(585b) ­­Techno-Economic Analysis of Small Haber-Bosch Process

In this presentation, the techno-economic analysis of a 20,000 metric tons (MT) green ammonia production facility will be presented. This facility is 30 times smaller than a large-scale conventional process, producing renewable ammonia from totally renewable resources: hydrogen from the water electrolysis and nitrogen from air cryogenic distillation. Two different forms of the Haber-Bosch (HB) process are investigated: high pressure reaction-condensation (RXN-CON) and low-pressure reaction-absorption (RXN-ABS).^1–3 Process simulation was implemented using ASPENPlus to model the ammonia synthesis loop, including the converter, heat exchangers, and separation units. The results obtained were then used to estimate the total capital and operating costs associated with high-pressure RXN-CON and low-pressure RXN-ABS. The performance analysis of HB process indicates that ammonia production cost is significantly affected by the operating pressure. The high-pressure processing enhances the single-pass conversion and synthesis loop efficiency but consumes more energy, whereas the low-pressure processing is more favorable for saving capital and operating costs. By replacing condensation with absorption in a 20,000 metric tons per year process, capital costs and annual operating costs are reduced by $1.69 million and $4.72 million, respectively, and the levelized cost of ammonia (LCOA) decreases when RXN-ABS configuration is utilized. Our techno-economic analysis results was finally compared with the other technologies.⁴

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