THE HYDROGEN AND
FUEL CELL CENTER

Your Contact

Dipl.-Ing. Michael Steffen

head of 
Department Fuels and Processes

phone: +49-203-7598-3033
m.steffen(at)zbt.de
online form 

Your Contact

Dipl.-Ing. Jens Wartmann

Coordination CAMPFIRE projects

phone: +49-203-7598-3336
j.wartmann(at)zbt.de
online form

Ammonia as a C-free energy source

Ammonia is one of the world's most produced chemicals with an annual increase in production and is the basic material for all other nitrogen compounds, the majority of which are processed into fertilizers. It is almost exclusively produced using the Haber-Bosch process, which has been technically established for decades. Ammonia is a nitrogen-hydrogen compound and can be stored in liquid form in simple pressure vessels at approx. 8 bar with high energy density. Compared to hydrocarbons (e.g. SNG) or alcohols (e.g. methanol), only nitrogen instead of carbon dioxide is required for production. When ammonia is used, e.g. as reflux or drive energy, no carbon dioxide is released, but only water and nitrogen. This means that ammonia can be used as an emission-free energy carrier in a future emission-free energy system.

The advantage over the direct use of hydrogen: Ammonia has a high energy density, is easy to transport and uncomplicated to store. NH3 thus offers enormous potential for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, particularly in view of the challenge of climate change.

At ZBT we are particularly working on the utilisation of ammonia for various applications, in particular decentralised hydrogen production using cracker systems.

References:

Amonia cracker of ZBT
Zero Emission Drives are in focus of the CAMPFIRE Projects
EU Project HIPOWAR
Last update:  21.12.2023