Life cycle assessment of hydrogen production from waste-derived ammonia decomposition using metal catalysts

Abstract

Hydrogen is as an energy source with clean combustion. Conventional hydrogen production technologies from hydrocarbons could have carbon emissions in the fuel cells. Ammonia decomposition can be considered as a carbon-free method of hydrogen production. The objective of this study is to conduct a comparative life cycle assessment for scaled-up hydrogen production from waste-derived ammonia decomposition on Ru/Al2O3 and Ni/Al2O3 catalysts. The hydrogen production processes were scaled up using the process simulation technique. The simulated process data for both catalyst routes were applied to evaluate the net energy analysis and global warming potentials at the same unit basis. According to the obtained results, Ru/Al2O3 has the highest net energy indicators than the Ni/Al2O3. The conventional air stripping method for waste-derived ammonia production has a negative net energy value compared to the Microbial Fuel Cell (MFC) process. Global Warming Potential (GWP) was calculated for both catalysts routes and the results show that both processes have close GWP values.