CEP Magazine - April 2022 - Renewable Ammonia For A Sustainable Energy Future

4/23/22, 4:44 PM CEP Magazine - April 2022 - Renewable Ammonia for a Sustainable Energy Future
SPECIAL SECTION: PROCESS INTENSIFICATION
Renewable Ammonia for a

Sustainable Energy Future
Ammonia shows great potential as a renewable energy vector
due to its ease of storage and high energy density. Technological
advances and policy measures will be critical to enable its wide
adoption.
Hanchu Wang ▪ Matthew J. Palys ▪ Qi Zhang ▪ Prodromos Daoutidis ▪ Univ. of
Minnesota
A mmonia is, at present, essential for agriculture. In 2020, over 144 million m.t.
of ammonia were produced globally (1), 80% of which was used as nitrogen-
delivering fertilizer either directly or as a precursor. Ammonia is also used in
cleaners, as a refrigerant, and in the manufacture of plastics, explosives, textiles,
and other chemicals. Currently, ammonia’s use as an energy vector accounts for less
than 1% of the global total. However, it has considerable promise as a multifaceted
energy vector to facilitate a transition to renewables-dominant energy systems. The
potential of ammonia in energy applications has spurred rapid growth in both
research and commercialization activities.
This article introduces ammonia in the context of its advantages in energy

applications and provides an overview of renewable ammonia utilization and
production concepts, associated technologies, and their state of development. The
focus for ammonia utilization is on two applications with broad implications:
transportation, either as a hydrogen carrier or directly as a fuel, and renewable
energy storage. The viability of ammonia-enabled sustainable energy depends on its
renewable production. Thus, this article also provides a survey of sustainable
ammonia production projects and outlines potential advances in process design and
operations to make ammonia synthesis better suited to intermittent renewables.
Finally, the broader challenges and potential solutions for widespread
implementation of ammonia energy systems are discussed.
Advantages of ammonia as an energy vector

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The promise of ammonia as an energy vector is the result of certain key properties
summarized in Table 1 (2). Ammonia has the following advantages compared to
other commonly considered energy vectors:
• Relative ease of storage and transportation. Ammonia is a liquid at –33.36°C and

atmospheric pressure or alternatively at 25°C and 10 bar. These relatively mild liquid
storage conditions coupled with a high volumetric energy density mean that,
compared to hydrogen or methane, ammonia storage and transportation requires
less energy and/or is less expensive. Ammonia is also at less risk of unintended
combustion than other commonly considered energy vectors with a narrower
flammable range and a higher lower flammability limit.
• Carbon-free energy production. Ammonia consists of only hydrogen and nitrogen

atoms. Consequently, its use in energy production, whether by combustion or other
means, does not entail carbon as a byproduct, in contrast to methane or methanol.
Moreover, there exist technically viable routes to produce ammonia without carbon
emissions, ultimately enabling roundtrip carbon neutrality.
• Technical maturity of storage and distribution infrastructure. Ammonia is one of the

most produced chemicals by mass worldwide. It is currently mass-produced in a
centralized manner to take advantage of economies of scale, and then radially
distributed to the market using a well-established network of pipelines, railroads,
trucks, and ships. This existing infrastructure (and perhaps more importantly its
conceptual and technical maturity) eliminates barriers in scaling up ammonia storage
and distribution capacity in the future (Figure 1).
Figure 1. Ammonia has a well-established network of storage and delivery

infrastructure, and has multiple uses as an energy vector.
Ammonia energy applications

Ammonia for transportation. Ammonia has broad applications in sustainable
transportation. It can act as a hydrogen carrier and storage medium to enable
economical proliferation of fuel cell vehicles. Substantial research devoted to
hydrogen’s use as a carbon-free fuel has helped to improve the efficiency and
decrease the cost of fuel cells. However, due to the difficulty and cost of distributing
and storing hydrogen, particularly in large amounts, hydrogen-based transportation
has not been widely implemented. The favorable characteristics of ammonia outlined
in the previous section of this article position it uniquely to address these challenges.
Ammonia could be produced from renewable hydrogen, distributed to refueling

