Journal
ENERGY CONVERSION AND MANAGEMENT
Volume 255, Issue -, Pages -Publisher
PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.enconman.2022.115312
Keywords
Ammonia; CO2 capture and storage; Techno-economic assessment; Hydrogen; Energy carrier
Categories
Funding
- Flow Technology Group from SINTEF Industry
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This study evaluates the prospects of blue and green ammonia as future energy carriers and compares them with conventional technologies. The results show that blue ammonia is more economically attractive, while green ammonia has higher costs in technology integration and energy.
Ammonia is an industrial chemical and the basic building block for the fertilizer industry. Lately, attention has shifted towards using ammonia as a carbon-free energy vector, due to the ease of transportation and storage in liquid state at-33 & DEG;C and atmospheric pressure. This study evaluates the prospects of blue and green ammonia as future energy carriers; specifically, the gas switching reforming (GSR) concept for H-2 and N-2 co-production from natural gas with inherent CO2 capture (blue), and H-2 generation through an optimized value chain of wind and solar power, electrolysers, cryogenic N-2 supply, and various options for energy storage (green). These longer term concepts are benchmarked against conventional technologies integrating CO2 capture: the Kellogg Braun & Root (KBR) Purifier process and the Linde Ammonia Concept (LAC). All modelled plants utilize the same ammonia synthesis loop for a consistent comparison. A cash flow analysis showed that the GSR concept achieved an attractive levelized cost of ammonia (LCOA) of 332.1 euro/ton relative to 385.1-385.9 euro /ton for the conventional plants at European energy prices (6.5 euro /GJ natural gas and 60 euro/MWh electricity). Optimal technology integration for green ammonia using technology costs representative of 2050 was considerably more expensive: 484.7-772.1 euro /ton when varying the location from Saudi Arabia to Germany. Furthermore, the LCOA of the GSR technology drops to 192.7 euro /ton when benefitting from low Saudi Arabian energy costs (2 euro /GJ natural gas and 40 euro /MWh electricity). This cost difference between green and blue ammonia remained robust in sensitivity analyses, where input energy cost (natural gas or wind/solar power) was the most influential parameter. Given its low production costs and the techno-economic feasibility of international ammonia trade, advanced blue ammonia production from GSR offers an attractive pathway for natural gas exporting regions to contribute to global decarbonization.
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