms or the variation in the relative importance of the sub-reactions are the main reasons for the differences between the mechanisms. The best choice of mechanism is given with the combustion conditions. A new mechanism for laminar combustion velocity prediction of all three fuels was optimized based on the GRI3.0 mechanism, and the average error was within 10%.

A comparative life cycle assessment of clean aviation fuels

In this study, life cycle assessments and comparative evaluations are performed for different types of renewable and alternative fuels for aircrafts. The life cycle impacts of both hydrogen and ammonia fuels are primarily investigated considering conventional and renewable energy-based routes. The overall life cycle impacts of several hydrocarbon fuels including kerosene, ethanol, methanol, dimethyl ether, and biodiesel are also studied. The steam methane reforming-based route for hydrogen and ammonia fuels is found to have higher global warming potentials as compared to alternative production routes. High phosphate emissions result in a higher freshwater eutrophication potential for the solar-based route for ammonia fuel. Fossil fuel-based dimethyl ether is found to have a comparatively higher global warming potential of 1.3 kgCO2 equivalent per tonne-km amongst the considered hydrocarbon fuels that include ethanol (1.1 kgCO2 equivalent per tonne-km), kerosene (1.04 kgCO2 equivalent per tonne-km), methanol (1.01 kgCO2 equivalent per tonne-km), and biodiesel (1.07 kgCO2 equivalent per tonne-km). Dimethyl ether is found to entail high toxicity potentials and the reduction of life cycle arsenic, barium, cadmium, chromium, cobalt, and lead emissions is recommended. However, higher photochemical ozone formation potentials of 0.0055 and 0.0046 kgNOx equivalent per tonne-km are associated with biodiesel and kerosene fuels respectively.

Evaluation of ((La0.60Sr0.40)0.95Co0.20Fe0.80O3-x)-Ag Composite Anode for Direct Ammonia Solid Oxide Fuel Cells and Effect of Pd Impregnation on the Electrochemical Performance

Ammonia produced using renewable hydrogen is being viewed as a promising media for the export of energy from locations rich in renewable energy sources. Solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) are efficient devices for converting such exported ammonia back into electricity at the point of use; however, investigations on materials and operating regimes for direct ammonia fuelled SOFCs are limited. In this work, we evaluated the direct ammonia SOFC performance with a Silver-Lanthanum Strontium Cobalt Ferrite (Ag-LSCF) composite anode and a novel Palladium (Pd) nanoparticle decorated Silver-Lanthanum Strontium Cobalt Ferrite (Pd-Ag-LSCF) composite anode in the temperature range of 500 °C to 800 °C. It is hypothesised that palladium nanoparticles in the anode provide hydrogen dissolution and shift the ammonia decomposition reaction towards the right. The cell performance was evaluated with both hydrogen and ammonia as fuels and a clear-cut improvement in the performance was observed with the addition of Pd for both the fuels. The results showed performance enhancements of 20% and 43% with hydrogen and ammonia fuels, respectively, from the addition of Pd to the Ag-LSCF anode. Open-circuit voltage (OCV) values of the cells with hydrogen and ammonia fuels recorded over the temperature range of 500 °C to 800 °C indicated the possibility of direct electro-oxidation of ammonia in SOFCs.

The Sputtering of Heusler Alloy Catalyst onto the Porous Anode of the Intermediate Temperature Solid Oxide Fuel Cells for Ammonia Disassociation

In the past years, steam methane reforming (SMR) is a standard solution for the hydrogen production from hydrocarbon fuels for the development of commercial units of intermediate temperature solid oxide fuel cells (IT-SOFCs) systems. However, feeding methane as fuels can induce carbon deposition which would deteriorate the microstructure of the anode and endanger the lifetime of cells. As a result, ammonia becomes the alternative fuels for SOFCs since no residuals will be deposited onto the anode surface. The only concern of the ammonia fuels is the tentative formation of nickel-nitrogen (Ni3N) compound on the anode surface from recent reports. In this paper, Heusler alloy was deposited on the porous anode by sputtering to disassociate ammonia as the hydrogen sources and detour the possible pathways for Ni3N formation. The planar SOFCs is composed of anode-supported Ni-Sm0.2Ce0.8O2-δ (Ni-SDC) and the cathode of La0.6Sr0.4Co0.2Fe0.8O3-δ (LSCF) with the operation temperature of 650°C. The micro-scale material properties and the stability of crystalline of Heusler-SDC single cells will be examined for 10 hours tests.