stations and stored there, and then decomposed (or "cracked") to hydrogen only as
vehicles are being fueled (3). This approach combines the advantages of the lower
cost, more established ammonia distribution and storage infrastructure with well-
developed hydrogen fuel cell technologies.
Recent efforts have led to the development of direct ammonia-fed fuel cells (4). This
approach avoids the need for hydrogen storage onboard vehicles, while also more
fully utilizing the energy contained in ammonia by eliminating the need for its
endothermic decomposition to hydrogen. Ammonia’s higher volumetric density
provides double the vehicle range of liquid hydrogen and three times that of
compressed hydrogen with an equal volume of fuel. Hybrid fuel cells fed with a
mixture of ammonia and hydrogen are also being investigated.
Ammonia can also be used as fuel for internal combustion engines (ICEs). These
engines only require slight modifications given ammonia’s high octane rating of 110
compared to 86 to 93 for gasoline. As a concept, ammonia-fueled ICEs are not
novel. In 1943, liquid ammonia was used in Belgium as a motorbus fuel, and 100
ammonia-fueled buses were placed on the market to overcome the diesel shortage
during World War II. A decrease in fossil fuel prices rendered these buses obsolete,
but their existence demonstrates the technical feasibility of ammonia-fueled ICEs for
road transportation. Ammonia has a lower flame speed and higher autoignition
temperature than contemporary ICE fuels, but this can be overcome by using engine
exhaust heat for ammonia preheating or partial decomposition to obtain hydrogen as
a combustion promoter (5).
The maritime shipping industry may be an early adopter of ammonia fuel. As of

2018, CO2 emissions from marine transportation account for over 3% of the global
total and this is expected to double by 2050 without an alternative course of action.
As such, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) has identified the potential of
ammonia fuel as a step toward a 70% reduction in CO2 emissions by 2050 (6).
Ammonia is sufficiently energy-dense to enable long-haul shipping. Also, because
shipping plays a crucial role in the current global ammonia supply chain, regulations
and technology for safe handling and storage of ammonia onboard ships are already
well-established — albeit not explicitly for use as a fuel. Modern ship designs may
therefore only require minor modifications for ammonia fueling.
Ammonia for energy storage. An energy landscape dominated by renewables

necessitates storage technologies to temporally balance intermittent power
availability with demands. This generation-demand mismatch occurs over multiple
timescales. The most intuitive diurnal variation is perhaps the absence of overnight
solar generation. Wind and solar resources also exhibit considerable seasonal
differences in availability; for example, in the U.S. Midwest, wind production is up to
three times greater in the spring and fall than in the summer (7). High-capacity, long-
duration energy storage is specifically needed to accommodate these seasonal
fluctuations.
Storing energy in chemicals is well-suited to these requirements with high energy

density, low storage costs, and minimal self-discharge (Figure 2). Further, the
processes used to convert the energy stored in chemical bonds to electrical power
(e.g., fuel cells, combustion) are exothermic, which makes them inherently well-
suited to combined heat and power (CHP) applications.
Figure 2. This conceptual, non-exhaustive illustration demonstrates the

approximate energy capacities and storage durations of several energy-storage
technologies.
Ammonia specifically can achieve energy capacity costs below $0.05/kWh (2)
because it can be stored as a liquid at near-ambient conditions (see Table 1). In
comparison, energy capacity costs for hydrogen storage in high-pressure vessels
are an order of magnitude higher. Hydrogen can be stored underground in salt
caverns to reduce these costs (8), but this method of storage is limited to areas
where these caverns exist.
Remote or rural communities are potential early adopters of ammonia for energy
storage. These communities are often subject to high energy costs owing to long
transmission distances for power and fuels, as well as inefficient operation of small
local diesel generators. Ammonia-facilitated fully renewable CHP would be
economically competitive in many of these locations today (9). More broadly, grid
systems in the near term could produce ammonia (on-site) during periods of excess
renewable generation and subsequently co-feed this ammonia with conventional fuel
in existing gas turbines to reduce carbon intensity.
Taking a longer view, ammonia could play an integral role in 100% renewable energy
supply systems, acting as seasonal storage in combination with other technologies
better suited to short-term balancing (Figure 3) (9, 10). Ammonia’s favorable
characteristics as an energy carrier also add a spatial element to its balancing

capabilities, allowing for the transport of energy between cities, states, or even
countries of high renewable generation and high energy demand.
Figure 3. Ammonia could help to provide a fully renewable energy supply, as

