(436c) Simulation of an Ammonia Plant Integrated with the Allam Cycle for Commercial Production of Ammonia and Power

Song Wang, Dan Fernandes, Daniel Chen, and Qiang Xu

Dan F. Smith Department of Chemical Engineering

Lamar University, Beaumont, TX 77710, USA

Abstract

The continuous global economic and population growth results in a fast-paced energy demand and problematic emission green house gases such as CO₂. To cost-effectively reduce CO₂ emissions with the current main energy source of fossil fuels, novel carbon capture and utilization technologies have to be developed. One of such promising technologies is the Allam cycle power plant developed by a consortium led by Net Power LLC. Even though the human population is expected to reach about 9.2 billion by 2050,, the land availability for farming at that time could only keep the current level or even decrease. Thus, the demand and deployment of fertilizers must increase in the future to enable a higher land productivity. According to a report by the Food and Agricultural organization (FAO) of the United Nations, the demand for nitrogen fertilizers will grow an average of 1.5 percent annually till 2020.

Fortunately, natural gas is an abundant, cheap, and clean energy source in this planet. It could be employed to empower the Allam cycle to produce electricity, meanwhile, produce an important fertilizer, ammonia, by integrating with an ammonia plant. In This paper, reports simulations of a natural gas empowered complex, which includes a power plant drive by the Allam cycle to generate net power and pure CO2 for commercial utilization; an air separation unit (ASU) to supply the pure oxygen to the power plant, and the pure nitrogen as feedstock to the ammonia plant. This integrated new process has been virtually demonstrated to be economically sound, technological viable, and environmentally benign due to the comprehensive utilization of cheap natural gas resource as well as heat and work integrations among different process units.

Keywords: Allam Power Cycle, Ammonia Plant, Supercritical CO₂, High Pressure Steam, Syngas Turbine, Toshiba Turbine

References

[1] Food and Agriculture Organization summary report “World Fertilizer trends and outlook to 2020”.