Project Info

Techno-economic analysis of green hydrogen and ammonia as a fuel replacement

John Jechura
jjechura@mines.edu

Project Goals and Description:

Ammonia is a major commodity chemical used primarily for fertilizer and has been proposed as a “hydrogen carrier” for hydrogen delivery. In the near-term, mixtures of ammonia and hydrogen have been proposed as a replacement to fossil fuel gas in existing equipment such as gas turbines. Creating the appropriate ammonia/hydrogen mixtures will require a combination of synthesis and decomposition, each of which are energy intensive. Our group has been developing catalytic membrane reactors (CMRs) to efficiently conduct these processes in a compact unit operation. This proposed project quantify energy savings and economic benefits of using CMRs (rather than other existing technologies) for the creation and use of this fuel gas replacement.

More Information:

Grand Challenge: Manage the nitrogen cycle.

Primary Contacts:

John Jechura, jjechura@mines.edu | Rok Sitar, roksitar@mines.edu | Colin Wolden, cwolden@mines.edu

Student Preparation

Qualifications

A rising junior or senior in chemical engineering, preferably with some experience with Aspen for technoeconomic analysis.

TIME COMMITMENT (HRS/WK)

5

SKILLS/TECHNIQUES GAINED

Advanced process modeling and techno-economic analysis as well as intimate familiarity with these major chemical processes.

MENTORING PLAN

The student would work in close consultation with a PhD candidate and there will be weekly meetings with the grad student and faculty advisor to assess progress and address issues that arise.  There are also periodic meetings with the rest of the project team.

PREFERRED STUDENT STATUS

Junior
Senior
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