shown here with an example of a cost-optimal energy storage schedule for 1 MW
annual average residential demand supplied fully by wind energy in Minneapolis,
MN (10). Hydrogen (in dark blue, overlaid) is used for short-term balancing due to
its higher roundtrip efficiency, while ammonia (green) is used for seasonal storage
due to its lower storage cost. See Ref. 10 for more information on hydrogen and
ammonia energy storage system sizing and scheduling optimization.
Commercial and industrial (C&I) energy consumers are another interesting use case
for ammonia energy storage. These consumers — from wastewater treatment to
manufacturing to mining — have high associated power demand and desire
uninterrupted power, and as a result pay high demand charges from the grid or even
operate their own local power plants. Ammonia energy storage could decarbonize
these self-operated utilities by enabling high shares of renewables in their generation
mix; alternatively, ammonia can be used to improve resiliency by providing a grid-
independent solution for dispatchable power generation. Conceivably, fewer
adoption barriers exist in this consumer segment, with many C&I entities already
experienced in storing and using ammonia for its more traditional refrigerant or
precursor purposes.
Renewable ammonia production

The utilization of ammonia at current and projected future quantities relies on its
synthetic production. The Haber-Bosch (HB) process, developed in the first decade
of the 20th century, is still the state-of-the-art method of ammonia synthesis. In this
process, hydrogen and nitrogen react in the presence of metal catalysts at high
temperatures (300–500°C) and pressures (85–250 bar). Ammonia synthesis is an

equilibrium-limited reaction; reactor effluent ammonia mole fractions are generally
not higher than 30% at relevant process conditions. The ammonia product must
therefore be separated post-synthesis. Conventionally, this occurs via condensation
between –30°C and 0°C, while unreacted hydrogen and nitrogen are recycled.
Today, producing hydrogen for ammonia synthesis accounts for 1–2% of global CO2
emissions since it is predominantly produced from reforming fossil feedstocks such
as natural gas, coal, or oil (11). Many large-scale ammonia production processes use
two reforming steps, wherein combustion air is added to the secondary reformer in
quantities that provide a 3:1 hydrogen-to-nitrogen ratio. Alternative concepts that
decouple ammonia production from CO2 emissions would improve the sustainability
of the existing ammonia industry and are central to the idea of using ammonia as a
renewable energy vector.
One emerging alternative is to electrify ammonia production using renewable energy

from sources such as wind, solar, or hydropower. Using this method, renewable
electricity is used to obtain hydrogen from water via electrolysis and nitrogen from air
via cryogenic separation, pressure swing adsorption, or membrane separation, while
also powering ammonia synthesis itself (Figure 4). Recent research and
development of seawater electrolysis is particularly promising as an enabling
technology for ammonia production with abundant offshore wind resources (12).
Figure 4. This block flow diagram demonstrates how ammonia can be produced
using renewable electricity to obtain hydrogen from water and nitrogen from air.
Ammonia production from renewables requires additional process design and

operational strategies to economically account for the intermittent availability of these
resources. These can include providing steady power supply using batteries or
supplementing renewable generation with power purchased from the grid, coupling
the favorable dynamic characteristics of electrolysis with hydrogen buffer storage, or
even dynamically operating the synthesis process itself (13). Research has also been
devoted to improving the efficiency and reducing the capital intensity of ammonia
synthesis by improving the synthesis catalyst or post-synthesis separation to enable
lower synthesis temperatures and pressures (14) or more ambitiously eschewing the
HB process altogether through electrochemical approaches (15).
Commercial status of renewable ammonia

Currently, there are several operating and planned renewable ammonia production
projects across the globe. In 2013, a wind-to-ammonia pilot plant began operation in
Minnesota, U.S. (16). At the end of 2021, Eurasia Mining and H4Energy signed an
agreement to develop hydrogen/ammonia projects in Russia (17). Since 2018, similar
pilot projects have also been commissioned in Great Britain and Japan (18).
In Australia, Yara Pilbara and ENGIE have developed a solar-powered ammonia

facility assisted by AUD $42.5 million from the federal government, with 3,500 ton/yr
ammonia production expected to begin by 2023 (19). In New Zealand, Ballance-Agri
Nutrients and Hiringa Energy received NZ $19.9 million for a 4,000 ton/yr wind-to-
ammonia facility (20). In the U.S., CF Industries partnered with thyssenkrupp to install
20 MW of electrolysis and retrofit existing synthesis loops to produce 20,000 ton/yr of
renewable ammonia in Louisiana by 2023 (21). Greenfield Nitrogen LLC has
partnered with Maire Tecnimont for 83,000 ton/yr of renewable ammonia production
in Iowa (22).
In Chile, a partnership between Mainstream Renewable Power and Aker Clean

