Clean Hydrogen and Ammonia Synthesis in Paraguay from the Itaipu 14 GW Hydroelectric Plant
Clean Hydrogen and Ammonia Synthesis in Paraguay from the Itaipu 14 GW Hydroelectric Plant
复制标题
巴拉圭伊泰普 14 吉瓦水力发电厂的清洁氢和氨合成
作者：
M. Rivarolo;G. Riveros;L. Magistri;A. Massardo
本文旨在调查伊泰普大型（14 吉瓦）水力发电厂的清洁氢气生产情况，该发电厂位于巴拉圭和巴西（这两个拥有和管理该工厂的国家）之间的边境。水电解过程产生的氢气通过众所周知的哈伯-博世过程转化为氨。大型电解系统和空气分离装置利用液压能分别生产氢气和氮气。考虑到这种特定情况下的低电能价格以及巴拉圭可再生电能严重过剩但电力渗透率较低的情况，进行了经济可行性分析。该提案是增加该国电力使用的替代方案。研究了不同规模的工厂，并确定了每个工厂的氨生产成本，并将其作为与传统氨合成工厂的比较，传统氨合成工厂通过甲烷蒸汽重整生产氢气，然后进行纯化。该研究是使用热那亚大学作者研究小组开发的软件进行的。最后，与标准的甲烷生产方法进行了能源、环境和经济方面的比较。
This paper aims at investigating clean hydrogen production from the large size (14 GW) hydroelectric power plant of Itaipu, located on the border between Paraguay and Brazil, the two countries that own and manage the plant. The hydrogen, produced by a water electrolysis process, is converted into ammonia through the well-known Haber-Bosch process. Hydraulic energy is employed to produce H2 and N2, respectively, from a large-scale electrolysis system and an air separation unit. An economic feasibility analysis is performed considering the low electrical energy price in this specific scenario and that Paraguay has strong excess of renewable electrical energy but presents a low penetration of electricity. The proposal is an alternative to increase the use of electricity in the country. Different plant sizes were investigated and, for each of them, ammonia production costs were determined and considered as a term of comparison with traditional ammonia synthesis plants, where H2 is produced from methane steam reforming and then purified. The study was performed employing a software developed by the authors’ research group at the University of Genoa. Finally, an energetic, environmental, and economic comparison with the standard production method from methane is presented.