Australian researchers develop new hybrid plasma electrocatalytic process to produce green ammonia
Chemical engineers at UNSW Sydney and University of Sydney have developed a hybrid plasma electrocatalytic process for the production of sustainable (“green”) ammonia. The method makes green ammonia from air, water and renewable electricity and does not require the high temperatures, high pressure and huge infrastructure currently needed to produce this essential compound.
Traditional production of ammonia via the Haber-Bosch process consumes about 2% of the world’s energy and accounts for 1% of the industrial world’s carbon dioxide emissions.
The new production method demonstrated in a laboratory-based proof of concept also has the potential to play a role in the global transition towards a hydrogen economy, in which ammonia is seen as a possible solution to the problem of storing and transporting hydrogen energy.
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Chemical engineers at UNSW Sydney have found a way to make green ammonia from air, water and renewable electricity that does not require the high temperatures, high pressure and huge infrastructure currently needed to produce this essential compound.
And the new production method - demonstrated in a laboratory-based proof of concept - also has the potential to play a role in the global transition towards a hydrogen economy, where ammonia is increasingly seen as a solution to the problem of storing and transporting hydrogen energy.
In a paper published today in
Energy and Environmental Science, the authors from UNSW and University of Sydney say that ammonia synthesis was one of the critical achievements of the 20th century. When used in fertilisers that quadrupled the output of food crops, it enabled agriculture to sustain an ever-expanding global population.