IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/rensus/v130y2020ics1364032120302550.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Environmental evaluation of european ammonia production considering various hydrogen supply chains

Author

Listed:
  • Chisalita, Dora-Andreea
  • Petrescu, Letitia
  • Cormos, Calin-Cristian

Abstract

Ammonia synthesis is a topic of high interest in the industry as the market continues to expand and demand increases. The current ammonia production route is very energy and carbon-intensive, relying greatly on natural gas both as feedstock as well as for heat and power generation within the plant. In the present work, a cradle-to-gate environmental assessment of conventional and greener hydrogen production routes integrated with ammonia synthesis is carried out according to ReCIPe impact assessment method. Hydrogen production through conventional steam methane reforming coupled with gas-liquid carbon dioxide absorption by amines and chilled ammonia, electrolysis, and iron-based chemical looping are analysed and compared. Mass and energy balances from process flow modelling are used as inputs for the environmental evaluation using Life Cycle Assessment. The system boundaries considered in this work include: i) main processes: ammonia production, hydrogen production, carbon dioxide separation; ii) upstream processes: nitrogen, natural gas, ilmenite, Methyl-DiEthanol-Amine, chilled ammonia and catalysts supply chains, iii) downstream processes: carbon dioxide compression, transport and storage, degradation/disposal of solvents/oxygen carrier. The results show that natural gas-based ammonia synthesis integrated with chemical looping hydrogen production gives the highest reduction in Global Warming Potential while six out of the nine investigated impact indicators (excluding Global Warming Potential) suffer an increase between 30% and 60%. In the case of hydrogen produced from electrolysis, unless the electricity necessary for electrolysis is obtained from non-fossil sources, it results in the highest overall emissions to air, water and soil.

