Development Status and Analysis of Green Hydrogen Synthesis of Green Ammonia under Dual Carbon Targets
From:
Zhonglin International Group Date:05-15 715 Belong to:Industry Related
In 2021, the International Energy Agency released the research report on the 2050 net zero emission road map, pointing out that by 2050, the global demand for hydrogen energy will grow to 528 million tons, about 60% of which will come from Electrolysed water hydrogen production, accounting for 20% of the global power supply. At the same time, more than 30% of hydrogen will be used for synthesizing ammonia and fuel. In the future, ammonia will not only be used for nitrogen fertilizers and chemical raw materials, but also as an energy fuel to meet 45% of global shipping energy demand, and will be co burned with carbon monoxide to achieve carbon dioxide emissions reduction. More than 14 billion US dollars will be invested annually in the production of ammonia worldwide, with 80% using near zero emission production routes.
The production of green hydrogen from renewable energy to synthesize ammonia and its application are crucial for achieving carbon neutrality globally, and green ammonia synthesis will become one of the important applications of green hydrogen. Developed countries such as the United States, the European Union, Japan, and South Korea have all begun to layout green ammonia projects:
The United States Department of Energy has supported 17 green ammonia projects aimed at transforming renewable energy into carbon neutral liquid fuel with high energy density;
The EU has taken ammonia as one of the main Technology roadmap for hydrogen trade, started to lay out the infrastructure for green hydrogen ammonia synthesis, and carried out demonstration research on the application of green hydrogen ammonia production in the transportation and industrial fields;
Japan plans to use ammonia and coal mixed combustion by 2030 to replace 20% of the coal supply in Japan's coal-fired power plants, achieve pure ammonia power generation by 2050, and build overseas green ammonia production bases in the Middle East, Australia, and other regions;
The South Korean government announced its efforts to become the world's largest hydrogen and ammonia power generation country;
The Technology roadmap of ammonia production from green hydrogen has become an important strategy for the clean utilization of hydrogen energy and the realization of the goal of double carbon.
1. Green ammonia promotes green Hydrogen economy
The combination of Electrolysed water hydrogen production and energy storage system can promote large-scale and high proportion renewable energy power supply system, and realize the optimal configuration of multi heterogeneity, cross region and cross season. The development of green hydrogen synthetic ammonia industry is of great significance, and the production and application chain of green hydrogen green ammonia is shown in the figure.
From 2025 to 2035, it is expected to achieve parity between renewable energy hydrogen production and fossil energy hydrogen production, with a slight cost advantage for PEM. The cost of hydrogen production from renewable energy is mainly affected by Fixed cost, electricity price and operation time:
In 2025, when the electricity price is 0.3 yuan/kWh, the cost of hydrogen production from renewable energy will be about 17~25 yuan/kg H2 under the existing Fixed cost, which is somewhat different from that of hydrogen production from coal+CCS;
From 2025 to 2035, when the electricity price drops to 0.2 yuan/kWh, the cost of renewable energy hydrogen production begins to decrease to 15 yuan/kg H2, which is expected to achieve parity with coal hydrogen production+CCS (carbon capture and storage technology);
After 2035, when the electricity price cost drops below 0.13 yuan/kWh, the cost of renewable energy hydrogen production has a certain competitive advantage compared to coal hydrogen production+CCS;
In 2050, the Fixed cost of PEM hydrogen production system will be reduced by at least 75%. Under the expected price of 0.1 yuan/kWh, the cost of PEM hydrogen production will reach 6-9 yuan/kg H2, which is equivalent to or has some cost advantages over fossil energy hydrogen production (excluding CCS).
The development of green hydrogen synthetic ammonia industry in China is of great significance. China's synthetic ammonia production capacity is 66.76 million tons, with a production capacity of 58.84 million tons. The overall energy consumption of the synthetic ammonia industry is 74.37 million tons of standard coal, which may remain the world's largest. The layout of green hydrogen synthesis ammonia projects is an important path to achieve the dual carbon goal. Developing the green hydrogen synthesis ammonia industry is conducive to building a clean power system, and the green hydrogen synthesis ammonia industry helps cultivate the growth of China's hydrogen energy industry.