Ammonia and conventional engine fuels: comparative environmental impact assessment

Ammonia has recently attracted great attention as a fuel for internal combustion engines. The aim of this study was to compare the environmental impact caused by the production processes of ammonia and conventional engine fuels – gasoline and diesel oil. Present fuel technology, commonly used in Europe, was investigated. Haber-Bosch process for ammonia synthesis was considered, coupled with steam methane reforming (SMR) and partial oxidation of heavy oils (POX) as sources of hydrogen. Fuel technology was evaluated with the use of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), based on a total emission of selected pollutants, including greenhouse gases, total consumption of water and primary energy, as well as Eco-indicator 99 score. LCA results indicated that current industrial methods for ammonia production have unambiguously more negative impact on the environment, compared to fossil fuel technologies, when energy content of the fuel is taken into account. The environmental load of ammonia production process depends strictly on the method of hydrogen obtaining. SMR has lower negative impact on the environment than POX. In order for ammonia to be considered as a potential transportation fuel, the use of hydrogen generation pathways that are less burdensome to the environment should be promoted.

High-Efficiency Direct Ammonia Fuel Cells Based on BaZr0.1Ce0.7Y0.2O3- δ /Pd Oxide-Metal Junctions.

A direct ammonia‐type intermediate temperature fuel cell is examined by means of a hydrogen membrane fuel cell (HMFC) comprising 1‐µm‐thick BaZr0.1Ce0.7Y0.2O3− δ (BZCY) thin‐film electrolyte and Pd solid anode. It generates the maximum power density of 0.58 W cm−2 at 600 °C with ammonia fuels, and this value is found to be three times larger than the champion data of the recently reported direct ammonia‐type proton‐conducting ceramic fuel cells (PCFCs). AC impedance spectroscopy is performed to determine the interfacial polarization resistances, disclosing that the anodic overpotentials of HMFCs are at least one order of magnitude smaller than those of anode‐supported PCFC under relatively high DC outputs. The anode reactions are driven by the oxidation of monoatomic hydrogen dissolving at the BZCY/Pd solid–solid interface, mediated via proton transfer from Pd to BZCY. The electrochemical analysis reveals that the BZCY/Pd junction forms Ohmic contact without growth of wide depletion layer and thus facilitates the proton transfer reactions because the interfacial region beneath Pd electrode can accommodate amounts of protonic defects as well as the bulk of BZCY due to the small depletion of holes under hole–proton thermodynamic equilibrium.

High Efficiency Direct Ammonia Type Fuel Cells based on BaZr x Ce0.8-X Y0.2O3/Pd Oxide-Metal Junctions

Recently, ammonia has attracted a considerable interest as a prospective carbon-free fuel source for fuel cells due to the low cost, ease in liquefaction and transportation at ambient temperatures, and high volumetric energy density. The proton conducting ceramic fuel cells (PCFCs) using proton-conducting oxides, such as BaZr x Ce0.8-x Y0.2O3- d , as an electrolyte is promising as a direct ammonia type fuel cells. The water formation in PCFCs is mainly progressive at the cathode side, unlike solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs), and therefore, the contamination of the ammonia fuels into the exhaust water is precluded, thereby eliminating re-purification of water exhaust and simplifying total systems. Hydrogen membrane fuel cell (HMFC), which was firstly proposed by Ito et al., consists of an ultrathin proton conducting ceramic electrolyte supported on a dense hydrogen permeable metal anode. The cell facilitates efficient power generation, giving 900 mW cm-2 at 400°C, since reduced electrolyte thickness can significantly decreases the ohmic loss at lower temperatures. This unique cell configuration could be advantageous for ammonia fuel cells because 1) the NO x formation at the anode is perfectly prevented because NH3 gases are isolated from the oxide electrolytes by Pd solid anode and 2) Pd is expected to capture efficiently the hydrogen gases produced by the pyrolysis of ammonia due to the large ahydrogen sorption ability. Herein, we demonstrated the high efficiency power generation of the direct ammonia type HMFC due to the hydrogen pumping effects realized by BaZr0.1Ce0.7Y0.2O3- d (BZCY) and Pd heterointerface. Ohmic characteristics of the heterojunctions, altogether with hydrogen solubility of Pd, can facilitate the hole proton exchange between Pd and BZCY regardless of the lowered hydrogen concnetartion in NH3-fed anodes. The cell gained the maximum power density of 0.52 W cm-2 at 600°C, which was much higher than the champion data of ammonia PCFCs.

