Sustainable ammonia production enabled by membrane reactor

The ammonia industry is crucial for the global supply of food through economical production of fertilizers in quantity, and it allows for the development of catalytic chemistry and technologies with ammonia as a promising carbon-free energy carrier. Although the Haber-Bosch process, where hydrogenolysis of nitrogen takes place over a promoted iron catalyst under harsh conditions, will continue to play a key role, its massive carbon footprint and energy consumption call for more sustainable production methods ideally at near ambient pressure. Here, we show a green route for the synthesis of ammonia using a nitrogen permeable membrane reactor. In the absence of an external pressure, our membrane reactor delivers a nitrogen flux of 3.1 x 10(-2) ml cm(-2) h(-1), leading to an ammonia yield rate of 2.9 mu mol cm(-2) h(-1) at 450 degrees C. The reaction of permeated N3- ions with H-2 gives rise to a high ammonia concentration of 0.097 vol% in the gas phase, which is close to the limit of thermodynamic equilibrium (0.1 vol%) under the identical condition. This work not only creates a greener path for ambient-pressure ammonia synthesis but also presents a new membrane reactor design that could find applications in other areas. Ammonia plays a crucial role in the world's food supply; however, its production from Haber-Bosch process features heavy CO2 emissions and energy consumption. Here the authors show a more sustainable approach to synthesize ammonia utilizing a membrane reactor.

Automated summary

The ammonia industry plays a crucial role in global food supply, but its production from the Haber-Bosch process is associated with high CO2 emissions and energy consumption. In this study, the authors propose a more sustainable approach to synthesize ammonia using a membrane reactor.