In addition, developing the green hydrogen synthesis ammonia industry is conducive to building a clean power system. Renewable energy green hydrogen synthesis ammonia devices can participate in user side peak shaving auxiliary services in the power system, which will effectively promote the construction of a high proportion of renewable energy dominated power system in China and ensure energy security.
Hydrogen energy, as a strategic emerging industry, requires market cultivation and must address issues such as high green hydrogen costs and difficulty in storage and transportation. Using renewable energy Electrolysed water to produce hydrogen and synthetic ammonia, for a synthetic ammonia plant with an annual output of 100000 yuan, the output of synthetic ammonia is 5.6 times that of hydrogen production by weight under the same power consumption, but the tank required for liquid ammonia storage is only 0% of liquid hydrogen. 64x. Ammonia not only has a complete trade and transportation system, but also has obvious advantages in large-scale storage and transportation, making it the preferred carrier for intercontinental energy trade and transportation. At present, electrocatalytic and photoelectrochemical synthesis of ammonia is still in the research and development stage, with yields ranging from micrograms to grams. Therefore, the green hydrogen synthetic ammonia project will take the lead in realizing scale and commercialization. The green ammonia will promote the green Hydrogen economy and have the first mover advantage in cultivating Electrolysed water hydrogen production technology and equipment.
2. Competitiveness analysis of green hydrogen synthesis ammonia in different application scenarios
1. Comparative analysis of energy density
As an energy source, ammonia should be uated for its competitiveness in the existing energy system based on its current technological level. The calorific value characteristics of hydrogen, ammonia, and common energy products are shown in the figure below. The upper and lower limits of the unit price calorific value indicators are taken as the highest and lowest unit prices of the energy product in the past 10 years, respectively. The median value is taken as the average price of domestic products in the past three years.
Compared to conventional energy fuels used for power generation and combustion:
From the perspective of physical properties, the calorific value per unit weight of liquid hydrogen is the highest, reaching 28594kcal/kg, which is about three times that of gasoline, diesel, and liquefied natural gas, and about six times that of liquid ammonia. However, based on the volumetric calorific value, the liquid form of diesel has the highest calorific value, reaching 8772 kcal/L, which is about 4.5 times that of liquid hydrogen, 3 times that of liquid ammonia, and 2 times that of methanol.
From the perspective of economic characteristics, in the field of fixed power generation and heating applications, the median calorific value per unit price of coal reaches 8804kcal/yuan, which is 1.6 times that of natural gas, 6.7 times that of liquid ammonia, 6 times that of gaseous hydrogen, and 9.2 times that of liquid hydrogen. In the field of power and transportation applications, the median calorific value per unit price of liquid ammonia is 1312 kcal/yuan, which is equivalent to gasoline, about 0.83 times that of diesel, 0.9 times that of gaseous hydrogen, and 1.4 times that of liquid hydrogen.
The weight and volumetric calorific value of liquid ammonia do not have significant advantages, but as a carbon free fuel energy source, its storage advantages and unit volumetric calorific value are superior to liquid hydrogen.
3. Analysis of Competitiveness in Different Application Scenarios
The synthetic ammonia market is mainly concentrated in traditional agriculture and industry:
The agricultural sector mainly serves as raw materials for urea and compound fertilizers.
Used in the industrial field for the production of urea for vehicles and flue gas denitrification. In the future, the demand for synthetic ammonia in Caprolactam, acrylonitrile, nitric acid and flue gas denitration markets will increase significantly.
But the consumption attributes of ammonia are gradually changing. Saudi Arabia is building the world's largest renewable energy photovoltaic Electrolysed water green hydrogen production and synthetic ammonia plant, which is expected to be put into operation in 2024 and sold globally in the form of liquid ammonia, or re decomposed into hydrogen in the terminal market. Japan plans to use ammonia as fuel to achieve pure ammonia power generation by 2050. Countries around the world have started researching ammonia direct fuel cells and internal combustion engines.