Energy will construct 1 GW of wind and solar generation for dedicated production of
renewable hydrogen and ammonia (23). The largest renewable ammonia
development to date is part of the $500-billion NEOM development in Saudi Arabia,
where Air Products and Acwa Power have partnered on a project that will produce
1.2 million ton/yr using over 4 GW of renewable energy (24).
Challenges
Sustainable production and utilization of ammonia as a fuel is not without its
challenges, including some technical ones. On the production side, continued
research to make ammonia synthesis more amenable to intermittent renewables is
imperative. For utilization, ammonia combustion emits nitrogen oxides, a family of

poisonous, highly reactive gases. Combustion systems must mitigate these
emissions through design or operation. For direct ammonia fueling in road and
marine transportation, inherently safe fuel storage systems are needed to mitigate
ammonia’s toxicity and corrosive nature. This is especially important in marine
applications to prevent ocean ecological damage since ammonia is highly soluble in
water. Further, many ammonia energy technologies have only recently been
demonstrated at experimental or pilot scales, so performance and safety after scale-
up and long-term operation must still be validated.
From an economic perspective, state-of-the-art renewable ammonia production

costs are 2–3 times that of conventional approaches, considering average natural
gas prices over the past 10 years. Renewable ammonia will become more
competitive as the investment required for electrolysis decreases, but electricity
costs are the main driver. As such, the economic outlook can be significantly
improved if the renewable generation capital investment can be further reduced or by
securing low-cost renewable power purchase agreements. However, increasing
applications for renewable energy and specifically renewable hydrogen may drive
competition, which can make securing these agreements difficult while also
potentially bottlenecking the availability of process units for renewable generation
and electrolysis.
Compared to its current utilization, deploying ammonia for energy and transportation
will involve new stakeholders, including the general public as the end user.
Widespread adoption will thus require changes to existing regulations as well as a
shift in public perception. For example, port authorities are hesitant to allow ammonia
storage in ports, and the general public’s reaction to ammonia being stored in large
quantities at or near fueling stations is unknown. This must be addressed through
new policy to ensure safe ammonia handling and storage as well as risk assessment
and public communication of mitigation strategies.
Closing thoughts
In our perspective, the transition to renewables-dominant systems can be enriched
by ammonia as a multifaceted energy vector. Specifically, ammonia produced using
renewable energy can be used as a transportation fuel either directly or as a
hydrogen carrier, while also enabling long-duration energy storage in the power and
heat sectors for commercial and industrial consumers. Adoption of renewable
ammonia is not without its technical, economic, and policy challenges, but upon
addressing these, ammonia has the potential to revolutionize energy in the 21st
century as it did agriculture in the 20th century.
HANCHU WANG (Email: [email protected]) is a

graduate research assistant and is currently pursuing her PhD
in the Dept. of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science
at the Univ. of Minnesota. She obtained BS degrees in
chemical engineering and mathematics from the Univ. of
Maryland, College Park, in 2018. Her research focuses on the
system-level analysis and optimization of renewable-based
ammonia production, utilization, and distribution.
MATTHEW J. PALYS, PhD, (Email: [email protected]) is

a postdoctoral associate in the Dept. of Chemical Engineering
and Materials Science at the Univ. of Minnesota. He received
his PhD in chemical engineering from the Univ. of Minnesota
in 2021 and his BESc in chemical engineering from the Univ.
of Western Ontario in 2015. His research focuses on
mathematical modeling and optimization to address design
and operational aspects of chemical production from variable renewable energy,
as well as the utilization of these chemicals to facilitate renewable electrification
across multiple sectors. His peer-reviewed publications include the Computers
and Chemical Engineering Best Paper Award 2020 recipient, "Using hydrogen
and ammonia for renewable energy storage: A geographically comprehensive
study."
QI ZHANG (Email: [email protected]) is an assistant professor in the Dept. of

