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Techno-environmental assessment of small-scale Haber-Bosch and plasma-assisted ammonia supply chains
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Osorio-Tejada, Jose, Tran, Nam N. and Hessel, Volker (2022) Techno-environmental assessment of small-scale Haber-Bosch and plasma-assisted ammonia supply chains. Science of The Total Environment, 826 . 154162. doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.154162 ISSN 1879-1026.
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WRAP-Techno-environment-assessment-small-scale-Haber-Bosch-plasma-ammonia-supply-chains-2022.pdf - Accepted Version - Requires a PDF viewer. Available under License Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial No Derivatives 4.0. Download (1314Kb) | Preview |
Official URL: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.154162
Abstract
Haber-Bosch (HB) process, the main method for ammonia (NH ) production, contributes to near 2% of the global carbon emissions because the hydrogen input is obtained from fossil sources. NH production is concentrated in a few countries, adding emissions due to global distribution. Distributed plants next to farmers and fed by renewable energy can reduce these impacts, as well as NH storage, shortage risks, and price volatility. Distributed plants cannot reach low NH production costs as centralised plants, but they can be promoted by the environmental benefits of its products lifecycles. Therefore, life cycle assessments of NH production pathways and specific modelling for NH transport in Australia were performed, from cradle-to-site, to identify the influence of storage, transport, and energy sources in their environmental profiles. The carbon footprint of centralised production was up to 2.96 kg.CO /kg.NH , from which 29.3% corresponded to transport. Local production demonstrated substantial avoided transport impacts and that CO can reach reductions over 100% when including co-product credits such as oxygen and carbon black. Local plants using electrolysers to supply mini-HB loops obtained rates of 0.12, -0.52, and -1.57 kg.CO /kg.NH using electricity from solar, wind, and biogas (other than manure) sources, respectively. The alternative using high temperature plasma reactor instead of electrolyser obtained its best rate of -0.65 kg.CO /kg using biogas different from manure. At farm electrolyser-based plants using novel non-thermal plasma reactors, considering potential energy yields and simplified NH separation technology, could reach a rate of -1.07 kg.CO /kg.NH using solar energy. Among the assessed pathways, the most notable impact was on freshwater eutrophication in the electrolyser-based plants generating reductions up to 290%, due to oxygen credits. Despite these results, the use of solar energy raises concerns on land use and terrestrial ecotoxicity due to the area needed for solar farms and the manufacture of their components.
Item Type: | Journal Article | ||||||||
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Subjects: | T Technology > TD Environmental technology. Sanitary engineering T Technology > TP Chemical technology T Technology > TS Manufactures |
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Divisions: | Faculty of Science, Engineering and Medicine > Engineering > Engineering | ||||||||
SWORD Depositor: | Library Publications Router | ||||||||
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH): | Ammonia -- Synthesis -- Environmental aspects, Manufacturing processes -- Environmental aspects, Fertilizers -- Environmental aspects, Renewable energy sources -- Industrial applications | ||||||||
Journal or Publication Title: | Science of The Total Environment | ||||||||
Publisher: | Elsevier | ||||||||
ISSN: | 1879-1026 | ||||||||
Official Date: | 20 June 2022 | ||||||||
Dates: |
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Volume: | 826 | ||||||||
Article Number: | 154162 | ||||||||
DOI: | 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.154162 | ||||||||
Status: | Peer Reviewed | ||||||||
Publication Status: | Published | ||||||||
Access rights to Published version: | Restricted or Subscription Access | ||||||||
Date of first compliant deposit: | 25 April 2022 | ||||||||
Date of first compliant Open Access: | 28 February 2023 | ||||||||
RIOXX Funder/Project Grant: |
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