In the field of fixed power generation and heating applications, liquid ammonia and hydrogen are used as fuels, and the cost of co firing is relatively high from an economic perspective. Its application should be considered according to different scenarios, such as in urban core areas with no carbon or low-carbon demand scenarios, the co firing of ammonia and direct power generation technology using ammonia fuel cells will also be widely applied. Research has shown that ammonia power generation devices can be applied in isolated microgrids that mainly rely on renewable energy for ammonia production, to balance the power demand of the synthetic green hydrogen ammonia system itself. In addition, research on direct power generation technology using ammonia fuel cells has shown that under the same voltage and fuel utilization, the efficiency of tubular ammonia direct fuel cells can reach 60%, which is 1% of the efficiency of tubular hydrogen direct fuel cells. 17x.
In the field of power and transportation applications, the characteristics of liquid ammonia and diesel fuel are similar. With the development of ammonia internal combustion engine, ammonia direct fuel cell technology and liquid hydrogen storage and transportation technology, there may be a variety of Technology roadmap:
The storage and filling of liquid hydrogen, and direct power generation through Hydrogen fuel cells.
The storage and refueling of liquid ammonia are powered by ammonia internal combustion engines and direct ammonia fuel cells.
Ammonia is decomposed into hydrogen before energy is supplied.
The above routes mainly depend on technological progress, route economy, and the widespread application level in other fields. For example, research shows that even if the cost of green ammonia will reach 210-215 euros/ton, the cost of obtaining 25MPa high-purity hydrogen through cracking and purification will still exceed 3 euros/kg, which clearly has certain application limitations.
Therefore, green hydrogen synthesis ammonia should focus on replacing existing coal and natural gas production capacity, deeply cultivating mature markets such as urea, composite fertilizer raw materials, synthetic materials, and flue gas denitrification, and maximizing economic and environmental benefits. With technological progress, policy improvement, and cost reduction, it is necessary for China to establish a mature renewable energy supply system for green hydrogen synthesis ammonia, and then scale up its application in the fields of power energy and fixed power generation and heating.
4. Economic uation of renewable energy green hydrogen synthesis ammonia
How economical is ammonia fuel at the current stage of hydrogen energy development? This is a question that many people are curious about.
Due to the surge in natural gas prices caused by the Russia Ukraine war, there has been a temporary phenomenon abroad where the price of green hydrogen is cheaper than that of gray hydrogen. Bloomberg NEF data shows that green ammonia production will be cheaper than gray ammonia within 128 days between January 1, 2021 and March 2, 2022& Flash; Or 30% of the time. The report states:; Since November 1, 2021, the existing 350 metric tons of green ammonia facility per day will save over $7.1 million compared to the gray ammonia facility& Rdquo;
If a hypothesis is made, there are many factors affecting the cost of renewable energy green hydrogen ammonia synthesis, including wind power photovoltaic ratio, utilization hours, output characteristics, Electrolysed water hydrogen production scale, electric hydrogen ammonia engineering coupling scheme, excluding raw materials and engineering conditions, which will ultimately be reflected in the system's comprehensive electricity price and electric hydrogen coupling efficiency. The following figure shows the cost analysis of renewable energy green hydrogen synthesis ammonia.
As shown in the figure, assuming that the power grid undergoes peak shaving with abundant electricity, ideally the system can reach a rated load of 8000 hours. When the comprehensive electricity price is 0.1 yuan/kWh, the cost of per ton of ammonia is 1932-2351 yuan/ton. When the comprehensive electricity price is 0.2 yuan/kWh, the cost of per ton of ammonia is 2772-3610 yuan/ton. When the comprehensive electricity price is 0.3 yuan/kWh, the cost of per ton of ammonia is 3610-4870 yuan/ton. If the coal price is 1000 yuan/ton, the cost per ton of gray ammonia is approximately 3000 yuan/ton, and the corresponding comprehensive electricity price for green ammonia should be controlled between 0.15 to 0.22 yuan/kWh; If the coal price is 1200 yuan/ton, the cost per ton of grey ammonia is approximately 3500 yuan/ton, and the corresponding comprehensive electricity price for green ammonia should be controlled between 0.19 to 0.28 yuan/kWh.
