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A greener and more renewable pathway for ammonia production
About
A process developed by researchers at Sandia National Laboratories in collaboration with Arizona State University and the Georgia Institute of Technology have developed an advanced solar thermochemical looping technology to produce and store N2 from air for the subsequent production of NH3 via a two-stage process which uses recyclable metal oxide and metal nitride materials to perform the chemistry. The net result is NH3 produced from sunlight, air, and green H2. The aim of the Solar-Thermal Ammonia Production (STAP) project is to demonstrate a sustainable pathway for NH3 production that uses concentrated solar irradiation in place of the hydrocarbon resource and decreases pressure requirements by about one order of magnitude compared to H-B. The aim of the Solar-Thermal Ammonia Production (STAP) project is to demonstrate a sustainable pathway for NH3 production that uses concentrated solar irradiation in place of the hydrocarbon resource and decreases pressure requirements by about one order of magnitude compared to H-B. The Solar Thermal Ammonia Production (STAP) process consists of two cycles. The solar N2 purification process (Cycle 1) is driven by concentrated solar irradiation. In the first step, endothermic thermal reduction of redox-active metal oxide particles removes oxygen from the material.
Key Benefits
NH3 production via a renewable, carbon-free technology Inputs are sunlight, air, and hydrogen; the output is ammonia\ Significantly lower pressures than Haber-Bosch The process consumes neither the oxide nor the nitride particles, which actively participate cyclically
Applications
Fertilizers Fine chemicals Concentrating solar technologies Transportation/fuels End-user for renewable H2