Green ammonia synthesis using a plasma-catalytic plate reactor

氨是一种商品化学品，年产量约为1.5亿公吨。它主要用作化肥工业的原料，但也用于合成其他化合物，如纺织和制药工业。氨还可以作为难以脱碳应用的燃料，如船舶推进以及具有成本效益的氢储存和运输介质。通过哈伯-博施工艺（N2 + 3 H2 = 2 NH3）的常规氨生产是能源密集型的，并且占世界总的一次能源需求和温室气体排放（每吨NH3排放1.5吨CO2）的1-2%。加拿大和德国每年分别生产390万吨和240万吨氨，合起来是全球第五大生产国。更可持续的氨生产路线使用可再生电力，不仅通过水电解产生绿色氢气，而且还辅助HB工艺。然而，电解和电气化HB工艺都是高度电力密集型的，并且需要新的电气技术来降低全电NH3合成工艺的总体能量需求。在这方面，等离子体催化是一个新兴领域，其中等离子体激发气体物质，这些气体物质以较低的活化能在催化剂表面上进一步转化。等离子体辅助的氢气和氮气到氨的催化转化已经研究了很多年。然而，等离子体辅助催化的详细机理仍然知之甚少，并且反应器配置没有优化以获得最佳性能。加拿大和德国都是可再生能源发电和利用的坚定支持者，最近还启动了一项氢战略。作为其氢战略的一部分，加拿大有巨大的潜力成为一个强大的绿色氨出口国。加拿大和德国对绿色氨生产技术的投资将有助于氨工业脱碳，并使两国成为绿色氢利用这一关键领域的技术领导者。

Ammonia is a commodity chemical with annual production volumes of around 150 million metric tons. It is mainly used as a feedstock for the fertilizer industry but also for the synthesis of other chemical compounds such as in the textile and pharmaceutical industries. Ammonia can also serve as a fuel for hard-to-decarbonize applications such as marine propulsion as well as a cost-effective hydrogen storage and transport medium. Conventional ammonia production through the Haber-Bosch process (N2 + 3H2 = 2 NH3) is energy-intensive and accounts for 1-2% of the world's total primary energy demand and greenhouse gas emissions (1.5 tons CO2 emitted per ton of NH3). Canada and Germany produce 3.9 and 2.4 million tons of ammonia annually, respectively, which combined is the fifth largest production worldwide. A more sustainable ammonia production route uses renewable electricity to not only generate green hydrogen via water electrolysis, but also to assist the HB process. Both electrolysis and electrified HB process are highly electricity intensive, though, and novel electro-technologies are needed to reduce the overall energy needs of the all-electric NH3 synthesis process. In this regard, plasma-catalysis is an emerging field, in which the plasma excites the gas species, which are further converted over the catalyst surface with a lower activation energy. Plasma-assisted catalytic conversion of hydrogen and nitrogen to ammonia has been investigated since many years. However, the detailed mechanism of plasma-assisted catalysis is still poorly understood and the reactor configurations are not optimized for best performances. Canada and Germany are both strong proponents of renewable electricity generation and utilization, and recently launched an hydrogen strategy. There is a huge potential for Canada to become a strong green ammonia exporter as part of its hydrogen strategy. Canada's and Germany's investment in green ammonia production technologies will help decarbonize the ammonia industry and positions both countries to become technology leaders in this key area of green hydrogen utilization.