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Presentation

Low-Pressure Electrolytic Ammonia Synthesis Via High-Temperature Polymer-Based Proton Exchange Membrane

Ted Aulich

The University of North Dakota Energy and Environmental Research Center (EERC) and North Dakota State University (NDSU) have developed a low-pressure electrolytic ammonia (LPEA) production process. The LPEA process uses an electrochemical cell based on an innovative polymer–inorganic composite (PIC) high-temperature (300°C) gas-impermeable proton-exchange membrane conceptualized and partially developed by EERC and NDSU. Because of its operability at ambient pressure and quick start-up capability (versus traditional high-pressure Haber Bosch-based plants), the LPEA process offers compatibility with smaller-scale plants and intermittent operation, and a cost-effective means of monetizing (and storing) renewable energy as ammonia. EERC, NDSU, and Proton OnSite are embarking…

Presentation

A Study on Electrochemical Ammonia Synthesis with Proton-Conducting Solid Oxide Electrolytic Cells

Kangyong Lee SeungJin Jeong WooChul Jung Joongmyeon Bae Sai P. Katikaneni

Ammonia has become one of the most important chemicals with its versatility since the Haber-Bosch process was invented. Recently, ammonia has been getting interests because of its possibility as a hydrogen carrier. Since ammonia has high energy density and carbon-free characteristics, using ammonia as a fuel of solid oxide fuel cells is advantageous. However, the Haber-Bosch process spends much electricity because of the high pressure condition, and the process consumes more than 1% of energy consumption worldwide. Therefore, the development of a new method for the ammonia production is necessary. In this study, solid oxide based electrolytic cells were fabricated…

Presentation

Electrochemical Reduction of Nitrogen to Ammonia over Transition Metals

Victoria Smith Aditya Prajapati Meenesh R. Singh

The ability to produce ammonia in a sustainable and efficient manner has been a topic of scientific and industrial importance for many years. The Haber-Bosch process has acted as the primary process for transforming nitrogen and hydrogen gas into ammonia. This process has become unsustainable in the foreseeable future and requires a cost-effective alternative. Ammonia is a critical component of fertilizer that is vital to the agriculture industry. The electrochemical reduction of N2 to ammonia would eliminate carbon dioxide emissions that are present in current ammonia production processes and allow for a environmentally favorable process. Although the electrochemical reduction of…

Presentation

New Insights into Electrocatalysis of Nitrogen Reduction to Ammonia

Alex Schechter Revanasiddappa Manjunatha

Ammonia was electrochemically produced from nitrogen and water using a ruthenium–platinum (RuPt) alloy catalyst cathode and a nickel anode at ambient pressure and room temperature. The rate of ammonia formation was 5.1 × 10−9 gNH3 s−1 cm−2 with a 13.2% faradaic efficiency at an applied potential of 0.123 V vs. RHE; it reached 1.08 × 10−8 gNH3 s−1 cm−2 at 0.023 V. Ammonia production was investigated under selected potentials and temperatures. Real-time direct electrochemical mass spectrometric (DEMS) analysis of the evolved gases was performed at various applied potentials. In general, the mass-to-charge ratio signals of hydrogen and ammonia were detected,…

Presentation

DFT Analysis of Elementary N2 Electro-Reduction Kinetics on Transition Metal Surfaces

Sharad Maheshwari Yawei Li Michael Janik Gholamreza Rostamikia Lauren F. Greenlee Julie Renner

Ammonia is currently produced through the catalytic Haber Bosch process (HB) at temperatures of about 300 to 500 °C and pressure of about 200-300 atm. In a future with plentiful renewable electricity from distributed sources, an electro-chemical system to produce ammonia could efficiently generate ammonia on site and on demand. Possible heterogeneous catalysts for electro-chemical nitrogen reduction are currently marred by the poor rate and selectivity due to difficulty in activating the strong N-N bond and to the competing hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), resulting in infeasible faradaic efficiency. To develop more selective and active catalysts, better understanding of the mechanistic…