Chemical Engineering and Materials Science at the Univ. of Minnesota. He
received his BS in mechanical engineering from RWTH Aachen Univ., his MS in
advanced chemical engineering from Imperial College London, and his PhD in
chemical engineering from Carnegie Mellon Univ. Prior to joining the Univ. of
Minnesota, he worked at BASF as a conceptual process engineer. His research
interests lie in the development of efficient solution strategies

for real-world optimization problems and data-driven
discovery of unknown decision processes. Areas of
application include sustainable energy and process systems,
advanced manufacturing, supply chain engineering, and
metabolic engineering. He is a recipient of the AIChE CAST
W. David Smith Jr. Graduate Publication Award and NSF
CAREER Award.
PRODROMOS DAOUTIDIS, PhD, is a College of Science

and Engineering Distinguished Professor, holder of the
Amundson Chair, and Executive Officer in the Dept. of
Chemical Engineering and Materials Science at the Univ. of
Minnesota (Email: [email protected]). He received a
Diploma degree in chemical engineering from the Aristotle
Univ. of Thessaloniki, MSE degrees in chemical engineering
and electrical engineering: systems from the Univ. of Michigan, and a PhD in
chemical engineering from the Univ. of Michigan. He is the recipient of several
awards, including the AIChE Computing in Chemical Engineering Award, the
PSE Model Based Innovation Prize, and Best Paper Awards from the Journal of
Process Control and Computers and Chemical Engineering. He is the Associate
Editor for Process Systems Engineering in the AIChE Journal and an Associate
Editor for the Journal of Process Control. He has co-authored five books and
more than 300 refereed papers and has supervised to completion 33 PhD
students and five post-docs. His current research is on control and optimization
of complex and networked systems, and the design and operation of distributed
systems for renewable power generation and sustainable production of fuels
and chemicals.
Literature Cited
1. U.S. Geological Survey, "Mineral Commodity Summaries 2021," https://doi.org/10.3133/mcs2021
(2021).
2. Dias, V., et al., "Energy and Economic Costs of Chemical Storage," Frontiers in Mechanical
Engineering, 6, https://doi.org/10.3389/fmech.2020.00021 (2020).
3. He, T., et al., "Hydrogen Carriers," Nature Reviews Materials, 1 (12), pp. 1–17 (2016).
4. Jeerh, G., et al., "Recent Progress in Ammonia Fuel Cells and their Potential Applications," Journal of
Materials Chemistry A, 9 (2), pp. 727–752 (2021).
5. Erdemir, D., and I. Dincer, "A Perspective on the Use of Ammonia as a Clean Fuel: Challenges and
Solutions," International Journal of Energy Research, 45, pp. 4827–4834 (2021).
6. International Maritime Organization, "IMO Symposium Highlights Pathways to Shipping’s
Decarbonization," www.imo.org/en/MediaCentre/PressBriefings/pages/Symposium.aspx (Feb. 15,
2021).
7. Mayes, F., "Wind Generation Seasonal Patterns Vary Across the United States," U.S. Energy
Information Administration, https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=20112 (2015).
8. Ozarslan, A., "Large-Scale Hydrogen Energy Storage in Salt Caverns," International Journal of
Hydrogen Energy, 37 (19), pp. 14265–14277 (2012).
9. Palys, M. J., et al., "Renewable Hydrogen and Ammonia for Combined Heat and Power Systems in
Remote Locations: Optimal Design and Scheduling," Optimal Control Applications and Methods, doi:
10.1002/oca.279 (2021).
10. Palys, M. J., and P. Daoutidis, "Using Hydrogen and Ammonia for Renewable Energy Storage: A
Geographically Comprehensive Study," Computers and Chemical Engineering, 136, 106785 (2020).
11. Baltrusaitis, J., "Sustainable Ammonia Production," ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering, 5
(11), 9527 (2017).
12. Wang, H., et al., "Harnessing the Wind Power of the Ocean with Green Offshore Ammonia," ACS
Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering, 9 (43), pp. 14605–14617 (2021).
13. Armijo, J., and C. Philibert, "Flexible Production of Green Hydrogen and Ammonia from Variable
Solar and Wind Energy: Case Study of Chile and Argentina," International Journal of Hydrogen
Energy, 45 (3), pp. 1541–1558 (2020).
14. Smith, C., et al., "Current and Future Role of Haber–Bosch Ammonia in a Carbon-Free Energy
Landscape," Energy & Environmental Science, 13 (2), pp. 331–344 (2020).
15. MacFarlane, D. R., et al., "A Roadmap to the Ammonia Economy," Joule, 4 (6), pp. 1186–1205
(2020).
16. Reese, M., et al., "Performance of a Small-Scale Haber Process," Industrial & Engineering
Chemistry Research, 55 (13), pp. 3742–3750 (2016).
17. Atchison, J., "Ammonia Exports from Regional Russia," Ammonia Energy Association,
www.ammoniaenergy.org/articles/ammoniaexports-from-regional-russia (2022).
18. Jones, N., "From Fertilizer to Fuel: Can ‘Green’ Ammonia Be a Climate Fix?," Yale E360,
https://e360.yale.edu/features/fromfertilizer-to-fuel-can-green-ammonia-be-a-climate-fix (2022).
19. Yara International, "Renewable Hydrogen and Ammonia Production | Yara International,"
https://www.yara.com/news-and-media/news/archive/2020/renewable-hydrogen-and-ammonia-
productionyara-and-engie-welcome-a-a$42.5-million-arena-grant (2021).
20. Ballance Agri-Nutrients, "Ballance Agri-Nutrients and Hiringa Energy Welcome Government Support
for a World-First Green Energy Project," https://ballance.co.nz/Ballance-Hiringa-mediarelease-
06March2020 (2020).
21. thyssenkrupp, "Kick-off to Decarbonizing Ammonia Production: thyssenkrupp Awarded Green
Hydrogen Plant by CF Industries," www.thyssenkrupp-industrial-solutions.com/en/media/press-
releases/press-detail/kick-off-to-decarbonizing-ammoniaproduction--thyssenkrupp-awarded-
green-hydrogen-plant-by-cfindustries-98980 (2021).
22. Greenfield Nitrogen LLC, "Maire Tecnimont Group Reaches Agreement with Greenfield Nitrogen
LLC for the Development of a Green Ammonia Plant in the United States,"
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23. Mainstream Renewable Power, "Mainstream and Aker Clean Hydrogen to collaborate on green
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24. Air Products, "Air Products, ACWA Power and NEOM Sign Agreement for $5 Billion Production
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4/23/22, 4:44 PM CEP Magazine - April 2022 - Renewable Ammonia for a Sustainable Energy Future

