Thermodynamic and Economic Analysis of Supercritical Water Gasification Low Carbon Emission Ammonia-Electricity Cogeneration System with Dual Chemical Looping Processes

The synthesis of ammonia by biomass can achieve clean and efficient production, providing an innovative method for ammonia production. In this study, an ammonia-electricity cogeneration system based on supercritical water gasification, chemical looping air separation, and the Haber-Bosch process was proposed, aiming to comprehensively evaluate the system’s performance from thermodynamic, carbon dioxide emission reduction. The results demonstrated that energy efficiency of the system was 63.53%, with exergy efficiency of 57.08%, enabling a low energy penalty in ammonia production. The primary sources of exergy loss in the proposed system were identified as the gasifier, waste heat boiler, and synthetic ammonia reactor. Moreover, this new system had a remarkable CO2 capture rate of 98.48% compared to traditional systems and a specific CO2 emission rate of 0.0318 kg/kgNH3, showing that it has the potential to effectively reduce emissions. The economic analysis further bolstered the feasibility of this system, with a unit cost for ammonia production of $0.469/kgNH3 and a short initial payback period. These findings unequivocally indicate that this innovative system presents a promising avenue toward sustainable and economically viable energy conversion.