Simulation of the Ammonia Electrolysis Process

Introduction

The electrochemical oxidation of ammonia, in alkaline media, has been proposed as an efficient alternative for the deammonification or wastewater. Furthermore, the ammonia electrolysis process has the potential to co-generate fuel grade hydrogen with just five percent of the energy required from water electrolysis, which makes this process attractive for its self-sustainable integration in wastewater treatment plants [1].  Motivated by the advantages of the ammonia electrolysis, Botte and members of the research team at the Center for Electrochemical Engineering Research (CEER) have performed extensive research in the ammonia electro-oxidation reaction. Through the analysis of well defined hydrodynamic electrochemical cells, coupled with mathematical modeling and parameters estimation, it was possible to establish a reaction mechanism and define the kinetic parameters that represent the intrinsic reaction kinetics of the ammonia electro-oxidation [2]. 

In this work, a simulation platform for an ammonia electrolysis flow cell is proposed to be implemented in ASPEN plus in order to achieve sensitivity and cost analysis along with process optimization. User defined platforms were developed using experimentally validated mathematical models of a parallel cell electrolyzer, which include the hydrodynamic behavior of the flow cell electrolyzer evaluated through experimental residence time distribution analysis. 

References

[1] L.A. Diaz, G.G. Botte, Ind.  Eng.  Chem.  Res. 51 (2012) 12167.

[2] L.A. Diaz, G.G. Botte, J.  Catal. (Submitted for publication 2014).