Ammonia as a Renewable Energy Transportation Media

Giddey, Sarbjit; Badwal, S. P. S.; Munnings, Christopher; Dolan, Michael D.

doi:10.1021/acssuschemeng.7b02219

Cited by 595 publications

(387 citation statements)

References 35 publications

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“…2 Today, ammonia is produced predominantly via the Haber-Bosch process, which involves reacting nitrogen and hydrogen over heterogeneous catalysts at high temperatures of 450 C-500 C and pressures up to 200 atm. 3 Hydrogen gas is typically generated on site from fossil fuels via steam reforming; this leads to significant carbon dioxide emissions of 1.9-9.3 tons CO 2 per ton of NH 3 . 4,5 In total, the Haber-Bosch process consumes approximately 1% of the world's energy supply and emits over 450 million tons of CO 2 per year.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Understanding Continuous Lithium-Mediated Electrochemical Nitrogen Reduction

Lazouski

Schiffer

Williams

et al. 2019

Joule

243

339

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Electrochemical nitrogen reduction to ammonia is studied as a distributed and renewable alternative to Haber-Bosch. Most nitrogen reduction chemistries are performed in aqueous media, which suffer from low rates and selectivities. We present a lithium-mediated approach for producing ammonia in a non-aqueous medium that demonstrates high rates and yields. A coupled kinetic-transport model is developed to describe observed behaviors, which suggests that the process is limited by nitrogen diffusion to the electrode. HIGHLIGHTSLithium-metal-mediated approach for nitrogen electroreduction to ammonia is studied Ammonia production rate of (7.9 G 1.6) 3 10 À9 mol cm À2 s À1 is achieved Faradaic efficiency of 18.5% G 2.9% is obtained A kinetic-transport model incorporating observed diffusion limitations is developed Lazouski et al., SUMMARYAmmonia is a large-scale commodity chemical that is crucial for producing nitrogen-containing fertilizers. Electrochemical methods have been proposed as renewable and distributed alternatives to the incumbent Haber-Bosch process, which utilizes fossil fuels for ammonia production. Herein, we report a mechanistic study of lithium-mediated electrochemical nitrogen reduction to ammonia in a non-aqueous system. The rate laws of the main reactions in the system were determined. At high current densities, nitrogen transport limitations begin to affect the nitrogen reduction process. Based on these observations, we developed a coupled kinetic-transport model of the process, which we used to optimize operating conditions for ammonia production. The highest Faradaic efficiency observed was 18.5% G 2.9%, while the highest production rate obtained was (7.9 G 1.6) 3 10 À9 mol cm À2 s À1 . Our understanding of the reaction network and the influence of transport provides foundational knowledge for future improvements in continuous lithium-mediated ammonia synthesis.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Understanding Continuous Lithium-Mediated Electrochemical Nitrogen Reduction

Lazouski

Schiffer

Williams

et al. 2019

Joule

243

339

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“…As an essential chemical to the global economy, ammonia (NH 3 ), produced over 200 million tons per annum globally, is primarily used to produce commodity chemicals such as fertilizers, plastics, refrigerants, etc . The NH 3 demand is increasing to support food supply due to the growth of the global population and the depletion of the arable lands.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Recent Advanced Materials for Electrochemical and Photoelectrochemical Synthesis of Ammonia from Dinitrogen: One Step Closer to a Sustainable Energy Future

Yan

Xia

et al. 2019

Advanced Energy Materials

128

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Ammonia (NH3), an important raw material for chemical industry and agriculture, is also considered to be an intriguing energy storage and transportation media for chemical conversion schemes. The world's primary NH3 supply is based on the natural nitrogen fixation by diazotrophs through an enzymatic nitrogenase process and the industrial nitrogen fixation through a traditional Haber–Bosch process. The natural synthesis of NH3 can hardly meet the rapidly growing global demand. Meanwhile, the industrial NH3 production is still dominated by the high‐temperature and high‐pressure reaction between nitrogen and hydrogen (N2 + 3H2 → 2NH3), requiring intensive energy input and generating massive CO2. Therefore, seeking a breakthrough in the development of catalysts toward efficient ammonia synthesis has become the frontier of energy and chemical conversion schemes. This review summarizes and discusses the recent progress on developing new strategies to optimize the efficiency of NH3 production coupled with renewable energy sources, with a specific focus on electrocatalytic and photoelectrocatalytic conversion of N2 to NH3. The most recent advances in the development of catalytic materials, the design of the reaction systems, and the computational insights for electrochemical and photoelectrochemical ammonia synthesis are covered.

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“…Additionally, additional energy would be required to overcome thermal losses in the cracking process [48]. In this study, it is assumed that the cracker efficiency is about 80% based on several references [49,50].…”

Section: Crackingmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Preliminary Study on an Alternative Ship Propulsion System Fueled by Ammonia: Environmental and Economic Assessments

Kim

Roh

Kim

et al. 2020

JMSE

114

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The shipping industry is becoming increasingly aware of its environmental responsibilities in the long-term. In 2018, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) pledged to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by at least 50% by the year 2050 as compared with a baseline value from 2008. Ammonia has been regarded as one of the potential carbon-free fuels for ships based on these environmental issues. In this paper, we propose four propulsion systems for a 2500 Twenty-foot Equivalent Unit (TEU) container feeder ship. All of the proposed systems are fueled by ammonia; however, different power systems are used: main engine, generators, polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC), and solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC). Further, these systems are compared to the conventional main engine propulsion system that is fueled by heavy fuel oil, with a focus on the economic and environmental perspectives. By comparing the conventional and proposed systems, it is shown that ammonia can be a carbon-free fuel for ships. Moreover, among the proposed systems, the SOFC power system is the most eco-friendly alternative (up to 92.1%), even though it requires a high lifecycle cost than the others. Although this study has some limitations and assumptions, the results indicate a meaningful approach toward solving GHG problems in the maritime industry.

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Ammonia as a Renewable Energy Transportation Media

Cited by 595 publications

References 35 publications

Understanding Continuous Lithium-Mediated Electrochemical Nitrogen Reduction

Understanding Continuous Lithium-Mediated Electrochemical Nitrogen Reduction

Recent Advanced Materials for Electrochemical and Photoelectrochemical Synthesis of Ammonia from Dinitrogen: One Step Closer to a Sustainable Energy Future

A Preliminary Study on an Alternative Ship Propulsion System Fueled by Ammonia: Environmental and Economic Assessments

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