Future of Green Ammonia

 Chemical store of renewable energy

 As a zero-carbon fuel. Can be used in the maritime industry replacing fuel oil
 As a hydrogen carrier since hydrogen is difficult to store and transport
 potential to provide grid services like demand-side response (DSR)
 emerging technology includes ICEs operating on ammonia as fuel

Issues with on-board use of ammonia:

o high operating temperature (>500° C)

o longevity and reliability of catalysts and other components (at high temperatures and in the presence of
impurities)
o start-up time (to get the system up to operating temperature)
 o purification requirements (to prevent ammonia poisoning of fuel cells)
o complexity of the overall system
o energy efficiency (on-board ammonia would have to be burned in the cracking process)
o cost (currently ~$100K for 1-3 g H2/s stationary units)
o reactor weight and volume (commercial units with sufficient throughput currently weigh 2000-5000 kg and are
3000-6000 liters in size)

Advantageous properties of ammonia for storing H2:

o liquefied under mild conditions
o ammonia can be stored in a simple, inexpensive pressure vessel
o has a large weight fraction of hydrogen
o H2 constitutes 17.65% of the mass of NH3
o excellent transition fuel
o burned directly in an internal combustion engine (ICE) with no carbon emission,
o converted to electricity directly in an alkaline fuel cell
o cracked to provide hydrogen for non-alkaline fuel cells (FC)

10.2 megawatts of PV power will be needed for operating a 1000 kg/day hydrogen fueling station

Solar water splitting procedures:

o photoelectrochemical water splitting – this technique uses semiconducting electrodes in a photoelectrochemical
cell to convert light energy into chemical energy of hydrogen. There are essentially two types of
photoelectrochemical systems – one using semiconductors or dyes and another using dissolved metal
complexes.
o photobiological – these involve the generation of hydrogen from biological systems using sunlight. Certain algae
and bacteria can produce hydrogen under suitable conditions. Pigments in algae absorb solar energy, and
enzymes in the cell act as catalysts to split water into its hydrogen and oxygen constituents.
o high temperature thermochemical cycles – these cycles utilize solar heat to produce hydrogen by water splitting
using thermochemical steps.
o biomass gasification – this uses heat to convert biomass into a synthetic gas rich in hydrogen

2NH3 + 92.4kJ - N2 + 3H2

120 MJ/kg for hydrogen versus 44 MJ/kg for gasoline

liquid hydrogen has a density of 8 MJ/L whereas gasoline has a density of 32 MJ/L

Factors for hydrogen storage:

duration of storage, the required speed of discharge, and the geographic availability of different options, volume
to be stored
 salt caverns, depleted oil and gas reservoirs, and aquifers, lined hard rock caverns

Factors for underground storage

High porosity

— High permeability

— The cost of conversion and moving hydrogen 1 500km by ship as an LOHC is USD 0.6/kgH2, as ammonia is
USD 1.2/kgH2 and as liquid hydrogen is USD 2/kgH2
— In theory a single trailer transporting compressed hydrogen gas can hold up to 1 100 kgH2 in lightweight
composite cylinders (at 500 bar). (Limitations: allowable pressure, height, width and weight of tubes that can
be transported)

Avoiding boil-off losses

— Using insulated cryogenic cylinders

— perform an ortho-to-para conversion of the hydrogen during the liquefaction step (prevents subsequent
evaporation)
— Larger spherical tank with more volume (spherical-lower surface area -> less heat transfer) but cylindrical tanks are
used as they’re cheaper and easier to construct & have approx. same volume:surface area

The world’s first transoceanic shipment of hydrogen took place in December 2019, as a tanker with hydrogen produced
in Brunei and converted into methylcyclohexane set sail for the Japanese port of Kawasaki City. In the same month,
Kawasaki Industries launched the “Suiso Frontier”, the first dedicated hydrogen tanker for trial shipments of liquid
hydrogen from Australia to Japan. In September 2020, the first cargo of hydrogen-derived “blue ammonia” made its way
from Saudi Arabia to Japan, where it was used for power generation.

Clean hydrogen could bolster energy security in three major ways:

— reducing import dependence

— mitigating price volatility
— boosting energy system flexibility and resilience
Energy storage:

— Short term, low capacity= batteries

— Longer duration, large scale storage, transportation= ammonia

— https://www.cliffordchance.com/content/dam/cliffordchance/briefings/2020/10/focus-on-hydrogen-eur-7-2-
Billion-strategy-for-hydrogen-energy-in-france.pdf
— https://www.fch.europa.eu/sites/default/files/file_attach/Brochure%20FCH%20France%20%28ID
%209473038%29.pdf
 — https://www.rvo.nl/sites/default/files/2022/01/Hydrogen-sector-study-France-maart-2021.pdf

— https://www.cliffordchance.com/content/dam/cliffordchance/briefings/2021/11/focus-on-hydrogen-the-belgian-
hydrogen-strategy(10218735526.1)(10218744624.6).pdf
— https://www.fch.europa.eu/sites/default/files/file_attach/Brochure%20FCH%20Belgium%20%28ID
%209473032%29.pdf

UK, New Zealand, Poland, Denmark

— https://www.fch.europa.eu/sites/default/files/file_attach/Brochure%20FCH%20Denmark%20%28ID
%209473036%29.pdf
— https://ens.dk/sites/ens.dk/files/ptx/strategy_ptx.pdf

Hydrogen can corrode iron because of Iron’s lattice structure but cannot do so with plastic because it is a polymer.

Electrolysers with saline water have a different build than that for normal water since the former produces two
corrosive materials- NaOH and HCL at the two electrodes.

For ppt:

https://india-re-navigator.com/utility/comment/5409