Where to build the ideal solar-powered ammonia plant? Design optimization of a Belgian and Moroccan power-to-ammonia plant for covering the Belgian demand under uncertainties
Regions with abundantly available renewable energy are not necessarily the same as those with a high population density and energy consumption. Therefore, renewable energy can be produced in optimal climate conditions with a remote renewable hub and transported to these population-dense regions. To...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2023-06-01
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| Series: | Applications in Energy and Combustion Science |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666352X23000304 |
| _version_ | 1797802099254231040 |
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| author | Kevin Verleysen Diederik Coppitters Alessandro Parente Francesco Contino |
| author_facet | Kevin Verleysen Diederik Coppitters Alessandro Parente Francesco Contino |
| author_sort | Kevin Verleysen |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Regions with abundantly available renewable energy are not necessarily the same as those with a high population density and energy consumption. Therefore, renewable energy can be produced in optimal climate conditions with a remote renewable hub and transported to these population-dense regions. To establish this energy transport to these regions, ammonia provides a flexible, easy-to-handle energy carrier. However, current literature rarely considers the impact of techno-economic uncertainty on the feasibility of this transport. Using those uncertainties, we performed a robust design optimization on the levelized cost of ammonia and the power-to-ammonia efficiency to compare the local (Belgium) and remote (Morocco) ammonia production and transport to Belgium. This paper provides the robust designs (i.e. least sensitive to uncertainty) for local and remote renewable ammonia production and the advantages of both approaches on the levelized cost and energy efficiency. The results confirm that ammonia production in regions with high solar irradiance followed by the transport of ammonia is cost-effective and robust (601 euro/tonneNH3 in mean and 98 euro/tonneNH3 in standard deviation) over local production (852 euro/tonneNH3 in mean and 139 euro/tonneNH3 in standard deviation). However, local ammonia production provides for more efficient (54.8% in mean) and less sensitive power-to-ammonia plant designs (0.16% in standard deviation), while the production in Morocco is less efficient (52.2% in mean) and more sensitive to uncertainties (0.39% in standard deviation). The capacity of the photovoltaic arrays and the electrolyzers highly influences both objectives. The sensitivity analysis shows that capital and operational expenses of the photovoltaics and electrolyzer stack dominate the designs with the lowest levelized cost in mean and standard deviation. However, the energy consumption uncertainty of the Haber–Bosch also impacts the cost of the lowest mean levelized cost. This uncertainty also dominates the designs with the highest energy efficiency in mean and lowest standard deviation. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-13T05:00:32Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-41b645cbbe284294bd22e90d590699be |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2666-352X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-13T05:00:32Z |
| publishDate | 2023-06-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
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| series | Applications in Energy and Combustion Science |
| spelling | doaj.art-41b645cbbe284294bd22e90d590699be2023-06-17T05:21:07ZengElsevierApplications in Energy and Combustion Science2666-352X2023-06-0114100141Where to build the ideal solar-powered ammonia plant? Design optimization of a Belgian and Moroccan power-to-ammonia plant for covering the Belgian demand under uncertaintiesKevin Verleysen0Diederik Coppitters1Alessandro Parente2Francesco Contino3Thermo and Fluid Dynamics (FLOW), Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), Pleinlaan 2, 1050 Brussels, Belgium; Aéro-thermo-mécanique (ATM), Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Avenue F.D. Roosevelt, 50 - CP 165/41, 1050 Brussels, Belgium; Brussels Institute for Thermal-fluid systems and clean Energy (BRITE), Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) and Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), 1050 Brussels, Belgium; Corresponding author at: Thermo and Fluid Dynamics (FLOW), Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), Pleinlaan 2, 1050 Brussels, Belgium.Institute of Mechanics, Materials and Civil Engineering (iMMC), Université Catholique de Louvain (UCLouvain), Place du Levant, 2, 1348 Louvain-la-Neuve, BelgiumAéro-thermo-mécanique (ATM), Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Avenue F.D. Roosevelt, 50 - CP 165/41, 1050 Brussels, Belgium; Brussels Institute for Thermal-fluid systems and clean Energy (BRITE), Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) and Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), 1050 Brussels, BelgiumInstitute of Mechanics, Materials and Civil Engineering (iMMC), Université Catholique de Louvain (UCLouvain), Place du Levant, 2, 1348 Louvain-la-Neuve, BelgiumRegions with abundantly available renewable energy are not necessarily the same as those with a high population density and energy consumption. Therefore, renewable energy can be produced in optimal climate conditions with a remote renewable hub and transported to these population-dense regions. To establish this energy transport to these regions, ammonia provides a flexible, easy-to-handle energy carrier. However, current literature rarely considers the impact of techno-economic uncertainty on the feasibility of this transport. Using those uncertainties, we performed a robust design optimization on the levelized cost of ammonia and the power-to-ammonia efficiency to compare the local (Belgium) and remote (Morocco) ammonia production and transport to Belgium. This paper provides the robust designs (i.e. least sensitive to uncertainty) for local and remote renewable ammonia production and the advantages of both approaches on the levelized cost and energy efficiency. The results confirm that ammonia production in regions with high solar irradiance followed by the transport of ammonia is cost-effective and robust (601 euro/tonneNH3 in mean and 98 euro/tonneNH3 in standard deviation) over local production (852 euro/tonneNH3 in mean and 139 euro/tonneNH3 in standard deviation). However, local ammonia production provides for more efficient (54.8% in mean) and less sensitive power-to-ammonia plant designs (0.16% in standard deviation), while the production in Morocco is less efficient (52.2% in mean) and more sensitive to uncertainties (0.39% in standard deviation). The capacity of the photovoltaic arrays and the electrolyzers highly influences both objectives. The sensitivity analysis shows that capital and operational expenses of the photovoltaics and electrolyzer stack dominate the designs with the lowest levelized cost in mean and standard deviation. However, the energy consumption uncertainty of the Haber–Bosch also impacts the cost of the lowest mean levelized cost. This uncertainty also dominates the designs with the highest energy efficiency in mean and lowest standard deviation.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666352X23000304Power-to-ammoniaHaber–Bosch synthesisRobust design optimizationUncertainty quantificationLevelized cost of ammonia |
| spellingShingle | Kevin Verleysen Diederik Coppitters Alessandro Parente Francesco Contino Where to build the ideal solar-powered ammonia plant? Design optimization of a Belgian and Moroccan power-to-ammonia plant for covering the Belgian demand under uncertainties Applications in Energy and Combustion Science Power-to-ammonia Haber–Bosch synthesis Robust design optimization Uncertainty quantification Levelized cost of ammonia |
| title | Where to build the ideal solar-powered ammonia plant? Design optimization of a Belgian and Moroccan power-to-ammonia plant for covering the Belgian demand under uncertainties |
| title_full | Where to build the ideal solar-powered ammonia plant? Design optimization of a Belgian and Moroccan power-to-ammonia plant for covering the Belgian demand under uncertainties |
| title_fullStr | Where to build the ideal solar-powered ammonia plant? Design optimization of a Belgian and Moroccan power-to-ammonia plant for covering the Belgian demand under uncertainties |
| title_full_unstemmed | Where to build the ideal solar-powered ammonia plant? Design optimization of a Belgian and Moroccan power-to-ammonia plant for covering the Belgian demand under uncertainties |
| title_short | Where to build the ideal solar-powered ammonia plant? Design optimization of a Belgian and Moroccan power-to-ammonia plant for covering the Belgian demand under uncertainties |
| title_sort | where to build the ideal solar powered ammonia plant design optimization of a belgian and moroccan power to ammonia plant for covering the belgian demand under uncertainties |
| topic | Power-to-ammonia Haber–Bosch synthesis Robust design optimization Uncertainty quantification Levelized cost of ammonia |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666352X23000304 |
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