This is mainly about fertilizers. A caption in the quoted report points out: ‘Ammonia is currently obtained by reacting nitrogen (N2) from air with hydrogen (H2). This reaction requires high energy and is, therefore [sic], powered by fossil fuels, contributing to over 3% of the global CO2 emissions.’ But the report notes that ammonia is critical for fertilizers that help feed 70% of the world’s population, so restricting ammonia use to satisfy climate obsessives would not be a smart option — at least as far as the 70% are concerned. But using wind power to produce ammonia has proved ineffective, so new ideas are sought by fuel-averse researchers.
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Scientists at Tokyo Institute of Technology (Tokyo Tech) have developed an improved catalyst by taking the common dehydrating agent calcium hydride and adding fluoride to it, reports Phys.org.
The catalyst facilitates the synthesis of ammonia at merely 50 °C, by using only half the energy that existing techniques require. This opens doors to ammonia production with low energy consumption and reduced greenhouse gas emission.
Ammonia is critical for making plant fertilizer, which in turn feeds approximately 70% of the world’s population.
In industry, ammonia is produced via the Haber-Bosch process, where methane is first reacted with steam to produce hydrogen, and hydrogen is then reacted with nitrogen to give ammonia.
The problem with this process is that as the temperature increases, the yield decreases. To continue to get a good yield, the pressure applied in the reaction chamber needs to be increased. This requires much energy.
Further, the iron-based catalysts used for the reaction are only effective above 350 °C. Maintaining such high temperatures also requires a significant amount of energy. To top it all, the yield is only 30-40%.
Fossil fuels are currently used to power the process, contributing large amounts of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere. Renewable resource alternatives, such as wind energy, have been applied, but those have not proven sustainable.
To increase the yield while reducing harm to the environment, therefore, the reaction must take place at low temperatures. For this to happen, catalysts that enable the reaction at low temperatures are required.
Continued here.
via Tallbloke’s Talkshop
April 25, 2020 at 08:18AM
Iowa Climate Science Education 