Role of Green Ammonia in Energy Mix

Published in November 2022 Issue of Chemical Engineering World

Globally, India is the third largest producer of ammonia which is traditionally produced from natural gas. Since India lacks the availability of natural gas resources, the feedstock for Ammonia is imported into India; making it import-dependent. However, this process of Ammonia production from natural gas generates carbon emissions. Moreover, the volatility of natural gas prices impacted by the Ukraine war has pushed the conventional Ammonia prices to a record high approx. more than $1,000 per ton earlier this year. Unless there is a solution to detach prices from natural Gas, the Indian agriculture sector is expected to suffer from subsidies and import bills. Some fertilizer companies within India also import conventional Ammonia for further utilization in other downstream phosphate fertilizers.

The food crisis is one of the major issues the world is facing over the past decades for which it is essential that food production is ramped up. To accelerate the crop yield, ammonia-based fertilizers are used which catalyze the nitrogen in Ammonia and improve the soil nutrients. In the present scenario, the world is also struggling with climate crisis to keep greenhouse gas emissions within specified limits.

With rising demand to curb carbon emissions, the industry is now exploring various options for producing Ammonia either free from carbon dioxide or keeping the emissions possibly at the lowest level using Green Ammonia.

In addition to Ammonia being utilized as fertilizer, the industry is seeking new avenues for utilization of Ammonia for burning as a fuel in coal-fired power plants, running ships/ vessels on Ammonia fueled marine engines, generation of electricity using Ammonia fired turbines and many others. Although these are not exclusively novel applications, the scale and utilization of such ammonia applications are being developed large-scale usage worldwide. Therefore, it is definitely a matter of time before such applications will become a reality.

With recent introduction of new incentives announced by Governments of developed nations such as USA, EU and Japan; the Green Hydrogen and Green or Blue Ammonia are gaining sustained focus for the decarbonization of economies. It is also seen that the extraction of hydrogen from Green Ammonia provides another possible solution by cracking Ammonia at the site of consumption.

Overall market dynamics in Ammonia, provides a unique opportunity for India to move from import dependent Ammonia for Fertilizer in the agricultural sector and move towards export-oriented Green Ammonia ecosystem with the upcoming trade applications of ammonia as a fuel. Considering India’s consumption of Ammonia, it is certain that Ammonia will play a vital role in India’s journey towards energy transition.

Ammonia Synthesis

The difference between conventional vis-à-vis green ammonia is the elimination of process steps such as the primary & secondary reforming. The conventional process of producing ammonia from natural Gas releases approx. 2 tons of CO₂ for every ton of ammonia produced. Primarily, these reforming processes of hydrogen production through Steam Methane Reforming are now replaced by producing green Hydrogen from Water Electrolysis. Depending on the downstream use, Deoxo (Oxygen removal) & Hydrogen compression need to be considered. The Nitrogen required will typically be sourced from an Air Separation Unit. The Ammonia synthesis process that follows is then similar compared with the conventional process.

To sum it up, we see that Green Ammonia is essentially produced from air, water, and from renewable energy sources like the sun & wind.

thyssenkrupp offerings in Ammonia

thyssenkrupp offers a variety of solutions across the value chain of Ammonia production - starting from Green Hydrogen up to Ammonia Synthesis followed by Ammonia storage, and Ammonia cracking.

The difference between conventional and green ammonia plants is load management. While a conventional ammonia plant is usually operated near its maximum capacity most of the time, the renewables-based production has to basically follow the ups and downs of the available power. thyssenkrupp Uhde has specifically developed a holistic performance modelling (RHAMFS©) across the entire Green Hydrogen / Green Ammonia value chain, right from power feed characterization to product dispatch. Based on decades of technical and economic data, dynamic and multivariable modelling can be performed to determine the most practical and cost-economic concept for any power-to-X application, be it greenfield or brownfield.

thyssenkrupp nucera offers Water Electrolysis technology and has more than five decades of experience in Electrolysis technology. thyssenkrupp has built more than 600 Chlor-Alkali electrochemical plants equivalent to 10 GW of Green Hydrogen. All these Chlor-Alkali plants produce Hydrogen from the electrolysis process, as a by-product.

thyssenkrupp Uhde has more than 100 years of experience in implementing various Fertilizer projects around the globe. It is also the only company that has the experience in building more than 3,500 tpd Single Train Ammonia plants, which are running successfully for over more than 15 years. This expertise has been demonstrated at various plants worldwide.

thyssenkrupp Uhde can offer varied capacities of Green Ammonia plants from 300 tpd up to 5,000 tpd as required. It also offers carbon capture technology which can be utilized in conventional ammonia plants to limit carbon emissions; thereby such ammonia plants integrated with the carbon capture can also qualify for Blue Ammonia.

International Success Stories

Globally, developed countries have started taking steps towards investing in Green Ammonia plants. Green Ammonia is also one of the critical vectors for carrying green hydrogen over long distances since the required infrastructure and supply chain for carrying ammonia has been in place for decades.

In the existing scenario, to achieve price parity with conventional Ammonia, the industry is ensuring the focus on economies of scale. Therefore, global projects such as NEOM in Saudi Arabia with 2GW of Water electrolyzers coupled with Green Ammonia production in the downstream are being set up at the industrial scale. In addition, the upcoming projects in developed nations such as EU / USA are also looking at larger-scale ammonia plants.

thyssenkrupp is presently executing world scale Green Hydrogen project in Neom, Saudi Arabia and Clean Ammonia projects in Qatar & USA, which are expected to be on stream in the years to come.

Investments Scenario & Building the ecosystem to accelerate adaptation

In the coming years, many analysts estimate multiple investments in the clean (either Green or Blue) ammonia capacities. The feasibilities of utilizing ammonia for applications other than in the fertilizers industry are being looked and studied at. One of the largest US fertilizer companies hinted that they will be adding ammonia capacity for exploring the upcoming potential market of ammonia for the marine shipping industry, and within the power plants. EU and Japan are exploring the import of Green Ammonia for this purpose.

Therefore, the Indian government is on the path of attaining self-reliance in Green Hydrogen & Green Ammonia. The ministries are promoting their bit to re-align their expectations towards the export of Green Ammonia at better prices. In order to make Green Hydrogen & Green Ammonia competitive, certain policy incentives from the supply side are announced for waiver of central transmission charges, banking up to 30 days and open access policy. In the next phase, it is anticipated that the government will release policy incentives to encourage consumption and issue certain production linked schemes. A few months ago, the Energy Conservations (Amendment) Bill was introduced which sought to mandate the use of Green Hydrogen, Green Ammonia for energy & feedstock to combat the over-reliance on fossil fuels and move towards a self-reliant India in the future. Such an environment will ensure the pace of investments in Green Ammonia in India.

Conclusion

thyssenkrupp can offer wide range solutions from concept to commissioning within the Green Ammonia value chain. This is at a time when India is making new strides in Green Ammonia sector as the energy transition takes place. To achieve a sustainable scenario while moving towards a net-zero economy, India is poised to grow with Green Ammonia investments. Many project developers and financial institutions are re-assessing their feasibilities based on ever-evolving scenarios from developed nations and seeking incentives from the government to make investments more sustainable.