|  | | Developing and Demonstrating a Scalable Renewable Hydrogen-to-Ammonia System
Date Approved: 5/8/06
Amount: $147,961
Leads: Roger Ruan
and Paul Chen, Department of Bioproducts and Biosystems Engineering,
Greg Cuomo, West Central Research and Outreach Center
Benefits and Deliverables:
The
goal of the proposed project is to develop and demonstrate scalable
efficient NTP-based systems for synthesis of ammonia from renewable
hydrogen such as wind hydrogen. The project will be carried out in two
stages: (1) process development using pure hydrogen and nitrogen, and
(2) testing and optimization using wind hydrogen. If the project is
successful in developing a scalable prototype utilizing pure hydrogen,
we will then test hydrogen from biomass sources.
Description:
Recent developments in wind-to-hydrogen technology have made wind an even more appealing renewable energy source. The University of Minnesota Renewable Energy Research and Demonstration Center at Morris commissioned its unique wind-to-hydrogen project at the WCROC, where the electricity produced from the 230-foot wind turbine can be used to split water into hydrogen. Other researchers at the University of Minnesota are making progress in the production of hydrogen from various biomass sources, such as agricultural crop residues, forest wastes, animal wastes, and municipal wastes. For example, researchers at the Center for Biorefining and the Department of Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering are converting corn stover, animal and municipal solid wastes to hydrogen and other burnable gases using supercritical water reactions and/or microwave pyrolysis; converting animal wastes to hydrogen through fermentation and anaerobic digestion. However, the purity of hydrogen from these biomass sources is usually unsuitable for fuel cell technology without costly separation and purification treatments. Researchers continue to develop efficient and cost-effective hydrogen purification and storage technology, a critical technical barrier hindering the hydrogen economy. There are certainly needs to develop alternative renewable sources and ways to utilize renewable hydrogen in order to speed up the transition to hydrogen economy.
Making ammonia fertilizers from wind-hydrogen is an alternative, considering that the hydrogen produced from petroleum sources is primarily used for ammonia production. Minnesota corn farmers spend over $300 million a year to buy ammonia fertilizers from other states and countries, which is about 15% of the revenue from corn. If this value is to be captured within the state, it could generate many jobs and significant tax revenue for Minnesota. The proposed project is intended to develop a system to produce ammonia from local wind-hydrogen, which could be implemented on wind farms or biomass-to-hydrogen sites. Making ammonia from renewable hydrogen can reduce (1) air emissions, (2) thermal pollution, (3) water consumption, and (4) our dependence on non-renewable sources. It can reduce Clean Air Act compliance costs, and enhance our society’s sustainability by reducing depletion of natural resources for future generations.
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