Presentation

Enhanced Electrochemical Ammonia Production Via Peptide-Bound Metal

Charles Loney Julie Renner David Suttmiller Lauren F. Greenlee Michael Janik

Approximately half of the people on the planet are alive because of synthetically produced ammonia. However, due to the fossil fuels used in the current ammonia synthesis process, its production contributes a significant amount to the world’s greenhouse gas emissions. Haber-Bosch synthesis, which is the most widely used method of producing synthetic ammonia today, requires high temperatures (400-500 °C) and pressures (150-200 atm). This process is also energy intensive, consuming approximately 2% of worldwide energy. By taking an electrochemically-based approach to ammonia synthesis, those harsh conditions and emissions can be eliminated. However, current catalysts are not selective for the desired…

Presentation

Electrochemical Nitrogen Reduction Reaction on Transition Metal Nitride Nanoparticles in Proton Exchange Membrane Electrolyzers

Xuan Yang Jared Nash Jacob Anibal Marco Dunwell Yushan Yan Bingjun Xu

Transition metal nitride nanoparticles are synthesized and utilized as catalysts for electrochemical nitrogen reduction reaction (ENRR) to produce ammonia in a proton exchange membrane electrolyzer (PEMEL). The catalysts show an average ENRR rate and Faradaic efficiency (FE) of 3.3 × 10−10 mol s−1 cm−2 (6.6 × 10−10 mol s−1 mg−1) and 5.95% at −0.1 V within 1 h, respectively. Both the ENRR rate and FE are approximately two orders of magnitude higher than those of noble metal catalysts. Time-dependent results suggest that the catalytic activity of transition metal nitride nanoparticles is stable at −0.1 V, with the catalytic activity decreasing…

Presentation

Electrochemical Synthesis of Ammonia Using Metal Nitride Catalsyts

Jared Nash Xuan Yang Jacob Anibal Yushan Yan Bingjun Xu

With the development of the Haber process and the subsequent work done by Bosch, ammonia production become an industrially and economically viable way to fix nitrogen. This helped increase the global population and estimates put it at about 40% of the global population’s food comes from ammonia made by the Haber-Bosch process[1]. However, the Haber-Bosch process is an energy intensive process requiring high pressure (15-30 MPa) and relatively high temperature (430 °C – 480 °C) and is highly centralized with only about 13 companies and about 29 plants[2,3]. Renewable energy resources offer a possible alternative way to fix nitrogen at…

Presentation

Highly-Selective Electrochemical Reduction of Dinitrogen to Ammonia at Ambient Temperature and Pressure

Qiang Zhang Xiaoyang Cui Cheng Tang

Catalytic conversion of dinitrogen (N2) into ammonia under ambient conditions represents one of the Holy Grails in catalysis and surface science. As a potential alternative to the Haber-Bosch process, electrochemical reduction of N2 to NH3 is attractive owing to its renewability and flexibility, as well as sustainability for producing and storing value-added chemicals from the abundant feedstock of water and nitrogen on earth. However, owing to the kinetically complex and energetically challenging N2 reduction reaction (NRR) process, NRR electrocatalysts with high catalytic activity and high selectivity are rare. In this contribution, as a proof-of-concept, we demonstrate that both the NH3…

Presentation

Identifying the Prospects of Electrochemical Ammonia Synthesis on Mxenes Using First Principles Calculations

Gurjyot Sethi Venkatasubramanian Viswanathan

Electrochemical synthesis of ammonia is a major challenge aimed at making production of ammonia sustainable. Currently ruthenium is the transition metal of choice for catalyzing the industrial Haber-Bosch process. However, electrochemical ammonia synthesis on ruthenium suffers from high overpotential and the competing hydrogen evolution reaction. Recently layered transition metals carbides and nitrides (MXenes) have been identified as a potential material class for ammonia synthesis. MXenes are particularly interesting owing to the high degree of tunability in surface chemistry due to the transition metal choice, interlayer distance, number of layers in the material, and surface termination. These choices affect the electron…