A system approach in energy evaluation of different renewable energies sources integration in ammonia production plants

Abstract

A sustainable pathway for ammonia synthesis by means of the Haber-Bosch process should reduce or zero out the use of fossil fuels, taking advantage of renewable sources. Using renewable energy systems, hydrogen can be obtained from biomass gasification, biogas reforming or electrolysis of water with electricity generated by solar or wind energy. The scale-up of the concept is not an easy issue. From a theoretical point of view there is no limit to multiply single units but on a practical way, chemical companies are hardly reaching the size of 100 kW, due to energy, economic and sustainability problems. Hydrogen, from high-temperature water electrolysis, from biomass gasification and from biogas reforming, has been considered as the most promising solutions for ammonia production plants, based on the Haber-Bosch process. In this study the impact of three different strategies, for renewables integration and scale-up sustainability in the ammonia synthesis process, was investigated using thermochemical simulations. The study is finalized to compare the energy efficiency and sustainability of those three strategies. For a complete evaluation of the benefits of the overall system, the balance of plant, the use of additional units and the equivalent greenhouse gas emissions have been considered

Comprehensive evaluation of sustainable ammonia production systems based on fuzzy multiattribute decision making under hybrid information

“…For instance, Arora et al compared the routes of coal gasification, biomass gasification, and steam methane reforming (SMR), with the consideration of production cost and carbon footprint, implying that coal‐based NH 3 is more economic, while the biomass‐based one performs better in CO 2 emission. From the energy and environmental perspectives, Frattini et al evaluated the pathways of SMR, biomass gasification, biogas reforming, and water electrolysis, showing that the alternatives have similar primary energy consumption, while the bio‐based paths would be more desirable from the environmental concerns. Electrochemical pathways by using the wind, biogas, and biomass electricity were assessed in the work of Tunå et al, indicating that using the biomass electricity to produce ammonia would require fewer costs but more energy.…”

“…Additionally, NH 3 is commonly employed for producing a refrigerant nitric acid, while the NH 3 ‐derived chemicals such as urea, hydrazine, and ammonia borane could serve as potential energy storages or alternative fuels . Therefore, increasing concerns have been put into the ammonia economy, from the perspective of modeling and optimization of the ammonia production technologies, utilization, storage and transportation of ammonia, and comparison and selection of the alternative systems …”

Investigation of solar energy utilization for production of hydrogen and sustainable chemical fertilizer: A case study

“…The results of this study showed that hydropower electrolysis is the best alternative for ammonia production. Arora et al 27 compared the economic and environmental potential of several variations of a novel biomass-based ammonia production process in different locations. This study demonstrated that both the economic and environmental profiles are related to the location.…”

Multi‐objective optimization of green urea production

“…The chemical industry is currently searching for innovative ways of reducing greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) associated with the production of ammonia, to replace the centuryold Haber-Bosch process of manufacturing ammonia from N 2 and H 2 . 4 Electrochemical ammonia production has been developed to substantially reduce the energy input by more than 20%, simplify the reactor design, and reduce the complexity and cost of the plant when compared with the conventional ammonia production route. 1 Other studies have focused on the production of ammonia through wind-generated electricity at a remote island, utilizing all the excess wind power that was not needed to meet the load demand for ammonia synthesis, 2 and the greening of ammonia, using a solar ammonia refinery, which utilizes solar energy for the process of ammonia production.…”

“…3 There is a developed method for energy evaluation of different renewable energy sources, | 293 ALFIAN ANd PURWANTO integrated in ammonia production plants that can be obtained from biomass gasification, biogas reforming, or electrolysis of water with electricity generated by solar or wind energy. 4 Electrochemical ammonia production has been developed to substantially reduce the energy input by more than 20%, simplify the reactor design, and reduce the complexity and cost of the plant when compared with the conventional ammonia production route. 5 There is a developed model of multi-objective optimization (MOO) for biomass-based ammonia production, a potential application in which biomass feedstock can replace fossil fuel feedstock in ammonia production; 6 however, this study did not take account multiyear perspective and the renewable energy source was limited to only biomass feedstock.…”