129 comments on A National Renewable Ammonia Architecture
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129 comments on A National Renewable Ammonia Architecture
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I wonder if the solid state process could use windpower->battery bank electricity. The advantage of hydrous processes used in some electrolytic metals purification is I believe in some case you can turn down the amps provided the voltage stays up. The deposition rate merely slows. A generalisation of ammonia is what I'd call 'lightly bound hydrogen'. Martian astronauts are supposed to be making their own methane via the Sabatier reaction. Combined with the synthetic oxygen that will power their rocket flight home to Mother Earth. Otherwise not good.
Hydrogen could come from from low temp electrolysis of water powered by renewables (with lousy EROEI) or high temp dissociation of water via solar thermal or nukes. Perhaps a mixed approach could work. Note the solar thermal ammonia demo plant in Australia will be close to uranium mines so will invite comparison with nuclear.
Finally I wonder if we could stretch nitrogen fertiliser with composts and rhizome planting. Note that you can scald growing plants with direct application of synthetic urea. It may be better to add a small amount of urea to a sludge of charcoal and compost, except you need more machine effort to spread it on the fields.
I can't speak to the far travel scenarios :-)
There is a solar thermal ammonia energy storage scheme being done in Australia. I met the researcher on it Rebecca Dunn, and I got a bit of detail at that time, but it's just now being commercialized.
The nitrogen problem is a mass balance issue - those things you describe work ... but how does a farmer, like Bryan Lutter who handles 2,000 acres, stretch his household waste and lawn clippings over three square miles? Soil reconstruction like that is possible but we're talking massive geo-engineering given the scale of our grain cultivation.
I understand the solar ammonia power station will be built at Whyalla Australia near where a 120 ML/day (31m US gall) desal plant will be built for Olympic Dam mine. It's supposed to be a joint project between two unis I've hung around. Even if they crack 20 MW that's peanuts compared to what's going on in the area so it really needs to impress.
I think for 2000 acres large compost bins the size of swimming pools need to be set up. Throw in everything ... macerated garbage, dead animals, worms, waste, weeds. When it is ripe stir in $20 of synthetic urea. Enjoy, plants that is. Or maybe inject the N-rich 'tea' into irrigation water then keep the leftovers for a smaller acreage.
Note that the demand for plug and play replacements in a given agricultural system are medium term rather than long term ... if replacement of grain monoculture with the mixed culture with nitrogen fixing plants grown side by side with nitrogen hungry plants cannot be managed with one farmer per 2,000 acres (800ha), then smaller farms may be required. That kind of transition cannot occur in a couple of years, but it clearly can occur in a couple of decades, given the changes in farm size we have seen in our history.
The thing about longer time scales, of course, is that it becomes far harder to project ahead with any confidence, which increases the importance of investing in multiple solutions to long term problems.
Eprida's process makes ammonium bicarbonate as a binder for charcoal.