(690d) Power Distribution Networks with Mobile Green Ammonia-Fueled Power Generation

There has been a growing body of research in recent years on the production of chemicals using renewable energy. One especially promising chemical that can be produced this way and used in multiple applications is ammonia. Ammonia can be produced in a carbon-free manner (“green ammonia”) by using renewable energy to produce hydrogen via water electrolysis and nitrogen via air separation and subsequently reacting them to form ammonia. In addition to the conventional uses of the chemical as a fertilizer and chemical reagent, this ammonia can be stored easily for later use as fuel in carbon-free, ammonia-powered generators (gensets) and fuel cells (Lan & Tao, 2014; Yapicioglu & Dincer, 2019). Thus, ammonia can function as an energy storage medium that helps combat intermittency and seasonality in wind and solar power production.

To fully evaluate the potential of ammonia as an energy storage medium, the detailed operation of the power systems where the energy is used must also be considered. Finding the optimal use of ammonia for generation in power systems is complicated by the complex nature of the power grid and the power flow equations that govern its behavior. Prior research on ammonia as energy storage has not considered the detailed interaction between the ammonia supply chain and the power grid; rather, it has focused on islanded systems and greatly simplified treatments of the power grid (Palys et al., 2019; Sánchez et al., 2022). Beyond ammonia, the implementation of energy storage in the power grid has also been a topic of growing interest. This is because it enables flexible operation and can provide improvements to the resilience of the grid (Kim & Dvorkin, 2019).

In this work, we propose decision-support tools for designing and operating power systems that incorporate ammonia storage and ammonia-fueled power generation. In particular, we develop an optimization model that simultaneously optimizes the investment into mobile ammonia gensets and storage facilities, the transportation and operation of the ammonia-powered devices, and the detailed operation of the distribution network that the energy storage supports. Additionally, the investment into mobile batteries and the operation of those batteries are incorporated into the model. This is done to enable the direct comparison between ammonia and battery energy storage and to investigate the potential for synergistic use of the fundamentally different technologies. The proposed model is a MIQCP (mixed integer quadratically constrained program) that considers multiple operational scenarios or representative time horizons. We present case studies that highlight the differences between the optimal operation of ammonia gensets and the optimal operation of batteries. We also present a case study where the optimal investment in storage devices is determined for a test system. Ultimately, the case studies demonstrate the potential for ammonia to be used for distributed power generation and provide insight into how ammonia can be used synergistically with existing battery storage technologies.

References

Kim, J., & Dvorkin, Y. (2019). Enhancing Distribution System Resilience With Mobile Energy Storage and Microgrids. IEEE Transactions on Smart Grid, 10(5), 4996–5006.

Lan, R., & Tao, S. (2014). Ammonia as a Suitable Fuel for Fuel Cells. Frontiers in Energy Research, 2(35), 1–4.

Palys, M. J., Kuznetsov, A., Tallaksen, J., Reese, M., & Daoutidis, P. (2019). A novel system for ammonia-based sustainable energy and agriculture: Concept and design optimization. Chemical Engineering and Processing - Process Intensification, 140, 11–21.

Sánchez, A., Zhang, Q., Martín, M., & Vega, P. (2022). Towards a new renewable power system using energy storage: An economic and social analysis. Energy Conversion and Management, 252, 115056.

Yapicioglu, A., & Dincer, I. (2019). A review on clean ammonia as a potential fuel for power generators. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 103, 96–108.