Izelaar Boaz, Ramdin Mahinder, Vlierboom Alexander, Pérez-Fortes Mar, van der Slikke Deanne, Sajeev Kumar Asvin, de Jong Wiebren, Mulder Fokko M, Kortlever Ruud
Process and Energy Department, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Delft University of Technology 2628 CB Delft The Netherlands
Engineering, Systems and Services Department, Faculty of Technology, Policy and Management, Delft University of Technology 2628 BX Delft The Netherlands.
Energy Environ Sci. 2024 Oct 3;17(21):7983-7998. doi: 10.1039/d4ee03299c. eCollection 2024 Oct 29.
Electrochemical ammonia synthesis the nitrogen reduction reaction (NRR) has been poised as one of the promising technologies for the sustainable production of green ammonia. In this work, we developed extensive process models of fully integrated electrochemical NH production plants at small scale (91 tonnes per day), including their techno-economic assessments, for (Li-)mediated, direct and indirect NRR pathways at ambient and elevated temperatures, which were compared with electrified and steam-methane reforming (SMR) Haber-Bosch processes. The levelized cost of ammonia (LCOA) of aqueous NRR at ambient conditions only becomes comparable with SMR Haber-Bosch at very optimistic electrolyzer performance parameters (FE > 80% at ≥ 0.3 A cm) and electricity prices (<$0.024 per kW h). Both high temperature NRR and Li-mediated NRR are not economically comparable within the tested variable ranges. High temperature NRR is very capital intensive due the requirement of a heat exchanger network, more auxiliary equipment and an additional water electrolyzer (considering the indirect route). For Li-mediated NRR, the high lithium plating potentials, ohmic losses and the requirement for H, limits its commercial competitiveness with SMR Haber-Bosch. This incentivises the search for materials beyond lithium.
电化学氨合成即氮还原反应（NRR）已成为可持续生产绿色氨的有前景的技术之一。在这项工作中，我们开发了小规模（每天91吨）完全集成的电化学氨生产装置的详细工艺模型，包括其技术经济评估，用于在环境温度和高温下的（锂）介导、直接和间接NRR途径，并与电化和蒸汽甲烷重整（SMR）哈伯-博施法进行了比较。仅在非常乐观的电解槽性能参数（在≥0.3 A/cm²时法拉第效率>80%）和电价（<0.024美元/千瓦时）下，环境条件下水相NRR的氨平准化成本（LCOA）才与SMR哈伯-博施法相当。在测试的可变范围内，高温NRR和锂介导的NRR在经济上都不具有可比性。由于需要热交换器网络、更多辅助设备和额外的水电解槽（考虑间接路线），高温NRR的资本密集度非常高。对于锂介导的NRR，高锂电镀电位、欧姆损耗以及对氢气的需求限制了其与SMR哈伯-博施法的商业竞争力。这促使人们寻找锂以外的材料。
