University of Massachusetts Amherst ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst Open Access Dissertations 2-2013 Techno-Economic Feasibility Study of Ammonia Plants Powered by Offshore Wind Eric R. Morgan University of Massachusetts Amherst, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.umass.edu/open_access_dissertations Part of the Industrial Engineering Commons, and the Mechanical Engineering Commons Recommended Citation Morgan, Eric R., "Techno-Economic Feasibility Study of Ammonia Plants Powered by Offshore Wind" (2013). Open Access Dissertations. 697. https://doi.org/10.7275/11kt-3f59 https://scholarworks.umass.edu/open_access_dissertations/697 This Open Access Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst. It has been accepted for inclusion in Open Access Dissertations by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst. For more information, please contact [email protected]. TECHNO-ECONOMIC FEASIBILITY STUDY OF AMMONIA PLANTS POWERED BY OFFSHORE WIND A Dissertation Presented by ERIC R. MORGAN Submitted to the Graduate School of the University of Massachusetts Amherst in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY February 2013 Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering © Copyright by Eric Morgan 2013 All Rights Reserved A TECHNO-ECONOMIC FEASIBILITY STUDY OF AMMONIA PLANTS POWERED BY OFFSHORE WIND A Dissertation Presented By ERIC R. MORGAN Approved as to style and content by: ______________________________________ Jon G. McGowan, Chair ______________________________________ James F. Manwell, Member ______________________________________ Senay Solak, Member _________________________________________ Donald L. Fisher, Department Head Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering DEDICATION To my children, Brighid and Sawyer ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am grateful to the many people that have helped me get to this point in my career. I could not have done this alone. I would like to first thank my committee members: Jim Manwell and Senay Solak of the University of Massachusetts. Their assistance, guidance and support were pivotal in helping me finish this dissertation. I am indebted to my mentor and friend, Jon McGowan, for embracing research on wind-powered ammonia and supporting me every step of the way. He told me to “go big”, and so I did. Thank you. I would like to thank kind people at the Wind Energy Center for their warmth and friendship over the course of my four-year stay. During many of our weekly meetings students, staff and faculty asked questions that proved invaluable to my research. Some of the questions that were posed took three years to answer – that‟s the kind of questioning that makes a PhD worth it. My life and career benefited from the work that Jon Black, Charlie McClelland, Dan Finn-Foley and Bob Hyers did with me on behalf of “Apera Technology”. The brief time we spent on that endeavor forever changed how I think of engineering, technology and business. I have fond memories of going on tower trips with Tony Ellis et al. (despite the brutally early mornings). Tromping around New England with friends to put up or take down towers can be rewarding. I saw many things that I never expected; the hands-on experience that I got from those trips still proves useful. I would like to thank Fred Letson and Nico Lustig for smoothing the edges of academic life. All those late nights playing board games together have a special place in my heart. Thanks to Jon Lewis who once told me that my dog had excellent “thrust vectors”. Jon, that was priceless and unforgettable, like many of your insights. v My former colleagues at UMass Lowell started me down this path back in 2005 when I entered the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department. Donald Leitch taught me how to be a professional and dignified engineer back when I still had an adolescent mentality. Thanks to John Duffy who gave me the opportunity to be a paid graduate student. For that, I am appreciative. Dan Golumb opened up the world of industrial chemistry via an amazing course, and two coal- fired electricity plant tours. His course was a remarkable experience that I still draw from. Kiwi smashed mathematics and engineering together to form a beautiful course that every engineer should take. I took it and reaped the benefits. I thank my parents yet again for embodying their phrase “the kids always come first”. From my earliest memories they gave all they had so that I could get to this point. Now that I'm here, I am as proud of them as they are of me. My brother, Tom, provided valuable insight into chemistry, engineering, writing and life throughout my college career. Thanks for the inspiration and friendship, little brother. I would like to thank Liz and Charles Holt who opened their home to me and my family so that I could complete this dissertation. With your help, I worked my way out of the basement. I would like to thank my wife, Frances, for always being there, day or night, holiday or weekday, when I needed her. She made many sacrifices so that I could be a student, and finish being a student. I cannot thank you enough. Also, thanks to my kids, Brighid and Sawyer, for helping me to keep everything in perspective. vi ABSTRACT A TECHNO-ECONOMIC FEASIBILITY STUDY OF AMMONIA PLANTS POWERED BY OFFSHORE WIND FEBRUARY 2013 ERIC R. MORGAN, B.S., UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST M.S., UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS LOWELL Ph.D., UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST Directed by: Professor Jon G. McGowan Ammonia production with offshore wind power has the potential to transform energy and fertilizer markets within the United States. The vast offshore wind resource can be converted directly into liquid ammonia using existing technologies. The liquid ammonia can then be transported around the country via rail, truck, barge or pipeline and used as either a fertilizer or a fuel. This thesis reviews the technologies required for all-electric, wind-powered ammonia production and offers a simple design of such a system. Cost models based on the physical equipment necessary to produce ammonia with wind power are developed; offshore wind farm cost models are also developed for near-shore, shallow, wind farms in the United States. The cost models are capable of calculating the capital costs of small industrial-sized ammonia plants coupled with an offshore wind farm. A case study for a utility-tied, all-electric ammonia plant in the Gulf of Maine is used to assess the lifetime economics of such a system. Actual utility grid prices and offshore wind are incorporated into a systems-level simulation of the ammonia plant. The results show that significant utility grid backup is required for an all-electric ammonia plant built with present-day technologies. The levelized cost of one metric ton of ammonia is high vii relative to ammonia produced with natural gas or coal, but is not as susceptible to spikes in ammonia feedstock prices. A sensitivity analysis shows that the total levelized cost of ammonia is driven in large part by the cost of producing electricity with offshore wind. Major cost reductions are possible for systems that have long lifetimes, low operations and maintenance costs, or for systems that qualify for Renewable Energy Credits. viii PREFACE Ammonia production represents the opportunity to simultaneously produce two disparate commodities: energy and food. At present, ammonia-based fertilizers feed about 3 billion people by enabling more food to be grown on a given area of land. Ammonia can be also be used as a synthetic fuel in diesel engines, internal combustion engines and gas turbines. If enough ammonia can be sustainably produced, it could displace the need for fossil fuels in the future. Thus, sustainable manufacture of ammonia for feeding the world‟s population and, perhaps, fueling vehicles, represents a worthy endeavor for scientists and engineers of today, just as it was for engineers one hundred years ago. This thesis couples ammonia production with offshore wind power, a mature form of renewable energy that is poised for worldwide expansion in the near future. Why choose offshore wind power to produce ammonia when it is already known to be expensive? Offshore wind power is slated to move further from shore and onto floating structures. These structures could potentially be remote enough that electrical cables are not practical. Thus, ammonia could be synthesized on site and shipped back to shore, or around the world. This idea is not new: the Applied Physics Laboratory at The Johns Hopkins University investigated ammonia production with Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) in the 1970s and 1980s. Given the immensity of the ocean and the significant offshore wind resource that it represents, it is possible that floating offshore wind power could generate ammonia fertilizers and fuels for the entire planet in the future. This thesis investigates the simple case of offshore wind powering an ammonia synthesis facility located onshore. The economics for such a system represent a best case scenario for ammonia production, as it is currently practiced. If significant government incentives are created for ammonia production, it is possible to competitively manufacture ammonia for both fertilizers and fuel. ix TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .......................................................................................................... v ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................................