Ammonia synthesis system based on fluctuating hydrogen source and control method thereof
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Solution Overview
Problem
The conventional ammonia synthesis process requires a stable hydrogen source, which contradicts the fluctuating hydrogen supply from green electricity sources like wind, photovoltaic, and hydropower, making it challenging to ensure stable ammonia production.
Innovation Solution
An ammonia synthesis system with a hydrogen supply device, hydrogen storage containers at different pressures, and a nitrogen supply device to maintain stable pressure, allowing for the use of fluctuating hydrogen sources, including those from green electricity, by introducing nitrogen to stabilize hydrogen storage and ensure continuous ammonia production.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If hydrogen supply from green electricity sources is used, then environmental sustainability is improved, but supply stability deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The hydrogen storage system is divided into multiple storage containers operating at different pressure levels (high-pressure, medium-pressure, and low-pressure containers). This segmentation allows the system to handle fluctuating hydrogen supply by distributing hydrogen across different storage zones, thereby maintaining operational reliability while utilizing intermittent green electricity sources.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary hydrogen storage during periods when green electricity is available and supply exceeds immediate demand. By pre-storing hydrogen in the multi-level storage system, the ammonia synthesis process can continue uninterrupted during periods when green electricity supply is insufficient or unavailable, thus resolving the contradiction between using renewable sources and maintaining supply stability.
2Reliability
If conventional fossil fuel-based hydrogen production is used, then supply stability is improved, but environmental sustainability deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system changes the operational parameters of hydrogen storage by implementing multi-level pressure storage with selective nitrogen injection. This allows the system to adapt to varying hydrogen supply conditions from green electricity sources while maintaining the stable pressure and flow conditions required by ammonia synthesis, thereby enabling environmental sustainability without sacrificing reliability.
3Reliability
If multiple hydrogen storage containers at different pressures are used, then supply stability is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system merges multiple hydrogen storage containers at different pressure levels into a unified multi-level storage system with integrated nitrogen supply and control mechanisms. By combining these functions into a coordinated system, the complexity is managed through functional integration rather than isolated components, allowing stable hydrogen supply while keeping the overall system structure manageable.
Solution Approach 2:
Nitrogen serves as an intermediary substance in the hydrogen storage system. It is injected into the storage containers to maintain stable pressure conditions without interfering with the quality or usability of stored hydrogen. This intermediary approach simplifies pressure control compared to using complex mechanical or electronic pressure regulation systems, thereby improving reliability while managing device complexity.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The system achieves 100% reuse rate of hydrogen without decompression, ensuring stable ammonia production even with fluctuating hydrogen supplies, thus improving technical and operational economies.
Implementation Method 1
a nitrogen supply device, configured to communicate with the hydrogen storage container to introduce nitrogen into the hydrogen storage container to maintain a stable pressure in the hydrogen storage container
Data Source
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AI summary
An ammonia synthesis system and a control method thereof are provided. The ammonia synthesis system includes a hydrogen supply device, where a fluctuating amount of hydrogen is provided by the hydrogen supply device; a hydrogen storage container configured to store the hydrogen provided by the hydrogen supply device; and a nitrogen supply device configured to communicate with the hydrogen storage container to introduce nitrogen into the hydrogen storage container to maintain a stable pressure in the hydrogen storage container. The nitrogen supply device is able to introduce nitrogen into the hydrogen storage container, thus the amount of hydrogen provided is stable; in addition, the ammonia synthesis system can not only meet requirements of application scenarios where synthesis gas is produced from conventional raw material, but also be well applied to application scenarios where hydrogen for ammonia synthesis is obtained from hydrogen generation by green electricity.