Ammonia production energy consumption

Regardless of what kinds of materials and methods are used, the production process of ammonia is irreversible. Therefore, the actual product energy consumption is... 

As can be seen from this analysis, the natural gas feedstock and capital charges amount to over 93% of the total production cost before return on investment. Therefore, energy consumption and capital investment are the key factors in determining ammonia production profitabiUty. 

Ammonia synthesis is the second largest chemical process, after the production of sulfuric acid (see also Chapter 1). It accounts for about 1 % of the total human-related energy consumption. Roughly 80 % of the ammonia produced is used for fertilizers (either as liquid ammonia or as more easily handled salts such as ammonium nitrate, ammonium phosphate, etc.) and, as such, ammonia synthesis is indispensable for our society. Other applications of ammonia are nitrogen-containing... 

In the mid-1990 s the ammonia industry accounted for about 5% of the worldwide natural gas consumption. For economic and environmental reasons, natural gas is the feedstock of choice. However, processes for ammonia production can use a wide range of energy sources. For example, in 2001 60% of China s nitrogen fertilizer production was based on coal. In 2002 natural gas is the most economic feedstock for the production of ammonia as shown in Table 6.736. 

Of the world energy consumption, 1.6% is used for the production of ammonia. In 2000, 108 megatons of ammonia were produced. About 85% is used for fertilizer production as urea, which accounts for 40% of the fertilizer production, and... 

Natural gas is by far the most economical feedstock for ammonia production, achieving the lowest energy consumption and requiring the lowest investment [404], This can also be seen from Table 45, which gives an estimate of ammonia production costs in Northwest Europe for different feedstocks using state-of-the-art technological standards. The lump turn key price for the ammonia plant were assumed as 180 x 106 for steam reforming of natural gas, 270 x 106 for partial oxidation of vacuum residue and 400 x 106 for coal-based plants (Capacity 1800 mt/d). 

The thermodynamic energy requirement is 2 x lO" kJ/t NH3, which represents the theoretical minimum for all conceivable processes. Modern processes for the production of ammonia from natural gas have energy consumptions of around 3x10 kJ/t NH3, i.e., only 1.5 times the theoretical minimum energy consumption. Today much of the energy requirement can be covered by means of heat recovery. Modern ammonia plants produce up to 2000 t/d. 

On the basis of the high global energy consumption required to produce NH3, there is great interest of synthesizing NH3 from its parent elements under milder conditions. The production of N2-derived ammonia via an iron complex, a potassium reductant, and H2, reported by Holland in 2011, is a seminal achievement. ... 

The industrial production of ammonia from N2 and H2 by the Haber-Bosch procedure is a high energy consumption process. Due to the volume reduction... 

Since the initial development of its synthesis, the industrial production of ammonia has been steadily increasing as can be seen from the curve (Figure 1), and in 2005 the world production has reached 147 million metric tonnes. Today 1.2% of the total world energy consumption is used for production of ammonia. 

There are process schemes to convert syngas to ammonia, methanol, substitute natural gas (SNG), and Fischer-Tropsch-derived transportation fuels. These novel and efficient schemes minimize plant energy consumption, water use, and emissions while increasing the output of valuable products. 

Total energy consumption Liquid ammonia product 7.22 Gcal/t NHs... 

Energy Consumption in Ammonia Production-Influence of External Conditions and Key Parameter, Undated Haldor Topsoe brochure. 

The yields of products from raw materials are very high even in the most energy-consuming ammonia process, methane consumption reached 75% yield. Other intermediates and fertilizer processes reached yields of 98%-99.5%. 

---