(533u) Hydrogen Production Via Ammonia Decomposition over Ni-Pt/Al2O3 using Electrical Heater: A Multi-Objective Optimization

Process electrification is a viable solution to override the perpetual dependency on the depleting carbon-based fossil fuel. In this study, hydrogen production via electrically heated ammonia decomposition reaction over Ni-Pt/Al2O3 catalyst was numerically modeled and analyzed. In this study, the effect of the heater configuration on the reactor performance was analyzed adopting 15 cases. Furthermore, a multi-objective optimization approach of the heater design was applied to achieve the highest ammonia conversion and the lowest heat release from the heater via finding the optimal heater configuration and the proper inlet temperature and velocity. The results showed improved ammonia conversion in most of the suggested cases compared to the conventional heater configuration with the highest conversion equal to 95.97%, compared to the conventional heater, however, with a trade-off in the consumed heat (i.e., 2805.04 W). The sensitivity analysis showed a high impact of the heater configuration compared to the velocity and temperature. The multi objective optimization showed an improvement of 4% in the ammonia conversion, and a reduction of 45% in the supplied heat from the heater under an inlet temperature of 897 K and inlet velocity of 0.52 m/s. The proposed optimal configuration might be a reasonable solution for the economic feasibility of the electrically heated ammonia decomposition.