Rouwenhorst Kevin H R, Jardali Fatme, Bogaerts Annemie, Lefferts Leon
Catalytic Processes & Materials, MESA+ Institute for Nanotechnology, University of Twente P.O. Box 217 7500 AE Enschede The Netherlands
Research Group PLASMANT, Department of Chemistry, University of Antwerp Universiteitsplein 1 B-2610 Wilrijk-Antwerp Belgium
Energy Environ Sci. 2021 Mar 31;14(5):2520-2534. doi: 10.1039/d0ee03763j.
Plasma-based NO synthesis the Birkeland-Eyde process was one of the first industrial nitrogen fixation methods. However, this technology never played a dominant role for nitrogen fixation, due to the invention of the Haber-Bosch process. Recently, nitrogen fixation by plasma technology has gained significant interest again, due to the emergence of low cost, renewable electricity. We first present a short historical background of plasma-based NO synthesis. Thereafter, we discuss the reported performance for plasma-based NO synthesis in various types of plasma reactors, along with the current understanding regarding the reaction mechanisms in the plasma phase, as well as on a catalytic surface. Finally, we benchmark the plasma-based NO synthesis process with the electrolysis-based Haber-Bosch process combined with the Ostwald process, in terms of the investment cost and energy consumption. This analysis shows that the energy consumption for NO synthesis with plasma technology is almost competitive with the commercial process with its current best value of 2.4 MJ mol N, which is required to decrease further to about 0.7 MJ mol N in order to become fully competitive. This may be accomplished through further plasma reactor optimization and effective plasma-catalyst coupling.
基于等离子体的一氧化氮合成——伯克兰-艾德法是最早的工业固氮方法之一。然而，由于哈伯-博施法的发明，这项技术在固氮领域从未占据主导地位。近来，由于低成本可再生电力的出现，等离子体技术固氮再次引起了人们的极大兴趣。我们首先介绍基于等离子体的一氧化氮合成的简短历史背景。此后，我们讨论了在各种类型的等离子体反应器中基于等离子体的一氧化氮合成的报道性能，以及目前对等离子体相和催化表面反应机理的理解。最后，我们在投资成本和能源消耗方面，将基于等离子体的一氧化氮合成工艺与基于电解的哈伯-博施法和奥斯特瓦尔德法相结合的工艺进行了对比。分析表明，等离子体技术合成一氧化氮的能源消耗几乎与商业工艺相当，目前商业工艺的最佳值为2.4兆焦/摩尔氮，要想完全具有竞争力，该值需进一步降至约0.7兆焦/摩尔氮。这可以通过进一步优化等离子体反应器和实现有效的等离子体-催化剂耦合来实现。
