Development of functional porous particulates for green ammonia production

氨是现代社会中使用的最重要的化学品之一，由于人口的增加和经济的增长，氨的产量估计到2050年将翻一番。氨也是一种很有前途的零碳能源载体，可以长期储存可再生能源，也是一种直接燃烧的绿色燃料。今天，氨主要通过集中的Haber-Bosch （H-B）工艺大规模地从N2和H2中生产，该工艺通常在高温（450 - 600℃）和高压（150 - 300 bar）下进行。然而，这种发达的能源密集型工艺消耗了世界上1 - 2%的初级能源供应，每年排放超过3亿吨的二氧化碳。因此，由于农业和绿色燃料应用对氨的需求不断增加，迫切需要使用可再生能源开发新的革命性技术来分散“绿色氨生产”。该提案旨在开发一种突破性的方法，利用创新的功能性多孔颗粒和新兴的等离子体技术，利用当地过量的可再生电力进行分散的氨生产，否则由于低需求和/或传输限制而减少发电。在本项目中，我们将展示高多孔泡沫锂颗粒的合成，以加强固氮反应和非热等离子体辅助柔性氢氧化锂分解反应。

Ammonia is one of the most important chemicals used in modern society and the production of ammonia is estimated to be doubled by 2050 due to the population increase and growth of the economy. Ammonia is also a promising zero-carbon energy vector for long-term renewable energy storage and a green fuel through direct combustion. Today, ammonia is mainly produced from N2 and H2 on a large scale through the centralised Haber-Bosch (H-B) process, which is typically carried out at high temperatures (450 - 600 oC) and high pressures (150 - 300 bar). However, this well-developed and energy-intensive process consumes 1 - 2% of the world's primary energy supply and emits over 300 million metric tons of CO2 each year. Therefore, developing new revolutionised technologies for decentralised 'green ammonia production' using renewables is urgently needed due to the constantly increasing demand for ammonia in both agricultural and green fuel applications. This proposal aims to develop a breakthrough approach using innovative functional porous particulates and an emerging plasma technology for decentralised ammonia production using local excessive renewable electricity, which is otherwise curtailed from generation due to low demand and/or transmission constraints. In this project, we will demonstrate the synthesis of highly porous lithium foam particulates to intensify the nitrogen fixation reaction and the non-thermal plasma-assisted flexible lithium hydroxide decomposition reaction.