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Ammonia - The Hydrogen Carrier!

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1. Basics! Ammonia is a colourless gas (at room temperature) with an extremely pungent odour. It is made by combining Nitrogen and Hydrogen (NH 3 ). Its the most widely produced inorganic compound in the world. Its also one of the most traded inorganic compounds in the world. In FY20, the world produced ~180 MT of Ammonia, of which ~18 MT was traded and shipped across the world. Present Ammonia production process is extremely carbon intensive. Every ton of Ammonia produced using the current process, produces 1.6 ton of CO 2 . 2. Uses of Ammonia Present Uses Presently, Ammonia is the basic building block of the Nitrogen industry with Nitrogen Fertilizers (Urea, DAP) accounting for 80% of Ammonia demand. The balance is split between various uses like explosive (Ammonium Nitrate), Refrigerants, Plastics etc.  Potential Uses As the world strives to move away from Carbon, there are increasing uses cases for Ammonia like Ammonia as a marine fuel  Combining Ammonia with Coal as fuel ...
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Its "elementary" my dear Hydrogen!

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1. Basics! Fortunately, Hydrogen is the most abundant natural element. Unfortunately, its rarely available naturally in its elemental form. Mostly it comes with its friends Oxygen and Carbon as water (H 2 O) or Organic Compounds like Methane (CH 4 ), Ethane (C 2 H 6 ) etc. It then needs to be separated to obtain elemental hydrogen essential for our energy transition. When any carbon based compound (e.g. coal, petrol, diesel) is used to produce energy (e.g. in power plant, in car), its combusted producing Carbon Dioxide. Same thing, when done with Hydrogen, produces only water! 2. Uses of Hydrogen Present Uses Presently, Hydrogen is rarely used as a source of energy. Below is a quick breakdown of the ~90 MTPA Hydrogen consumed in FY20. As can be seen POL refineries and Ammonia production contribute ~90% of utilisation of hydrogen. This is expected to dramatically change as Hydrogen picks up as a source of energy in years to come. Potential Uses Substitute for Natural Gas in Ammonia prod...
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