Development of La0.6Sr0.4TiXFe1-XO3-Based Composite Cathode Materials for Solid Oxide Fuel Cells

A new cathode material for SOFCs was developed at the R&D Center of Noritake Co., Ltd. It contains La0.6Sr0.4Ti x Fe1−x O3−δ (0 ≤ x ≤ 0.4) (LSTF) and La0.6Sr0.4CoyFe1−y O3−δ (0 ≤ y ≤ 1) (LSCF). Herein, we report the results of our performance evaluation of this cathode material. The optimum composition for the composite cathode material was determined to be LSCF 70 wt%–LSTF 30 wt%. Cathodes with this optimum composition exhibited neither fractures nor delamination from the electrolyte during thermal cycling. The developed cathode material also exhibited high power density and extremely high stability toward hydrogen and ammonia fuels.

Alternatives to Electricity for Transmission, Firming Storage, and Supply Integration for Diverse, Stranded, Renewable Energy Resources: Gaseous Hydrogen and Anhydrous Ammonia Fuels via Underground Pipelines

We must soon “run the world on renewables” but cannot, and should not try to, accomplish this entirely with electricity transmission. We need to supply all energy, not just electricity, from diverse renewable energy (RE) resources, both distributed and centralized, where the world's richest RE resources – oflarge geographic extent and high intensity – are stranded: far from end-users with inadequate or nonexistent gathering and transmission systems to deliver the energy. Electricity energy storage cannot affordably firm large, intermittent renewables at annual scale, while carbon-free gaseous hydrogen (GH2) and liquid anhydrous ammonia (NH3) fuels can: GH2 in large solution-mined salt caverns, NH3 in surface tanks of various sizes, both pressurized and refrigerated, from home and village to continental scales. “Smart Grid” is emerging as primarily a DSM (demand side management) strategy to encourage energy conservation. Making the electricity grid “smarter” does not:1. Increase physical transmission capacity;2. Provide affordable annual-scale firming storage for RE;3. Solve grid integration problem for large, time-varying RE;4. Alleviate NIMBY objections to new transmission siting;5. Reduce the high O&M costs of overhead electric lines.The “smarter” grid may be more vulnerable to cyberattack. Adding storage, control, and quality adjunct devices to the electricity grid, to accommodate very high renewables content, may be technically and economically inferior to GH2 and NH3 RE systems. We need to expand our concept of “transmission”, to synergistically and simultaneously solve the transmission, firming storage, and RE integration“balancing” problems severely constraining progress toward “running the world on renewables”.

Transmission and Firming of GW-Scale Wind Energy via Hydrogen and Ammonia

This is a conceptual study, for MW to GW scale, comparing production, transmission, and storage costs for gaseous hydrogen (GH2) and anhydrous ammonia (NH3) fuels made from wind-generated electricity, with and without the low-cost, annual-scale, firming storage which would add great market and strategic value. Both fuels are suitable for vehicles and for distributed generation (DG) in stationary combined-heat-and-power (CHP), via fuel cells or internal combustion engines (ICE's). NH3 is also a valuable fertilizer, and this study briefly examines the economics of renewable-source versus fossil-source production of NH3 fertilizer. No pilot plant exists for confirming the system capital costs and conversion efficiencies we estimate in this study, although both GH2 and NH3 have been proposed for wind energy transmission and storage [1–6]. Hydrogen is promising as a clean-burning energy carrier, and modern electrolyzers can produce large volumes of high-pressure hydrogen, ready for direct pipeline transmission and/or for ammonia synthesis, from renewable energy sources. Renewable-source hydrogen can alternatively be stored and transported as NH3, which can be readily synthesized, following electrolysis, using atmospheric nitrogen, and be used at the delivery end-point as a fertilizer or a fuel. Both GH2 and NH3 transmission and firming storage will accelerate our conversion from fossil to diverse renewable resources, via major new markets including, and beyond, the electricity sector.