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Modeling of Solar Ammonia Production Using ASPEN Plus

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Proceedings from the International Conference on Hydro and Renewable Energy (ICHRE 2022)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Civil Engineering ((LNCE,volume 391))

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Abstract

A steady-state model of green ammonia production using hydrogen produced from Polymer Electrolyte Membrane (PEM) electrolysis has been developed using ASPEN Plus Simulation software. Since the ASPEN plus does not offer the facility to directly model electrolysis cells, Aspen Custom Modeler (ACM) is used to develop the PEM stack. Stack is based on semi-empirical equations describing cell voltage and water transport across the membrane. The power requirement for electrolysis is expected to come from solar energy. This model of the PEM electrolyzer is integrated with the ammonia production model in a single flowsheet. With a power input of 4.25 kW, the PEM stack with 26 cells produced 0.048 kmol/h of H2. The corresponding ammonia production utilizing the conventional Haber–Bosch reactor was simulated to be 0.026 kmol/h. Such a model is expected to assist in the future design and scale-up of green ammonia processes.

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Abbreviations

∆H0:

Change in enthalpy at STP conditions

Vcell:

Cell voltage

Vopen circuit:

Open circuit voltage

Vact_anode:

Activation overpotential at anode

Vact_cathode:

Activation overpotential at cathode

ΔG:

Change in Gibbs free energy

ΔG*:

Gibbs free energy change at any temperature but standard pressure

\(P_{{{\text{H}}_{2} }}\):

Partial pressure of H2

\(P_{{{\text{O}}_{2} }}\):

Partial pressure of O2

\(\alpha_{{{\text{H}}_{2} {\text{O}}}}\):

Activity coefficient of water (~ 1)

Top:

Operating temperature

i0,electrode:

Exchange current density, corresponding to the current density for the reversible semi-reaction at anode or cathode

ielectrode:

Current density in the stack

αelectrode:

Anode or cathode charge transfer coefficient

n:

Number of electrons transferred in a half reaction

F:

Faraday number

iuseful:

Useful current density (found using faraday’s efficiency)

icell:

Current density in cell (Istack/Acell)

tan:

Thickness of anode

tcat:

Thickness of cathode

ρan:

Electrical resistivity of anode material

ρcat:

Electrical resistivity of cathode material

Acell:

Cell area

tmem:

Membrane thickness

σmem:

Conductivity of membrane

λ:

Membrane humidification

Ncell:

Number of cells in stack

Neo:

Molar flow rate of water transported due to eo drag

nd:

Electro-osmotic drag coefficient

NDiff:

Molar flow rate of water transported due to diffusivity drag

\(D_{{{\text{H}}_{2} {\text{O}},{\text{effective}}}}\):

Effective diffusivity

Wstack:

Power consumption of electrolyzer stack

σmem:

Membrane ionic conductivity

Ɛ:

Porosity of membrane

R:

Universal gas constant

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Indian Institute of Technology (BHU), Uttar Pradesh, Varanasi, 221005, India

    Indraneel Natu

  2. Hydro and Renewable Energy Department, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Roorkee, Roorkee, Uttarakhand, 247667, India

    Pratham Arora

Authors
  1. Indraneel Natu
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  2. Pratham Arora
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Correspondence to Pratham Arora .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. College of Engineering & Applied Science, University of Colorado Boulder, Colorado, CO, USA

    Bri-Mathias Hodge

  2. Department of Hydro and Renewable Energy, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Roorkee, India

    Sanjeev Kumar Prajapati

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© 2024 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.

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Natu, I., Arora, P. (2024). Modeling of Solar Ammonia Production Using ASPEN Plus. In: Hodge, BM., Prajapati, S.K. (eds) Proceedings from the International Conference on Hydro and Renewable Energy . ICHRE 2022. Lecture Notes in Civil Engineering, vol 391. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-6616-5_7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-6616-5_7

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore

  • Print ISBN: 978-981-99-6615-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-981-99-6616-5

  • eBook Packages: EngineeringEngineering (R0)

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