In actual projects, it is difficult for the green hydrogen synthesis ammonia plant to reach 8000 hours, and the cost of per ton of ammonia will also increase based on the decimal decrease in the utilization of synthetic ammonia. With the continuous deepening of electricity reform in the future, the renewable energy green hydrogen synthesis ammonia industry will have multiple models, which need to be closely combined with factors such as renewable energy generation, flexible load auxiliary peak shaving in the electricity market, terminal applications, energy consumption dual control, and carbon market, and tailored business models to achieve marketization.
The production of green hydrogen from renewable energy to synthesize ammonia and its application are crucial for achieving carbon neutrality globally, and green ammonia synthesis will become one of the important applications of green hydrogen. Developed countries such as the United States, the European Union, Japan, and South Korea have all begun to layout green ammonia projects:
The United States Department of Energy has supported 17 green ammonia projects aimed at transforming renewable energy into carbon neutral liquid fuel with high energy density;
The EU has taken ammonia as one of the main Technology roadmap for hydrogen trade, started to lay out the infrastructure for green hydrogen ammonia synthesis, and carried out demonstration research on the application of green hydrogen ammonia production in the transportation and industrial fields;
Japan plans to use ammonia and coal mixed combustion by 2030 to replace 20% of the coal supply in Japan's coal-fired power plants, achieve pure ammonia power generation by 2050, and build overseas green ammonia production bases in the Middle East, Australia, and other regions;
The South Korean government announced its efforts to become the world's largest hydrogen and ammonia power generation country;
The Technology roadmap of ammonia production from green hydrogen has become an important strategy for the clean utilization of hydrogen energy and the realization of the goal of double carbon.
1. Green ammonia promotes green Hydrogen economy
The combination of Electrolysed water hydrogen production and energy storage system can promote large-scale and high proportion renewable energy power supply system, and realize the optimal configuration of multi heterogeneity, cross region and cross season. The development of green hydrogen synthetic ammonia industry is of great significance, and the production and application chain of green hydrogen green ammonia is shown in the figure.
From 2025 to 2035, it is expected to achieve parity between renewable energy hydrogen production and fossil energy hydrogen production, with a slight cost advantage for PEM. The cost of hydrogen production from renewable energy is mainly affected by Fixed cost, electricity price and operation time:
In 2025, when the electricity price is 0.3 yuan/kWh, the cost of hydrogen production from renewable energy will be about 17~25 yuan/kg H2 under the existing Fixed cost, which is somewhat different from that of hydrogen production from coal+CCS;
From 2025 to 2035, when the electricity price drops to 0.2 yuan/kWh, the cost of renewable energy hydrogen production begins to decrease to 15 yuan/kg H2, which is expected to achieve parity with coal hydrogen production+CCS (carbon capture and storage technology);
After 2035, when the electricity price cost drops below 0.13 yuan/kWh, the cost of renewable energy hydrogen production has a certain competitive advantage compared to coal hydrogen production+CCS;
In 2050, the Fixed cost of PEM hydrogen production system will be reduced by at least 75%. Under the expected price of 0.1 yuan/kWh, the cost of PEM hydrogen production will reach 6-9 yuan/kg H2, which is equivalent to or has some cost advantages over fossil energy hydrogen production (excluding CCS).
The development of green hydrogen synthetic ammonia industry in China is of great significance. China's synthetic ammonia production capacity is 66.76 million tons, with a production capacity of 58.84 million tons. The overall energy consumption of the synthetic ammonia industry is 74.37 million tons of standard coal, which may remain the world's largest. The layout of green hydrogen synthesis ammonia projects is an important path to achieve the dual carbon goal. Developing the green hydrogen synthesis ammonia industry is conducive to building a clean power system, and the green hydrogen synthesis ammonia industry helps cultivate the growth of China's hydrogen energy industry.
In addition, developing the green hydrogen synthesis ammonia industry is conducive to building a clean power system. Renewable energy green hydrogen synthesis ammonia devices can participate in user side peak shaving auxiliary services in the power system, which will effectively promote the construction of a high proportion of renewable energy dominated power system in China and ensure energy security.
