Electrochemical Ammonia Production
Project period: 2019-2022
Grant Kr. 16,5 mio
We propose to build an electrochemical device for a stand-alone ammonia generator. The device can potentially lead the way towards a disruptive new technology allowing sustainable and delocalized production of ammonia. The basis for the proposal is recent fundamental investigations in our laboratory proving an electrochemical process to electrochemically reduce N2 to form ammonia using Lithium as a catalyst. Our approach allows the Lithium to be deposited as Li3N from a Li salt and molecular N2 in a non-aqueous electrolyte and subsequently hydrogenated into ammonia.
The aim of this proposal is to construct a fuel cell-type device which will synthesize ammonia electrochemically directly by using renewable electricity as the energy source, water, and nitrogen from the air.
The designed prototype, constitutes a technological readiness, which we suggest is the inflection point where electrochemical ammonia synthesis transitions from a “laboratory curiosity” to a real technology with a market potential. This provides a target performance where we can start to compete in niche markets for example intensive agriculture and underdeveloped areas. Our analysis also shows that if these conditions are met, the cost is dominated by the power consumption. Moreover, we aim to hit these performance metrics in a modular design which is amenable towards scale-up via stacking of multiple cells. This modular design philosophy is analogous to that used in fuel cell stacks and is well-suited for mass production of the core units (cells) as well as tailoring (the stack) for the individual customer needs.