Suggested Citation

  • Chisalita, Dora-Andreea & Petrescu, Letitia & Cormos, Calin-Cristian, 2020. "Environmental evaluation of european ammonia production considering various hydrogen supply chains," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 130(C).
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:rensus:v:130:y:2020:i:c:s1364032120302550
    DOI: 10.1016/j.rser.2020.109964
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1364032120302550
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.rser.2020.109964?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Luo, Ming & Yi, Yang & Wang, Shuzhong & Wang, Zhuliang & Du, Min & Pan, Jianfeng & Wang, Qian, 2018. "Review of hydrogen production using chemical-looping technology," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 81(P2), pages 3186-3214.
    2. Chisalita, Dora-Andreea & Cormos, Calin-Cristian, 2019. "Techno-economic assessment of hydrogen production processes based on various natural gas chemical looping systems with carbon capture," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 181(C), pages 331-344.
    3. Nikolaidis, Pavlos & Poullikkas, Andreas, 2017. "A comparative overview of hydrogen production processes," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 597-611.
    4. Unknown, 2016. "Energy for Sustainable Development," Conference Proceedings 253270, Guru Arjan Dev Institute of Development Studies (IDSAsr).
    5. Wang, Fu & Zhao, Jun & Miao, He & Zhao, Jiapei & Zhang, Houcheng & Yuan, Jinliang & Yan, Jinyue, 2018. "Current status and challenges of the ammonia escape inhibition technologies in ammonia-based CO2 capture process," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 230(C), pages 734-749.
    6. Mikulčić, Hrvoje & Ridjan Skov, Iva & Dominković, Dominik Franjo & Wan Alwi, Sharifah Rafidah & Manan, Zainuddin Abdul & Tan, Raymond & Duić, Neven & Hidayah Mohamad, Siti Nur & Wang, Xuebin, 2019. "Flexible Carbon Capture and Utilization technologies in future energy systems and the utilization pathways of captured CO2," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 114(C), pages 1-1.
    7. Yapicioglu, Arda & Dincer, Ibrahim, 2019. "A review on clean ammonia as a potential fuel for power generators," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 103(C), pages 96-108.
    8. Hosseini, Seyed Ehsan & Wahid, Mazlan Abdul, 2016. "Hydrogen production from renewable and sustainable energy resources: Promising green energy carrier for clean development," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 850-866.
    9. Abdin, Zainul & Zafaranloo, Ali & Rafiee, Ahmad & Mérida, Walter & Lipiński, Wojciech & Khalilpour, Kaveh R., 2020. "Hydrogen as an energy vector," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 120(C).
    10. Hsieh, Tien-Lin & Xu, Dikai & Zhang, Yitao & Nadgouda, Sourabh & Wang, Dawei & Chung, Cheng & Pottimurphy, Yaswanth & Guo, Mengqing & Chen, Yu-Yen & Xu, Mingyuan & He, Pengfei & Fan, Liang-Shih & Tong, 2018. "250 kWth high pressure pilot demonstration of the syngas chemical looping system for high purity H2 production with CO2 capture," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 230(C), pages 1660-1672.
    11. Orhan, Mehmet F. & Dincer, Ibrahim & Rosen, Marc A. & Kanoglu, Mehmet, 2012. "Integrated hydrogen production options based on renewable and nuclear energy sources," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 16(8), pages 6059-6082.
    12. Andersson, Jim & Lundgren, Joakim, 2014. "Techno-economic analysis of ammonia production via integrated biomass gasification," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 130(C), pages 484-490.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Michail Cheliotis & Evangelos Boulougouris & Nikoletta L Trivyza & Gerasimos Theotokatos & George Livanos & George Mantalos & Athanasios Stubos & Emmanuel Stamatakis & Alexandros Venetsanos, 2021. "Review on the Safe Use of Ammonia Fuel Cells in the Maritime Industry," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(11), pages 1-20, May.
    2. Devkota, Sijan & Cha, Jin-Young & Shin, Beom-Ju & Mun, Ji-Hun & Yoon, Hyung Chul & Mazari, Shaukat Ali & Moon, Jong-Ho, 2024. "Techno-economic and environmental assessment of hydrogen production through ammonia decomposition," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 358(C).
    3. Perčić, Maja & Vladimir, Nikola & Fan, Ailong, 2021. "Techno-economic assessment of alternative marine fuels for inland shipping in Croatia," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 148(C).
    4. Rafael Estevez & Francisco J. López-Tenllado & Laura Aguado-Deblas & Felipa M. Bautista & Antonio A. Romero & Diego Luna, 2023. "Current Research on Green Ammonia (NH 3 ) as a Potential Vector Energy for Power Storage and Engine Fuels: A Review," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(14), pages 1-33, July.
    5. Sillman, Jani & Havukainen, Jouni & Alfasfos, Rami & Elyasi, Nashmin & Lilja, Miro & Ruuskanen, Vesa & Laasonen, Emma & Leppäkoski, Lauri & Uusitalo, Ville & Soukka, Risto, 2024. "Meta-analysis of climate impact reduction potential of hydrogen usage in 9 Power-to-X pathways," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 359(C).
    6. Akito Ozawa & Yuki Kudoh, 2021. "Assessing Uncertainties of Life-Cycle CO 2 Emissions Using Hydrogen Energy for Power Generation," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(21), pages 1-23, October.
    7. Galusnyak, Stefan Cristian & Petrescu, Letitia & Chisalita, Dora Andreea & Cormos, Calin-Cristian, 2022. "Life cycle assessment of methanol production and conversion into various chemical intermediates and products," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 259(C).
    8. Lechón, Yolanda & Lago, Carmen & Herrera, Israel & Gamarra, Ana Rosa & Pérula, Alberto, 2023. "Carbon benefits of different energy storage alternative end uses. Application to the Spanish case," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 171(C).
    9. Perčić, Maja & Vladimir, Nikola & Jovanović, Ivana & Koričan, Marija, 2022. "Application of fuel cells with zero-carbon fuels in short-sea shipping," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 309(C).
    10. Chen, Chen & Liu, Dong, 2023. "Review of effects of zero-carbon fuel ammonia addition on soot formation in combustion," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 185(C).
