Presented by:

Michael Reese

Director of Operations, and Renewable Hydrogen and Ammonia Lead

​

​

Rural Minnesota Energy Board (RMEB) Meeting

​

​

Green Hydrogen and Ammonia:

Implications for Minnesota and Beyond

​

​

September 25, 2023

​

West Central Research & Outreach Center� “Leading innovation in agriculture and beyond”��

Acknowledgements

Funding provided by:

• State of Minnesota (including the RDA)
• Minnesota Agricultural Experiment Station Rapid Ag Response Fund
• Minnesota Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund as recommended by the Legislative Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources
• United States Department of Energy ARPA-E REFUEL Program
• University of Minnesota College of Food, Agricultural, and Natural Resource Sciences (CFANS)
• Clean Energy Resource Teams (CERTS)
• Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI)
• MnDRIVE
• Xcel Energy

​

Program Goal: Reduce fossil energy consumption in production agriculture

​

• 20 to 25 % of GHG in Minnesota and the world attributed to agriculture, forestry, and related industries

(MPCA, 2016; IPCC, 2017)

​

​

• 2% global GHG emissions attributed to ammonia and nitrogen fertilizer production

​

• Markets and policies are trending towards the need for GHG reductions in production agriculture

​

WCROC IMPACT: National and regional recognition

​

Could solar panels be integrated into farms instead of taking acreage out of commission?

WCROC IMPACT: State recognition

​

Decarbonizing Midwest Industry and Utilities using Zero-Carbon Hydrogen

Climbing the green hydrogen use-case ladder in the Midwest:

1. Agriculture – Drop-in green ammonia and urea fertilizer; use ammonia for fueling grain drying, tractors, and trucks.
2. Power generation and thermal energy - Fuel gas turbines, engine gensets, and burners and boilers.
3. Biofuel production – Use green hydrogen for production of renewable diesel, jet fuel (SAF), methanol, and ethanol. Capture and recycle CO₂ normally emitted via fermentation to produce these fuels.
4. Medium and Heavy Transportation Industry – Switch to hydrogen and ammonia to fuel trucks, mining equipment, tractors, train engines, and ships.
5. Mining and Steel Making – Displace energy used in processing ore into iron pellets as well as the carbon purification process within steel making. Currently responsible for 8% of global GHG emissions.
6. Construction – Use hydrogen and-/- or ammonia to heat kilns used in the production of quick lime. Capture CO2 released during heating of limestone for urea or renewable fuels production.

�� Ammonia: Feeding the World by Supplying Nitrogen for Grain Production

• Anhydrous Ammonia (NH₃): Backbone of nitrogen fertilizer
• Next to water, most limiting nutrient
• Feeds half of the global population
• Primary feedstock in natural gas (some coal)
• 1% of Global GHG attributed to ammonia production (IPCC, 2017)

Source: Ritchie, Our World in Data:

https://ourworldindata.org/how-many-people-does-synthetic-fertilizer-feed#note-4;

Erisman et al., 2008, Nat. Geoscience, 1 (10), 636-639.

Nitrogen Fertilizer Production Worldwide Predominantly Uses Natural Gas or Coal

AIChE. 2016

• Massive plants largely in the Gulf Coast and Canada

​

• Use natural gas (SMR) and coal (gasification) as feedstock for hydrogen

​

• Use roughly 2.3 tons of water per ton of ammonia produced (but some water recovered)

​

• A portion of the CO₂ is used for production of urea

​

​

Ammonia Transportation:

• Pipeline (to regional hubs)
• Barge (Up the Mississippi)
• Train (To regional storage facilities)
• Truck (to local ag input retailers)
• Nurse tanks (to farms)

​

Ammonia Storage:

• Regional large refrigerated storage tanks (30,000 to 90,000 tons)
• Local ag input / fertilizer retailers (40 to 200 tons)

​

Storage, Transport, Use Concerns

• Inhalation hazard
• High nitrates in ground water
• Greenhouse gas itself

​

Safer than hydrogen as a fuel and storage medium

Cost Targets and Formulations for Common Ag Fertilizers:

