Green Ammonia for Sustainability (GAS)
Today, ammonia production accounts for over 1.8% of global fossil fuel consumption and contributes more than 1%of CO2 emissions. Traditionally, ammonia is produced using hydrogen from steam methane reforming, a process that emits greenhouse gases, and nitrogen from the atmosphere. Ammonia is critical for fertilizers, acid gas removal, and refrigerants. Decarbonizing ammonia requires solutions that go beyond generating renewable electricity and encompass new methods for green hydrogen production, increasing system efficiencies, and improving thermal integration.
The goal of this project is to theoretically design a decarbonized ammonia production system in the Imperial Valley. The team will design a trigeneration system that produces ammonia, electricity, and heat from biomass. The team will simulate the trigeneration system and conduct techno-economic analyses to assess its feasibility and examine alternative ways renewable ammonia could lead to more sustainable operations in the agricultural industry.
Hydrogen Leakage Assessment (H2LA)
Given the importance of hydrogen in achieving a fully decarbonized society in the future, a major challenge in scaling hydrogen deployment is the lack of dedicated infrastructure for hydrogen transmission and storage. The existing natural gas grid is appealing for hydrogen delivery and transmission for various reasons: 1) Pipelines are the cheapest medium to store large amounts of fuel and to transport over long distances; 2) Pipelines complement electrical power grids by providing flexibility and storage; 3) The gas pipeline network in the United States is ubiquitous and incredibly robust. Hydrogen’s unique physical characteristics, like its density, molecular weight, diffusivity, and viscosity, have raised concerns about safety, gas leakage, and material compatibility.
To address these challenges, this research will assess the suitability of existing natural gas infrastructure for hydrogen transmission and storage by evaluating leakage rates from different pipeline materials and investigating the impact of hydrogen blending.
Parabolic Trough Solar Collector System
The goal of this work is to design and build a fully functional solar trough to produce heat renewably at Cal Poly Pomona.