Site items in: Electrochemical Ammonia

AI & High-Performance Computing for ammonia catalyst R&D
Article

Fujitsu and Iceland-based Atmonia will join forces to accelerate catalyst development for the production of ammonia via electrochemical nitrogen reduction reaction (eNRR). By using artificial intelligence and high-performance computing (HPC) technologies, the researchers can conduct “high-speed quantum chemical calculations” virtually rather than via physical experiments, allowing for greater flexibility & speed.

3rd generation ammonia synthesis: new catalysts & production pathways
Article

We look at four new developments this week:

1. A team from DTU Energy and the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics have uncovered a new class of alternative catalysts for mild condition ammonia synthesis. The ternary ruthenium complex hydrides Li4RuH6 and Ba2RuH6 avoid the energy-intensive pathway of nitrogen dissociation in a "synergistic" manner.

2. A team from the Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials reported a highly selective (95%) plasma ammonia synthesis method.

3. A team from Delft University of Technology has presented an present an "unconventional electrochemical design" that physically separates hydrogen and dinitrogen activation sites.

4. A team at the Max Planck Institute for Coal Research has demonstrated a new mechanochemical ammonia synthesis system that operates at room temperature and pressures as low as 1 bar.

High-productivity electrosynthesis of ammonia from dinitrogen
Presentation

The so-called lithium redox-mediated nitrogen reduction reaction presents the only known process enabling genuine electrochemical conversion of N2 to ammonia. Notwithstanding the rapidly increasing investigative efforts, the commonly reported performances of the Li-mediated N2 electroreduction, viz. yield rate, current-to-ammonia (faradaic) efficiency and durability in operation, still pertain to the domain of academic research rather than practical development. Our most recent work focused on redesigning the key components of the electrolytic N2 reduction cell enabled breakthroughs in all the key metrics of the process. Specifically, we have introduced a stable proton shuttle based on the phosphonium cation that delivers protons to…

The Ammonia Wrap: EU ambitions, new tankers, and GW scale green ammonia in Denmark, Norway, and Chile
Article

Welcome to the Ammonia Wrap: a summary of all the latest announcements, news items and publications about ammonia energy. In this week's wrap: HyDeal Ambition, new marine tankers, fuel forecasts & SOFC developments, a new technical briefing on power generation, UNSW leads research in P2X, GWs of green ammonia in Denmark, Norway and Chile, green ammonia in the Orkneys, new government focus on ammonia in South Africa, and India to make green ammonia production mandatory?

Alternatives to Ammonia Synthesis: An Electrochemical Haber-Bosch Process
Presentation

Several alternatives to the existing process for ammonia synthesis, the Haber-Bosch Process, have been proposed in the past two decades, including the electrochemical synthesis in aqueous, molten salt or solid electrolyte cells. The present work reviews results of recent efforts (last 3 years) for the electrochemical synthesis of ammonia. An Electrochemical Haber-Bosch Process is also demonstrated. The proposed BaZrO3 – based protonic ceramic membrane reactor combines hydrogen production via the reactions of methane steam reforming and water-gas shift at the anode (Ni-composite) with ammonia synthesis from N 2 and protons (H + ) at the cathode (VN-Fe). Hydrogen extraction from…

Electrification of Ammonia Synthesis
Presentation

Near-term prospects for decarbonized ammonia synthesis rely on conventional thermochemical Haber Bosch coupled to either electrochemical hydrogen production or methods of mitigating carbon emissions, such as carbon capture and storage. Thermochemical Haber Bosch requires high temperatures to achieve significant rates of ammonia synthesis and high pressures in order to achieve reasonable conversions of nitrogen and hydrogen to ammonia. Next-generation electrically-driven routes raise the prospect of using voltage in the place of temperature and pressure – an ambient pressure and room temperature route through which renewable electricity can be used to convert nitrogen and hydrogen to ammonia. Electrically-driven routes for nitrogen…

Whither Aqueous Electro-reduction of Nitrogen to Ammonia?
Presentation

Electrochemical reduction of N 2 (NRR) is widely recognised as an alternative to the traditional Haber-Bosch production process for ammonia. The high-energy efficiency, low-cost variant of this process involves an aqueous electrolyte and there is now a substantial literature on this topic. However, though the challenges of NRR experiments have become better understood, the reported rates in these aqueous solution studies are often too low to be convincing that reduction of the highly unreactive N 2 molecule has actually been achieved. Unfortunately, there are many possible impurity sources that can interfere with robust measurements. In this presentation we will discuss…