Researchers from the University of Sydney have developed a novel technique which harnesses human-made lightning to generate ammonia. Ammonia is one of the worlds most important chemicals and is the main ingredient in fertilizers which account for nearly half of global food production.
The research, which is published in the journal Angewandte Chemie International edition, is a straightforward, efficient method to produce ammonia in gas form. The technique is a vast improvement over the traditional Haber-Bosch process which carries a significant climate cost.
"Industry's appetite for ammonia is only growing. For the past decade, the global scientific community, including our lab, has wanted to uncover a more sustainable way to produce ammonia that doesn't rely on fossil fuels.
"Currently, generating ammonia requires centralized production and long-distance transportation of the product. We need a low-cost, decentralized and scalable 'green ammonia,'" said Professor PJ Cullen from the University of Sydney's School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering.
"In this research we've successfully developed a method that allows air to be converted to ammonia in its gaseous form using electricity. A huge step towards our goals."
The method developed by the team works by harnessing the power of plasma. In their method, plasma is used to excite nitrogen and oxygen molecules in the air, which are then passed to a membrane-based electrolyzer to convert the molecules to ammonia. The researchers say the technique is a more straightforward way to produce ammonia when compared to the Haber-Bosch process.
"This new approach is a two-step process, namely combining plasma and electrolysis. We have already made the plasma component viable in terms of energy efficiency and scalability.
"To create a more complete solution to a sustainable ammonia productive, we need to push the energy efficiency of the electrolyzer component," Professor Cullen concluded.