Hydrogen to Ammonia Research and Development

Hydrogen to Ammonia Research and Development

This research project aims to develop an ammonia production process which is less energy intensive than the conventional Haber-Bosch process and does not contribute to greenhouse gas emissions.

Lead participants: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO)	Classification: Research and development	Status: In progress	Estimated cost: AUD$2.83 million
Research partners: Orica Australia Pty Ltd, Grain Research and Development Corporation	Main supply chain category: Renewable Ammonia	Location: Victoria, Australia	Announced funding: AUD$1.17 million – Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA)

Research description

This research project aims to develop an ammonia production process, which is less energy intensive than the conventional (fossil fuel-based) Haber-Bosch process and does not contribute to greenhouse gas emissions.

CSIRO has developed a membrane-based process that converts hydrogen into ammonia, a liquid fuel with minimal further consumption of energy and at a scale suitable for distributed ammonia production from renewable sources. This process/technology provides a means of storing and transporting renewable energy for end-use applications such as power generation or as a feedstock for other chemicals.

The technology can allow ammonia production at much lower pressures (compared to the Haber-Bosch process) and therefore can directly source hydrogen from an electrolyser and nitrogen from an air separation unit. A prototype ammonia producing reactor would be built to demonstrate the operation with electricity to the electrolyser supplied by solar PV.

More details on the research, including contact information, can be found at the ARENA webpage for this project.

This research project was part of a suite of projects for which ARENA announced AUD$22.1 million of funding in September 2018.

 

This description was reviewed by the lead research participant in August 2020.