Hydrogen energy, as a strategic emerging industry, requires market cultivation and must address issues such as high green hydrogen costs and difficulty in storage and transportation. Using renewable energy Electrolysed water to produce hydrogen and synthetic ammonia, for a synthetic ammonia plant with an annual output of 100000 yuan, the output of synthetic ammonia is 5.6 times that of hydrogen production by weight under the same power consumption, but the tank required for liquid ammonia storage is only 0% of liquid hydrogen. 64x. Ammonia not only has a complete trade and transportation system, but also has obvious advantages in large-scale storage and transportation, making it the preferred carrier for intercontinental energy trade and transportation. At present, electrocatalytic and photoelectrochemical synthesis of ammonia is still in the research and development stage, with yields ranging from micrograms to grams. Therefore, the green hydrogen synthetic ammonia project will take the lead in realizing scale and commercialization. The green ammonia will promote the green Hydrogen economy and have the first mover advantage in cultivating Electrolysed water hydrogen production technology and equipment.
2. Competitiveness analysis of green hydrogen synthesis ammonia in different application scenarios
1. Comparative analysis of energy density
As an energy source, ammonia should be uated for its competitiveness in the existing energy system based on its current technological level. The calorific value characteristics of hydrogen, ammonia, and common energy products are shown in the figure below. The upper and lower limits of the unit price calorific value indicators are taken as the highest and lowest unit prices of the energy product in the past 10 years, respectively. The median value is taken as the average price of domestic products in the past three years.
Compared to conventional energy fuels used for power generation and combustion:
From the perspective of physical properties, the calorific value per unit weight of liquid hydrogen is the highest, reaching 28594kcal/kg, which is about three times that of gasoline, diesel, and liquefied natural gas, and about six times that of liquid ammonia. However, based on the volumetric calorific value, the liquid form of diesel has the highest calorific value, reaching 8772 kcal/L, which is about 4.5 times that of liquid hydrogen, 3 times that of liquid ammonia, and 2 times that of methanol.
From the perspective of economic characteristics, in the field of fixed power generation and heating applications, the median calorific value per unit price of coal reaches 8804kcal/yuan, which is 1.6 times that of natural gas, 6.7 times that of liquid ammonia, 6 times that of gaseous hydrogen, and 9.2 times that of liquid hydrogen. In the field of power and transportation applications, the median calorific value per unit price of liquid ammonia is 1312 kcal/yuan, which is equivalent to gasoline, about 0.83 times that of diesel, 0.9 times that of gaseous hydrogen, and 1.4 times that of liquid hydrogen.
The weight and volumetric calorific value of liquid ammonia do not have significant advantages, but as a carbon free fuel energy source, its storage advantages and unit volumetric calorific value are superior to liquid hydrogen.
3. Analysis of Competitiveness in Different Application Scenarios
The synthetic ammonia market is mainly concentrated in traditional agriculture and industry:
The agricultural sector mainly serves as raw materials for urea and compound fertilizers.
Used in the industrial field for the production of urea for vehicles and flue gas denitrification. In the future, the demand for synthetic ammonia in Caprolactam, acrylonitrile, nitric acid and flue gas denitration markets will increase significantly.
But the consumption attributes of ammonia are gradually changing. Saudi Arabia is building the world's largest renewable energy photovoltaic Electrolysed water green hydrogen production and synthetic ammonia plant, which is expected to be put into operation in 2024 and sold globally in the form of liquid ammonia, or re decomposed into hydrogen in the terminal market. Japan plans to use ammonia as fuel to achieve pure ammonia power generation by 2050. Countries around the world have started researching ammonia direct fuel cells and internal combustion engines.
In the field of fixed power generation and heating applications, liquid ammonia and hydrogen are used as fuels, and the cost of co firing is relatively high from an economic perspective. Its application should be considered according to different scenarios, such as in urban core areas with no carbon or low-carbon demand scenarios, the co firing of ammonia and direct power generation technology using ammonia fuel cells will also be widely applied. Research has shown that ammonia power generation devices can be applied in isolated microgrids that mainly rely on renewable energy for ammonia production, to balance the power demand of the synthetic green hydrogen ammonia system itself. In addition, research on direct power generation technology using ammonia fuel cells has shown that under the same voltage and fuel utilization, the efficiency of tubular ammonia direct fuel cells can reach 60%, which is 1% of the efficiency of tubular hydrogen direct fuel cells. 17x.
