Combined hydrogen and electricity production from aqueous ammonia feed
A system and a method for producing hydrogen and electrical power from an aqueous ammonia solution are provided. An exemplary system includes a distillation unit to produce ammonia gas from the aqueous ammonia solution, a compression unit to boost the pressure of the ammonia gas, a membrane separator to catalytically convert the ammonia gas to nitrogen and hydrogen and remove the hydrogen as a permeate, and a micro turbine to combust a retentate to generate energy.
1. A system for producing hydrogen and electrical power from an aqueous ammonia solution, comprising:
a distillation unit to produce ammonia gas from the aqueous ammonia solution;
a compression unit to boost the pressure of the ammonia gas;
a membrane separator to convert the ammonia gas to nitrogen and hydrogen and remove the hydrogen as a permeate; and
a micro turbine to combust a retentate to generate energy.
2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the distillation unit comprises a multistage distillation column.
3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the compression unit comprises a multistage compressor.
4. The system of claim 1 , comprising a heat exchanger downstream of the compression unit to heat the ammonia gas to an operating temperature for the membrane separator.
5. The system of claim 1 , wherein a membrane in the membrane separator comprises a catalyst that converts the ammonia gas to nitrogen and hydrogen.
6. The system of claim 5 , wherein the catalyst comprises palladium.
7. The system of claim 5 , wherein the catalyst comprises a palladium alloy.
8. The system of claim 1 , wherein a membrane in the membrane separator comprises a protonic conducting membrane.
9. The system of claim 1 , wherein a membrane in the membrane separator comprises an electrochemical conversion system.
10. The system of claim 1 , wherein the micro turbine comprises a recuperator.
11. The system of claim 1 , wherein the retentate comprises ammonia, hydrogen, or nitrogen, or any combinations thereof.
12. The system of claim 1 , comprising a fueling station for fuel cell electric vehicles (FECV).
13. The system of claim 1 , comprising a charging station for electric vehicles (EV).
14. The system of claim 1 , wherein the energy comprises heat from an exhaust stream of the micro turbine.
15. The system of claim 1 , wherein the energy comprises electricity from a generator coupled to the micro turbine.