​

​

US Retail Agricultural Fertilizer Prices

¹(11/10/2020 retail prices from a Minnesota ag cooperative)

• Nearly all synthetic forms of N fertilizer use ammonia (NH3) in the production process
• US nitrogen fertilizer market is roughly a $6 billion industry
• Minnesota farmers spend between $500 million to $1 billion per year on N fertilizer
• Farmers could participate in ownership of green ammonia production

Aqueous Ammonia

The Fertilizer Institute, 2005

Green Ammonia: De-carbonizing and transforming farm energy

NH₃

Nitrogen

Fertilizer

Irrigation

Generators

Truck

Fuel

Grain

Dryer

Tractor

Fuel

Backup

Generator

H₂

Advanced

Fuels

N₂

• US wind resource is synergistic with Midwest corn production and nitrogen fertilizer demand – inherently distributed
• US nitrogen fertilizer demand could be met with approximately 50,000 MW of nameplate wind energy capacity – current US wind generation is 105,583 MW of nameplate capacity
• Opportunity to utilize “stranded” wind and solar resources (and excess nuclear)

Scale: Green Ammonia

Why renewable ammonia?

• Price certainty and stability, decoupling from global natural gas market
• Reduce carbon intensity: >2.6 mt_CO2/mt to <0.2 mt_CO2/mt
• United States: Federal clean H₂ production credits up to $3/kg
• $529/mt ammonia production credit for first 10 years of production!

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

Palys, et. al. 2022

Wind Energy + Water + Air = Nitrogen Fertilizer

Green Ammonia: An Elegant Solution

Step 4. Urea Production (CO₂ capture and utilization):

2NH₃ + CO₂ 🡪 NH₂COONH₄ (ammonium carbamate)�NH₂COONH₄ 🡪 H₂O + NH₂CONH₂ (urea)

• Use CO₂ from bioethanol fermentation
• circular model

Research to improve efficiency: �US DOE ARPA-E REFUEL Technology Integration Project

18

~18x scale-up of existing wind-to-NH₃ pilot plant

Next Generation Ammonia Production from Wind and Solar

19

What are we doing with the Ammonia?

Retrofit options for aeroderivative gas turbine to burn NH₃

20

Demonstrating the full value chain of low- and zero-carbon Ammonia

Demonstrate a 1-kW direct NH₃ fuel cell

Develop and operate a NH₃-powered forklift

• High purity H₂ from NH₃ cracking membrane
• Retrofit fuel cell powered forklift

Fertilizers

Off-take agreement with local fertilizer co-op

• Portable engine genset / non-wire solutions
• Grain dryer
• HRSG duct burner

• Ammonia-fueled tractor

Production cost depends on location

​

​

• Stevens county: 44% wind, 15% PV
• Nobles county: 52% wind, 16% PV 🡪 -$30/mt than Stevens
• Dakota county: 36% wind, 15% PV 🡪 +$50/mt than Stevens

​

​

​

​

Design for each location to minimize LCOA

Palys, et. al. 2022

Does not include $529 / metric ton NH₃ value from H₂ incentive!

Production cost depends on energy price

Impact of energy price: ∆$10/MWh 🡪 ∆$100/mt

​

Palys, et. al. 2022

Does not include $529 / metric ton NH₃ value from H₂ incentive!

IRA H₂ PTC is transformative

IRA: $3/kg H2 credit for CI<0.45 kg_CO2/kg_H2, labor/wage requirements met

• $529/mt ammonia for first 10 years of production (ammonia CI<0.08 mt_CO2/mt_NH3)
• $356/mt ammonia levelized over 20 year project with 7.5% discount rate

�� Large-scale ammonia storage is already in place:

CF Industries Glenwood Ammonia Terminal

• Capacity of 60,000 tons of NH₃
• Equivalent to an estimated 111,000 MWh of electricity
• Wind and solar PV in close proximity
• Capex 500 kV line in close proximity
• Hub for wind energy transmission

Green ammonia for N fertilizer:

Breakdown of N fertilizer use by State

Green urea for N fertilizer:

Significant local infrastructure and market for urea fertilizer:

Westcon

Glacial Plains

Transformational: Green ammonia is a drop-in replacement

Potential to reduce fossil energy use in corn production over 90% using ammonia (NH₃) produced using wind energy.

