Reactive nitrogen: A perspective on its global impact and prospects for its sustainable production

Razón, Luis F.

doi:10.1016/j.spc.2018.04.003

Cited by 31 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 156 publications

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“…Development of longer-lived renewable energy systems that use recyclable materials could greatly improve the environmental performance of these systems. For the use of ammonia as a fuel under the conditions tested, synthesis methods that are less energy intensive than current methods and can operate under ambient conditions need to be developed (Razon, 2018).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Ammonia has also been used extensively as a fertilizer and a refrigerant so there is extensive experience with its use. It has also been proposed for many other applications related to climate change mitigation and alternative fuel production (Razon, 2018). The use of ammonia as a fuel is not exactly new, with a patent having been filed as early as 1937 (Valera-Medina et al, 2018).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A Comparative Environmental Life Cycle Assessment of the Combustion of Ammonia/Methane Fuels in a Tangential Swirl Burner

Razón

Valera‐Medina

2021

Front. Chem. Eng.

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Ammonia has been proposed as a replacement for fossil fuels. Like hydrogen, emissions from the combustion of ammonia are carbon-free. Unlike hydrogen, ammonia is more energy dense, less explosive, and there exists extensive experience in its distribution. However, ammonia has a low flame speed and combustion emits nitrogen oxides. Ammonia is produced via the Haber-Bosch process which consumes large amounts of fossil fuels and requires high temperatures and pressures. A life cycle assessment to determine potential environmental advantages and disadvantages of using ammonia is necessary. In this work, emissions data from experiments with generating heat from tangential swirl burners using ammonia cofired with methane employing currently available technologies were utilized to estimate the environmental impacts that may be expected. Seven ammonia sources were combined with two methane sources to create 14 scenarios. The impacts from these 14 scenarios were compared to those expected from using pure methane. The results show that using ammonia from present-day commercial production methods will result in worse global warming potentials than using methane to generate the same amount of heat. Only two scenarios, methane from biogas combined with ammonia from hydrogen from electricity and nuclear power via electrolysis and subsequent ammonia synthesis using nitrogen from the air, showed reductions in global warming potential. Subsequent analysis of other environmental impacts for these two scenarios showed potentially lower impacts for respiratory organics, terrestrial acidification-nutrification and aquatic acidification depending on how the burner is operated. The other eight environmental impacts were worse than the methane scenario because of activities intrinsic to the generation of electricity via wind power and nuclear fission. The results show that generating heat from a tangential swirl burner using ammonia currently available technologies will not necessarily result in improved environmental benefits in all categories. Improvements in renewable energy technologies could change these results positively. Other means of producing ammonia and improved means of converting ammonia to energy must continue to be explored.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Comparative Environmental Life Cycle Assessment of the Combustion of Ammonia/Methane Fuels in a Tangential Swirl Burner

Razón

Valera‐Medina

2021

Front. Chem. Eng.

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“…Studies show that a high rate of soils both in developing regions like India as well as developed countries like the UK are deficient in at least one micronutrient (Jones et al, 2013). Alternative sources of phosphorus, nitrogen, and potassium same as micronutrients are essential to maintain food security but also to prevent the increase of considerable geopolitical stress (EcoSanRes, 2005;Razon, 2018;Steen, 1998).…”

Section: The Role Of Nutrientsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Communicating Source Separation of Urine

Hörnlein¹,

Mehling²,

Londong³

2021

Detritus

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One of the main issues regarding the implementation of source-separation-based sanitation systems is user acceptance, which is related directly to the state of knowledge of citizens. A communication platform for the exhibition and interactive information on the topic of resource-oriented sanitation (ROS) was developed as part of the P-BANK transdisciplinary project. The P-BANK platform is based on a toilet in the public space. The communication concept focusses on the actual use of the toilets and the surrounding nutrient cycle. The central object of the communication at the P-BANK, as its name suggests, is the macronutrient phosphorus. This simplification creates a symbolic effect which is supported by the ambiguity of the sound of the chemical symbol “P” for phosphorus in connection with urinating (to pee). Furthermore, this reduction aims at shortening the messages and simplifying the information transfer. In the first project phase, the transportable system was field-tested and evaluated in the context of the 100th anniversary of the Bauhaus in Weimar. After positive reviews and experiences concerning the performance of the technical facilities and the success of the communication concept, the P-BANK will be tested and evaluated in further awareness-raising campaigns.

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“…Fertilizers return the nutrients to the soil after each harvest [18]. Currently, the fertilizer industry accounts for 77% of the global nitrogen demand [19]. In recent years, this industry has seen consistent progress in productivity and technological innovation [20].…”

Section: Chemical Fertilizermentioning

confidence: 99%

Ranking Potential Renewable Energy Systems to Power On-Farm Fertilizer Production

et al. 2020

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Farmers across the world have long used chemical fertilizers to achieve higher production outputs. One of the basic inputs for the production of nitrogen fertilizer is fossil fuel, which is not only finite but also has tangible impacts on the environment. This study aims to determine the most suitable renewable energy resource (RER) for the production of fertilizer in Iranian farmlands. The resources considered in this study were photovoltaic energy, biomass energy, wind energy, and solar thermal energy. This assessment was carried out in terms of six general criteria derived from a PESTEL (Political, Economic, Socio-cultural, Technological, Environmental and Legal) analysis, and thus 20 sub-criteria were obtained with the help of experts. The criteria were weighted using the Fuzzy AHP (Analytic Hierarchy Process) method. Because of the use of criteria with crisp, fuzzy, and interval-type values, the ranking was performed using the extended TODIM (an acronym in Portuguese of interactive and multi-criteria decision-making) method. A sensitivity analysis was performed to determine the effects of the sub-criteria on the results. The results showed that the technological criterion is the most important measure for this assessment, and that photovoltaic energy and wind energy are the top two options for powering chemical fertilizer production in Iranian farmlands.

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Reactive nitrogen: A perspective on its global impact and prospects for its sustainable production

Cited by 31 publications

References 156 publications

A Comparative Environmental Life Cycle Assessment of the Combustion of Ammonia/Methane Fuels in a Tangential Swirl Burner

A Comparative Environmental Life Cycle Assessment of the Combustion of Ammonia/Methane Fuels in a Tangential Swirl Burner

Communicating Source Separation of Urine

Ranking Potential Renewable Energy Systems to Power On-Farm Fertilizer Production

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