Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of renewable multi-generation systems using ammonia as an energy carrier

Semester Projects

Aim

Chemical energy storage proves suitable for long-term and grid-scale energy storage due to its high energy density, large storage capacity, and low self-discharge rate. The primary process for chemical energy storage involves renewable-driven water electrolysis. The resulting hydrogen can be stored directly after compression or indirectly by synthesizing other chemicals, such as methane, methanol, and ammonia. For safety and cost considerations, ammonia is chosen as the storage medium in this project. It serves to buffer the mismatch between renewable energy supply and electricity demand. Two pathways are discussed: power-to-ammonia-to-power (P2A2P) and biomass-to-ammonia-to-power (B2A2P). Previous work [1] has been conducted on the modeling and techno-economic analysis of these two pathways. However, environmental impact is another crucial metric that needs evaluation. This project aims to conduct a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of the technologies involved in these two pathways.

Tasks

This project is based on an existing model, encompassing subsystems of solar PV, wind turbine, proton exchange membrane water electrolysis, solid oxide water electrolysis, biomass gasification, biomass chemical looping, ammonia synthesis, solid oxide fuel cell, and combined cycle. Your tasks are as follows: (1) Understand the basic concepts of the technologies involved. (2) Conduct a Life Cycle Assessment of scenarios using different hydrogen production and power generation technologies. - Utilize OpenLCA software and the ecoinvent database. - Implement a bottom-up modeling method. - consider and compare other technologies, such as alkane water electrolysis (optional). (3) Generate an LCA report. - Consider both positive and negative effects of each technology. - Provide suggestions for mitigating environmental impact. (4) Conduct a Life Cycle Assessment of the baseline scenario (fossil fuel-based) for comparison.

For these tasks, you are required to have a background in energy, possess characteristics of independence, seriousness, and attentiveness, and demonstrate the ability for result interpretation and report writing. If you are interested, please send your CV to du.wen@epfl.ch.

Reference

[1] Du Wen, Muhammad Aziz, Techno-economic analyses of power-to-ammonia-to-power and biomass-to-ammonia-to-power pathways for carbon neutrality scenario, Applied Energy, Volume 319, 2022, 119272, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2022.119272.