NH3 Energy+ Topical Conference schedule published

This week, the NH3 Fuel Association published the full technical schedule for the NH3 Energy+ Topical Conference, which will be hosted within the AIChE Annual Meeting, on October 31, 2018, in Pittsburgh, PA.

Featuring more than 50 oral presentations, this year’s event will be our busiest yet. Speakers and co-authors from 16 countries, and 18 states across the USA, will present research and development from 68 separate companies and research institutions.

To allow all this work to be presented in one short day, we are splitting the event into two tracks. The conference will open and close with main sessions for all attendees but, for the mid-morning and early-afternoon sessions, the presentations will be split across two rooms. The two tracks are scheduled according to research field and application, so that attendees can choose to attend presentations by discipline (roughly, thermochemical or electrochemical technologies), or by function (roughly, ammonia production or consumption). For many papers, the focus will be on the advancement of technologies since the 2017 NH3 Fuel Conference.

These technical sessions, including the poster session and Sponsors Reception in the evening, constitute the first day of our 15th Annual NH3 Fuel Conference. The second day, our NH3 Energy Implementation Conference, will be a more intimate event with a “workshop” format, and will be held in a venue adjacent to the AIChE Annual Meeting.

Registration for the AIChE Annual Meeting 2018 is now open, with reduced rates until September 17. Full details are at the NH3 Fuel Association website.

Opening Session: “Ammonia Energy Technology Roadmap”

The opening session of the NH3 Energy+ Topical Conference will provide a global perspective on techno-economic and business model developments, crucial aspects of the evolving roadmap for ammonia energy.

This session includes two presentations on scaling-up renewable ammonia production, and decarbonizing existing ammonia plants, from technology licensors thyssenkrupp Industrial Solutions (Germany) and Haldor Topsøe (Denmark). Describing the technical potential for using this green ammonia at an equivalently large-scale, MAN Diesel & Turbo (which recently rebranded, for the post-fossil age, as MAN Energy Solutions, Denmark), will present details of the development pathway required for its ammonia-fueled internal combustion engine for maritime vessels.

Applying these technologies to global markets, a tremendous amount of research is underway on supply chains and business models. JGC Corporation (Japan) will present a Cost Evaluation Study, which examines the economics of adding carbon capture and sequestration to conventional ammonia production, importing low-carbon ammonia, and combusting it in coal power plants to partially decarbonize Japan’s electric grid. Similarly, researchers from Monash University (Australia) will present A Framework for Renewable Hydrogen and Ammonia Supply Chain Development, while researchers from the University of Twente (Netherlands) will update the techno-economics of Power-to-Ammonia-to-Power (P2A2P) for Local Electricity Storage in 2025

Closing Session: “Ammonia Energy Global Demonstrations”

Our closing session will focus on demonstration projects and pilot plants, and this is the first year such a session could have been populated by more than a few speakers.

The University of Minnesota (USA), whose Wind-to-Ammonia pilot plant began producing ammonia in 2014, will provide an update on the optimization of distributed ammonia production. Representatives from both Siemens (UK) and JGC Corporation / FREA (Japan) will present the first data from their green ammonia pilot plants, both of which began operations in the first half of 2018 (as we wrote in July). And Starfire Energy (USA) will present the initial results from its prototype fast-ramping reactor, also operational this year, funded in part by the US Department of Energy’s ARPA-E.

On the consumption side, the Japanese projects funded through the SIP Energy Carriers program dominate. Chugoku Electric Power Company will present results from its ammonia-coal co-combustion test in a 155 MW power generation unit. IHI Corporation will provide details on its recent tests co-firing ammonia and natural gas in a gas turbine for power generation. And UBE Industries will show how ammonia can be co-combusted with heavy fuel oil in a furnace to reduce emissions from one of the industries that faces the hardest challenge in decarbonization: cement production. Finally, CSIRO (Australia) will present details about its Ammonia-to-Hydrogen System for FCEV Refuelling, which held its launch event earlier this month.

The full schedule is available at the NH3 Fuel Association website. Registration for the AIChE Annual Meeting is now open, with reduced rates until September 17.