ITM Power Plc (ITMPF)

[Gerry321]

Electrolytic ammonia in the farm belt fuels cars


How many farmers in the world have access to wind turbines or solar panels ?

Jim Heathcote of ITM Power made the following comment in a 2007 interview

“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”

Well Jim
Since you made that comment ITM announced that they have successfully operated an electrolyzer at 75 bar and are now developing another version where the electrolyzer is inside a storage tank

So what you may say ?
Well
Ammonia is usually made by passing 3 volumes of hydrogen and one volume of nitrogen across an iron catalyst at a pressure of 200 bar
This is called the Haber-Bosch process
But
It is now possible to make ammonia at 75 bar using a slightly different process
Therefore
ITM may well be working on a process which enables electrolytic hydrogen to be made and immediately converted to ammonia

This would open up two major commercial possibilities

1 Farmers becoming self sufficient in energy and fertiliser as long as they had access to water and wind or solar power The ammonia would be available for use as either fertiliser or as a fuel for an HEC ammonia powered engine

2 Since we know that to convert the ammonia back to hydrogen requires only 5% of the energy needed to electrolyse water it is feasible for
electrolytic hydrogen to be made from water using green energy. This hydrogen could be immediately converted to ammonia on board a vehicle thus solving the hydrogen storage problem. The hydrogen would be released from the ammonia by electrolysis with the small amount of power needed being provided by the vehicle alternator