Atmospheric-Pressure Synthesis of Ammonia Using Non-Thermal Plasma with the Assistance of Ru-Based Multifunctional Catalyst

Presented on November 2, 2017 during the NH3 Fuel Conference 2017

Authors Peng Peng Yanling Cheng Nan Zhou Raymond Hatzenbeller Paul Chen Roger Ruan University of Minnesota

Download this Presentation Download a PDF version of this presentation.

Abstract

Ammonia has much more uses than being a fertilizer. Its emerging applications include hydrogen carrier, fuel cells, clean transportation fuels, and other off-grid power applications. The traditional Haber Bosch process used to synthesize ammonia must be achieved at high temperature and pressure. The non-thermal plasma (NTP) allows for the synthesis of ammonia at a lower temperature and pressure conditions. It is proposed that the moderate process conditions can potentially allow a more economical construction and operation of ammonia production systems on distributed farms and renewable hydrogen production sites. In this study, we report the NTP synthesis of ammonia using dielectric discharge, and a Ru-based, multi-functional catalytic system deposited on mesoporous silica MCM-41.

Various surface characterization methods (TEM, SEM, elemental analysis, AFM, XRD, XPS, etc.) were used to analyze the catalyst. For the ammonia synthesis results, we determined that the synthesis efficiency increases in the high frequency zone (>20000 Hz). The effects of different experimental parameters were studied and the highest ammonia synthesis efficiency achieved was 1.7 g/kWh at 5000V and 26,000 Hz. Results were analyzed in the context of several synergetic effects including the plasma forming mechanism, discharge effects of the catalysts, plasma shielding effects of the mesoporous structure, and other plasma-catalyst interactions. Lastly, a new concept of a two-step dielectric discharge plasma ammonia synthesis method was also proposed, which separates the plasma ionization from the catalytic synthesis and has the potential of improving the NH3 synthesis efficiency.

Topics Catalysts Electrochemical Ammonia Improved Haber-Bosch Plasma

Authors peng0165@umn.edu cheng112@umn.edu zhou0210@umn.edu Raymond.Hatzenbeller@ammoniaenergy.org chenx088@umn.edu ruanx001@umn.edu

Madoqua Power2X webinar on Tuesday, November 26

Please join us for this informative webinar. Click here to register and get the details!

Annual Conference highlights industry advancements

It was an exciting three days in New Orleans with 300 attendees from 22 countries participating in our 21st AEA Annual Conference. Thank you to our generous sponsors and to all those who attended the conference. Stay tuned for a recap of the events and sessions. Presentations from all the sessions will be posted shortly.

Featured content

In 2023, AEA reached many milestones. Read about them in our 2023 Annual Report.