Wichita—An anhydrous ammonia production project at Wichita State University (WSU) has received an $855,000 federal grant from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E). A team led by Shuang Gu, assistant professor of mechanical engineering, will pursue the project, Alkaline Membrane-Based Ammonia Electrosynthesis with High Efficiency for Renewable and Scalable Fuel Production.
The goal is to demonstrate a method for creating ammonia from air using a hydroxide-exchange membrane (HEM) powered by renewable electricity. Researchers said current methods of generating ammonia are energy-intensive and suffer from inefficiencies that drive-up costs.
“Our recent breakthroughs in electrochemical materials enable us to demonstrate a novel technology with a great potential and a logical pathway of efficiently producing ammonia as liquid fuels from renewable energy sources,” said Gu.
The ARPA-E award is from the Renewable Energy to Fuels through Utilization of Energy-Dense Liquids (REFUEL) program, which seeks to develop scalable technologies for converting electrical energy from renewable resources, specifically energy-dense carbon-neutral liquid fuels that can be converted back into electricity or hydrogen on demand. The REFUEL program is providing $35 million to 16 projects.
The NH3 Fuel Association sees ammonia as a proven fuel source with a 75-year safety record that works efficiently in a range of engine types, including internal combustion engines, combustion turbines, and direct ammonia fuel cells, creating zero carbon emissions. While backers of the fuel concede that energy-dense fuels are currently economical, they remain partially reliant on imported petroleum and are highly carbon intensive.