SPECIAL SECTION: PROCESS INTENSIFICATION

Renewable Ammonia for a

This article introduces ammonia in the context of its advantages in energy

Advantages of ammonia as an energy vector

• Relative ease of storage and transportation. Ammonia is a liquid at –33.36°C and

• Carbon-free energy production. Ammonia consists of only hydrogen and nitrogen

• Technical maturity of storage and distribution infrastructure. Ammonia is one of the

Figure 1. Ammonia has a well-established network of storage and delivery

Ammonia energy applications

Ammonia could be produced from renewable hydrogen, distributed to refueling

The maritime shipping industry may be an early adopter of ammonia fuel. As of

Ammonia for energy storage. An energy landscape dominated by renewables

Storing energy in chemicals is well-suited to these requirements with high energy

Figure 2. This conceptual, non-exhaustive illustration demonstrates the

characteristics as an energy carrier also add a spatial element to its balancing

Figure 3. Ammonia could help to provide a fully renewable energy supply, as

Renewable ammonia production

temperatures (300–500°C) and pressures (85–250 bar). Ammonia synthesis is an

One emerging alternative is to electrify ammonia production using renewable energy

Ammonia production from renewables requires additional process design and

Commercial status of renewable ammonia

In Australia, Yara Pilbara and ENGIE have developed a solar-powered ammonia

In Chile, a partnership between Mainstream Renewable Power and Aker Clean

imperative. For utilization, ammonia combustion emits nitrogen oxides, a family of

From an economic perspective, state-of-the-art renewable ammonia production

HANCHU WANG (Email: [email protected]) is a

MATTHEW J. PALYS, PhD, (Email: [email protected]) is

QI ZHANG (Email: [email protected]) is an assistant professor in the Dept. of

interests lie in the development of efficient solution strategies

PRODROMOS DAOUTIDIS, PhD, is a College of Science

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