Theoretical investigation of hydrogen-rich fuel production through ammonia decomposition

Considering the challenges related to hydrogen storage and transportation which hinder its widespread adoption, ammonia has emerged as a carbon-free carrier for hydrogen due to several advantages such as simple inexpensive storage. But, due to some limitations related to net ammonia combustion, the suggestion is to store hydrogen in the form of ammonia and convert it into hydrogen-rich fuel before utilization in different applications like engines and turbines. Therefore, in this article, a comprehensive thermodynamic analysis of hydrogen-rich fuel production via ammonia decomposition is conducted utilizing Aspen Plus V.12, to assess the impact of operating parameters on key criteria such as conversion rate (CR) and enthalpy of reaction, to establish the maximum level of efficiency of the process. The results show that at a specific temperature, the CR of ammonia decreases as the pressure rises so that the CR of more than 50% occurred at temperatures of 427 and 513 K for pressures of 1 and 10 bar, respectively. Moreover, the adiabatic flame temperature of hydrogen-rich fuel is investigated so that increasing the molar percentage of hydrogen from 0 to 50 leads to an increase in the maximum adiabatic flame temperature from 2,079 to 2,216 K.