Iowa State University Capstones, Theses and Graduate Theses and Dissertations Dissertations 2008 A feasibility study of implementing an Ammonia Economy Jeffrey Ralph Bartels Iowa State University Follow this and additional works at: https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/etd Part of the Mechanical Engineering Commons Recommended Citation Bartels, Jeffrey Ralph, "A feasibility study of implementing an Ammonia Economy" (2008). Graduate Theses and Dissertations. 11132. https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/etd/11132 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Iowa State University Capstones, Theses and Dissertations at Iowa State University Digital Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Graduate Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Iowa State University Digital Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. A feasibility study of implementing an Ammonia Economy By Jeffrey Ralph Bartels A thesis submitted to the graduate faculty in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE Major: Mechanical Engineering Program of Study Committee: Michael B. Pate, Co-Major Professor Ron M. Nelson, Co-Major Professor Gap-Yong Kim Iowa State University Ames, Iowa 2008 Copyright © Jeffrey Ralph Bartels, 2008. All rights reserved. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES ................................................................................................................. iv LIST OF TABLES .................................................................................................................... v ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................................. vi CHAPTER 1. OVERVIEW OF AN AMMONIA ECONOMY ............................................... 1 CHAPTER 2. HYDROGEN PRODUCTION .......................................................................... 4 2.1 Fossil Fuel Based Hydrogen Sources ............................................................................. 4 2.1.1 Converting Fossil Fuel to Hydrogen ........................................................................ 4 2.1.2 Hydrogen from Natural Gas ..................................................................................... 5 2.1.3 Hydrogen from Coal Gasification ............................................................................ 7 2.2 Alternative Energy Based Hydrogen Sources .............................................................. 11 2.2.1 Converting Alternative Energy Sources to Hydrogen ........................................... 11 2.2.2 Hydrogen from Nuclear Energy ............................................................................. 12 2.2.3 Hydrogen from Solar Energy ................................................................................. 15 2.2.4 Hydrogen from Wind Energy ................................................................................ 20 2.2.5 Hydrogen from Biomass ........................................................................................ 23 2.3 Cost of Hydrogen from Conventional and Alternative Energy Sources ...................... 27 2.4 Summary ....................................................................................................................... 33 CHAPTER 3. AMMONIA PRODUCTION........................................................................... 34 3.1 Ammonia Synthesis Processes ...................................................................................... 35 3.1.1 Haber-Bosch Ammonia Synthesis ......................................................................... 35 3.1.2 Thermochemical Ammonia Synthesis ................................................................... 37 3.1.3 Solid State Ammonia Synthesis ............................................................................. 37 3.2 Fossil Fuel Based Ammonia Synthesis Processes ........................................................ 37 3.2.1 Ammonia from Natural Gas ................................................................................... 38 3.2.2 Ammonia from Coal .............................................................................................. 40 3.3 Alternative Energy Based Ammonia Synthesis Processes ........................................... 41 3.3.1 Ammonia from Wind Energy ................................................................................ 42 3.3.2 Ammonia from Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion ............................................. 42 3.4 Ammonia Production from Hydrogen .......................................................................... 44 3.4.1 Ammonia Synthesis System Components ............................................................. 45 3.4.2 Ammonia Synthesis from an Energy Source ......................................................... 46 3.4.3 Ammonia Synthesis from a Hydrogen Source ....................................................... 47 3.4.4 Cost of Ammonia from Conventional and Alternative Energy Sources ................ 53 3.4.5 Comparison to Fossil Fuels .................................................................................... 56 3.4.6 Sensitivity Analysis ............................................................................................... 58 3.5 Summary ....................................................................................................................... 61 CHAPTER 4. LARGE-SCALE STORAGE OF ALTERNATIVE FUELS .......................... 62 4.1 Pressure Storage ............................................................................................................ 62 4.1.1 Ammonia Pressure Storage .................................................................................... 62 4.1.2 Hydrogen Pressure Storage .................................................................................... 63 4.2 Low-Temperature Storage ............................................................................................ 63 iii 4.2.1 Ammonia Low-Temperature Storage .................................................................... 63 4.2.2 Hydrogen Low-Temperature Storage .................................................................... 64 4.3 Low-Temperature Storage Analysis ............................................................................. 64 4.3.1 Key Parameters and Assumptions.......................................................................... 65 4.3.2 Analysis Results ..................................................................................................... 67 4.3.3 Low-Temperature Storage System Costs ............................................................... 70 4.4 Summary ....................................................................................................................... 71 CHAPTER 5. TRANSPORTATION OF ALTERNATIVE FUELS ..................................... 73 5.1 Fuel Transportation with Storage Vessels .................................................................... 73 5.1.1 Ammonia Fuel Transportation with Storage Vessels ............................................ 74 5.1.2 Hydrogen Fuel Transportation with Storage Vessels ............................................ 74 5.1.3 Summary of Storage Vessel Transport .................................................................. 75 5.2 Pipeline Fuel Transportation ......................................................................................... 75 5.2.1 Ammonia Pipeline Transport ................................................................................. 76 5.2.2 Hydrogen Pipeline Transport ................................................................................. 76 5.3 Pipeline Analysis .......................................................................................................... 77 5.3.1 Key Parameters and Assumptions.......................................................................... 77 5.3.2 Analysis Results ..................................................................................................... 81 5.3.3 Pipeline System Costs ............................................................................................ 88 5.4 Summary ....................................................................................................................... 89 CHAPTER 6. AN ECONOMIC COMPARISON BETWEEN AMMONIA AND HYDROGEN TRANSPORTATION FUELS ........................................................................ 91 6.1 Comparing Hydrogen and Ammonia Costs .................................................................. 91 6.2 Alternative Energy Sources of Ammonia ..................................................................... 92 6.3 Total Estimated Production, Storage, and Transportation Cost .................................... 92 6.4 Existing Infrastructure for an Ammonia Economy ....................................................... 94 6.5 Summary ....................................................................................................................... 94 CHAPTER 7. CONCLUSIONS ............................................................................................. 95 BIBLIOGRAPHY ................................................................................................................... 97 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .................................................................................................. 103 iv LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: World natural gas reserves by country [4] 6 Figure 2: World coal