ITM can help farmers make their own ammonia
Hydrogen Engine Center of Iowa signed a MOU with ITM in Nov 2006
The aim was to explore ways in which HEC`s development of hydrogen and ammonia fuelled engines for transportation and fixed installations could be teamed with ITM`e electrolyzer technology which can make green hydrogen at a much lower cost than any other electrolyzer co in the world
We still await an update on this MOU between HEC and ITM
Hoewever one small leak did give us a hint of future news on this relationship
It was made by an HEC Sales Mgr to an Iowa website and lead to an article about HEC entitled
Could Anhydrous Ammonia Be the Fuel of the Future?
The interesting comment from an ITM standpoint was the following
"Of course, anhydrous ammonia has its negative aspects. It is currently made through the Haber-Bosch process, which uses natural gas and emits carbon into the atmosphere. That basically defeats the premise behind seeking an alternative fuel that doesn't increase greenhouse gases.
"When our big press release came out a week and a half ago, a lot of naysayers came out," said Lewis. "And for the most part they're right about anhydrous ammonia. The Haber-Bosch process, the primary method of making anhydrous ammonia, works by re-forming natural gas. Natural gas is made up primarily of hydrogen, and when you add nitrogen to it, you have anhydrous ammonia. But one of the negative aspects of the Haber-Bosch process is the fact that it creates a lot of CO2."
Lewis said that the solution to that problem is being developed right now. "Hydrogen Engine Center is working with a group that has a new method of producing anhydrous ammonia through a synthesis process, where they can take renewable power, like from a wind-generator, and use the electricity to run an electrolyzer to make hydrogen. Then take the nitrogen out of the air to mix with it, and you have anhydrous ammonia. That's right around the corner."
Interesting eh ?
Now we know that HEC gensets are used alongside Proton Energy electrolyzers on the Wind turbine project at Boulder Colorado
So we could be forgiven for thinking that Mr Lewis is referring to PE as the company developing a green method of synthesising ammonia
But there`s just one problem
PE don’t have the expertise to do research into this field. They spend most of their research trying to find ways of improving the reliability of their high cost fuel cells and electrolysers.Given their shaky financial situation you can be assured that if they were working on ammonia synthesis then Wall St would be getting regular updates
But
Not only do ITM have the expertise, they have an ongoing 3 yr project with Heriot WattUniversity in Edinburgh to look at ways of sequestering hydrogen in heavy hydrocarbons using “atmospheric CO2” They quoted some progress in the July annual report
Quote
“Secondly, we have begun to test ways of combining gaseous carbon dioxide with electrolytic hydrogen to create liquid fuels. Our initial small scale laboratory tests have been encouraging and we have successfully achieved gas to liquid production in an electrochemical cell based on our membrane technology. These are very early days and much further work will be needed to confirm the commercial value of such a development.”
So
It`s but a further small step to explore ways of making synthetic anhydrous ammonia using green electrolytic hydrogen and “atmospheric nitrogen” This would be an enormous benefit to farmers who in theory could use any excess solar or wind energy to make and store anhydrous ammonia and save a fortune on fertiliser
And if we wanted further confirmation, the ITM CEO Jim Heathcote referred to ammonia as a future energy source in a interview last year
He said
"If ammonia could be synthesised on a local basis it would give a massive kick start to the wind turbine and electrolyser industries particularly in rural areas Intermittent wind power cannot be fully utilised because there is insufficient demand for power round the clock However using an electrolyser the excess power would be used to make hydrogen for conversion into ammonia The farmers would be able to sell ammonia and hydrogen as by products of their green energy production"
So
Maybe there is a light at the end of the tunnel for the harassed US Farmer
AI