In the field of power and transportation applications, the characteristics of liquid ammonia and diesel fuel are similar. With the development of ammonia internal combustion engine, ammonia direct fuel cell technology and liquid hydrogen storage and transportation technology, there may be a variety of Technology roadmap:
The storage and filling of liquid hydrogen, and direct power generation through Hydrogen fuel cells.
The storage and refueling of liquid ammonia are powered by ammonia internal combustion engines and direct ammonia fuel cells.
Ammonia is decomposed into hydrogen before energy is supplied.
The above routes mainly depend on technological progress, route economy, and the widespread application level in other fields. For example, research shows that even if the cost of green ammonia will reach 210-215 euros/ton, the cost of obtaining 25MPa high-purity hydrogen through cracking and purification will still exceed 3 euros/kg, which clearly has certain application limitations.
Therefore, green hydrogen synthesis ammonia should focus on replacing existing coal and natural gas production capacity, deeply cultivating mature markets such as urea, composite fertilizer raw materials, synthetic materials, and flue gas denitrification, and maximizing economic and environmental benefits. With technological progress, policy improvement, and cost reduction, it is necessary for China to establish a mature renewable energy supply system for green hydrogen synthesis ammonia, and then scale up its application in the fields of power energy and fixed power generation and heating.
4. Economic uation of renewable energy green hydrogen synthesis ammonia
How economical is ammonia fuel at the current stage of hydrogen energy development? This is a question that many people are curious about.
Due to the surge in natural gas prices caused by the Russia Ukraine war, there has been a temporary phenomenon abroad where the price of green hydrogen is cheaper than that of gray hydrogen. Bloomberg NEF data shows that green ammonia production will be cheaper than gray ammonia within 128 days between January 1, 2021 and March 2, 2022& Flash; Or 30% of the time. The report states:; Since November 1, 2021, the existing 350 metric tons of green ammonia facility per day will save over $7.1 million compared to the gray ammonia facility& Rdquo;
If a hypothesis is made, there are many factors affecting the cost of renewable energy green hydrogen ammonia synthesis, including wind power photovoltaic ratio, utilization hours, output characteristics, Electrolysed water hydrogen production scale, electric hydrogen ammonia engineering coupling scheme, excluding raw materials and engineering conditions, which will ultimately be reflected in the system's comprehensive electricity price and electric hydrogen coupling efficiency. The following figure shows the cost analysis of renewable energy green hydrogen synthesis ammonia.
As shown in the figure, assuming that the power grid undergoes peak shaving with abundant electricity, ideally the system can reach a rated load of 8000 hours. When the comprehensive electricity price is 0.1 yuan/kWh, the cost of per ton of ammonia is 1932-2351 yuan/ton. When the comprehensive electricity price is 0.2 yuan/kWh, the cost of per ton of ammonia is 2772-3610 yuan/ton. When the comprehensive electricity price is 0.3 yuan/kWh, the cost of per ton of ammonia is 3610-4870 yuan/ton. If the coal price is 1000 yuan/ton, the cost per ton of gray ammonia is approximately 3000 yuan/ton, and the corresponding comprehensive electricity price for green ammonia should be controlled between 0.15 to 0.22 yuan/kWh; If the coal price is 1200 yuan/ton, the cost per ton of grey ammonia is approximately 3500 yuan/ton, and the corresponding comprehensive electricity price for green ammonia should be controlled between 0.19 to 0.28 yuan/kWh.
In actual projects, it is difficult for the green hydrogen synthesis ammonia plant to reach 8000 hours, and the cost of per ton of ammonia will also increase based on the decimal decrease in the utilization of synthetic ammonia. With the continuous deepening of electricity reform in the future, the renewable energy green hydrogen synthesis ammonia industry will have multiple models, which need to be closely combined with factors such as renewable energy generation, flexible load auxiliary peak shaving in the electricity market, terminal applications, energy consumption dual control, and carbon market, and tailored business models to achieve marketization.