    11. Galusnyak, Stefan Cristian & Petrescu, Letitia & Cormos, Calin-Cristian, 2022. "Classical vs. reactive distillation technologies for biodiesel production: An environmental comparison using LCA methodology," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 192(C), pages 289-299.
    12. Andrea J. Boero & Kevin Kardux & Marina Kovaleva & Daniel A. Salas & Jacco Mooijer & Syed Mashruk & Michael Townsend & Kevin Rouwenhorst & Agustin Valera-Medina & Angel D. Ramirez, 2021. "Environmental Life Cycle Assessment of Ammonia-Based Electricity," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(20), pages 1-20, October.
    13. Carlo James Cunanan & Carlos Andrés Elorza Casas & Mitchell Yorke & Michael Fowler & Xiao-Yu Wu, 2022. "Design and Analysis of an Offshore Wind Power to Ammonia Production System in Nova Scotia," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(24), pages 1-23, December.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Jahangiri, Mehdi & Rezaei, Mostafa & Mostafaeipour, Ali & Goojani, Afsaneh Raiesi & Saghaei, Hamed & Hosseini Dehshiri, Seyyed Jalaladdin & Hosseini Dehshiri, Seyyed Shahabaddin, 2022. "Prioritization of solar electricity and hydrogen co-production stations considering PV losses and different types of solar trackers: A TOPSIS approach," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 186(C), pages 889-903.
    2. Sagir, Emrah & Alipour, Siamak, 2021. "Photofermentative hydrogen production by immobilized photosynthetic bacteria: Current perspectives and challenges," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 141(C).
    3. Morteza Aien & Omid Mahdavi, 2020. "On the Way of Policy Making to Reduce the Reliance of Fossil Fuels: Case Study of Iran," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(24), pages 1-28, December.
    4. Nurdiawati, Anissa & Zaini, Ilman Nuran & Irhamna, Adrian Rizqi & Sasongko, Dwiwahju & Aziz, Muhammad, 2019. "Novel configuration of supercritical water gasification and chemical looping for highly-efficient hydrogen production from microalgae," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 369-381.
    5. Wenhui Zhao & Jibin Ma & Zhanyang Wang & Youting Li & Weishi Zhang, 2022. "Potential Hydrogen Market: Value-Added Services Increase Economic Efficiency for Hydrogen Energy Suppliers," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(8), pages 1-18, April.
    6. Qyyum, Muhammad Abdul & Dickson, Rofice & Ali Shah, Syed Fahad & Niaz, Haider & Khan, Amin & Liu, J. Jay & Lee, Moonyong, 2021. "Availability, versatility, and viability of feedstocks for hydrogen production: Product space perspective," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 145(C).
    7. Abdin, Zainul & Zafaranloo, Ali & Rafiee, Ahmad & Mérida, Walter & Lipiński, Wojciech & Khalilpour, Kaveh R., 2020. "Hydrogen as an energy vector," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 120(C).
    8. Yáñez, María & Ortiz, Alfredo & Brunaud, Braulio & Grossmann, Ignacio E. & Ortiz, Inmaculada, 2018. "Contribution of upcycling surplus hydrogen to design a sustainable supply chain: The case study of Northern Spain," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 231(C), pages 777-787.
    9. Baena-Moreno, Francisco M. & Pastor-Pérez, Laura & Zhang, Zhien & Reina, T.R., 2020. "Stepping towards a low-carbon economy. Formic acid from biogas as case of study," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 268(C).
    10. Marino, C. & Nucara, A. & Panzera, M.F. & Pietrafesa, M. & Varano, V., 2019. "Energetic and economic analysis of a stand alone photovoltaic system with hydrogen storage," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 142(C), pages 316-329.
    11. Giuseppe Sdanghi & Gaël Maranzana & Alain Celzard & Vanessa Fierro, 2020. "Towards Non-Mechanical Hybrid Hydrogen Compression for Decentralized Hydrogen Facilities," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(12), pages 1-27, June.
    12. Li, Guoxuan & Wang, Shuai & Zhao, Jiangang & Qi, Huaqing & Ma, Zhaoyuan & Cui, Peizhe & Zhu, Zhaoyou & Gao, Jun & Wang, Yinglong, 2020. "Life cycle assessment and techno-economic analysis of biomass-to-hydrogen production with methane tri-reforming," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 199(C).
    13. Abdul Rahim Shaikh & Qinhui Wang & Long Han & Yi Feng & Zohaib Sharif & Zhixin Li & Jianmeng Cen & Sunel Kumar, 2022. "Techno-Economic Analysis of Hydrogen and Electricity Production by Biomass Calcium Looping Gasification," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(4), pages 1-22, February.
    14. Lopes, J.V.M. & Bresciani, A.E. & Carvalho, K.M. & Kulay, L.A. & Alves, R.M.B., 2021. "Multi-criteria decision approach to select carbon dioxide and hydrogen sources as potential raw materials for the production of chemicals," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 151(C).
    15. Seunghyun Cheon & Manhee Byun & Dongjun Lim & Hyunjun Lee & Hankwon Lim, 2021. "Parametric Study for Thermal and Catalytic Methane Pyrolysis for Hydrogen Production: Techno-Economic and Scenario Analysis," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(19), pages 1-19, September.
    16. Christina Wulf & Martin Kaltschmitt, 2018. "Hydrogen Supply Chains for Mobility—Environmental and Economic Assessment," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(6), pages 1-26, May.
    17. Lui, Jade & Chen, Wei-Hsin & Tsang, Daniel C.W. & You, Siming, 2020. "A critical review on the principles, applications, and challenges of waste-to-hydrogen technologies," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 134(C).
    18. Li, Lei & Manier, Hervé & Manier, Marie-Ange, 2019. "Hydrogen supply chain network design: An optimization-oriented review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 103(C), pages 342-360.
    19. Ping, Zhang & Laijun, Wang & Songzhe, Chen & Jingming, Xu, 2018. "Progress of nuclear hydrogen production through the iodine–sulfur process in China," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 81(P2), pages 1802-1812.
    20. Qureshi, Fazil & Yusuf, Mohammad & Kamyab, Hesam & Vo, Dai-Viet N. & Chelliapan, Shreeshivadasan & Joo, Sang-Woo & Vasseghian, Yasser, 2022. "Latest eco-friendly avenues on hydrogen production towards a circular bioeconomy: Currents challenges, innovative insights, and future perspectives," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 168(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:rensus:v:130:y:2020:i:c:s1364032120302550. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/600126/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.