J. Tallaksen, 2016. UMN West Central Research and Outreach Center

H₂-based gases and fuels: Is ammonia the new hydrogen carrier?

Imagine from Western Oregon University – CH105 Consumer Chemistry Course

• Ammonia is ten to 100 times less costly to store and transport than hydrogen

Hydrogen and Ammonia Renewable Energy Storage Systems�Palys & Daoutidis. (2020). Comput. Chem. Eng., 136, 106875.

Economics of hydrogen and ammonia energy storage

• Islanded renewable energy systems with 1000 kW annual average demand
• Combined optimal sizing and scheduling to minimize LCOE
• NREL data bases for weather/demand

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

Combining ammonia and hydrogen gives lowest cost in all locations

​

​

​

​

​

​

Hydrogen and Ammonia Renewable Energy Storage Systems�Palys & Daoutidis. (2020). Comput. Chem. Eng., 136, 106875.

Optimal economics: Levelized cost of energy

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

• Batteries alone are expensive (especially for significant long-term storage)
• Hydrogen provides improvement
• Hydrogen and ammonia is optimal – Hydrogen is better short-term storage but, ammonia is better long-term storage as it is significantly less costly to store

​

​

​

​

​

​

Hydrogen and Ammonia Renewable Energy Storage Systems�Palys & Daoutidis. (2020). Comput. Chem. Eng., 136, 106875.

Optimal Schedules: Minneapolis, MN

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

Hydrogen : fast / ammonia : slow (seasonal) 🡪 efficiency vs. storage cost

NH₃ Burner studies

• Swirl-stabilized burners
• H₂/NH₃/Air
• 80-98% ammonia by energy
• N₂O + NH₃ emissions undetectable <1 ppm
• Concept scales to much larger applications

​

​

NH₃ – Fueled Grain Dryer Demonstration

​

• Successfully tested Oct & Nov 2022
• Scaled burner application
• 245 Bushel Capacity
• 20/80 mix of H₂/NH₃

Tractor fueled by renewable ammonia

Field tested June 2019

(Reese, 2019)

Ammonia-fueled tractor and Semi

incorporating a cracker and fuel cell

Source: Amogy

Barriers for Farmers and Farm Businesses:

​

1. Electrolyzer supply
2. Scale – it does matter.
3. Finance
4. Partner mix
5. Storage (anhydrous ammonia vs urea)
6. Experience in this field
7. Pricing / risk management
8. Sophisticated competition
1. For farmers, ownership of the fertilizer demand should trump all other competition.

​

Options for Green H₂ Gases and Fuels:

Credit: Thyssen Krupp

Take Home Green Hydrogen and Ammonia Message:

​

• The Inflation Reduction Act provides a $3 /kg of hydrogen production incentive with a direct pay option and this has dramatically changed the playing field making production and use economical.

​

• The University of Minnesota is working to improve the technology. However, green hydrogen and ammonia production systems are commercially available and ready for deployment within the Midwest.

​

• The question now is “How does the Midwest best position itself to take advantage of this opportunity?”

​

• Our focus is on agriculture and bringing this technology to Midwest farmers, farm cooperatives, and businesses but there are broad implications for the region.

​

• Farmer-owned cooperatives could utilize renewable hydrogen for production of anhydrous ammonia, urea, methanol, sustainable aviation fuel, and other molecules.

​

• Green nitrogen fertilizer is transformative and is a gateway for other green hydrogen energy applications within the Midwest.

WCROC: Driven faculty and staff leading innovation in agriculture and beyond!

West Central Research & Outreach Center� “Leading innovation in agriculture and beyond”��

Contact Information:

Michael Reese

Director of Operations, and

Renewable Hydrogen and Ammonia Research Lead

University of Minnesota West Central Research & Outreach Center

Office: (320) 589-1711 ext 2151

Cell: (320) 760-6016

Email: reesem@umn.edu

Website: https://wcroc.cfans.umn

​

​

​

West Central Research & Outreach Center� “Leading innovation in agriculture and beyond”��