The same wind that brings rain to a thirsty corn field is generating anhydrous ammonia needed to fertilize Minnesota crops. Researchers at the University of Minnesota West Central Research and Outreach Center, near Morris, Minn., are investigating how unused wind energy in rural areas might economically produce this important input.
Commercial anhydrous ammonia plants extract nitrogen from the atmosphere by compressing and filtering air. Pressurized hydrogen and nitrogen is driven over a catalyst to produce anhydrous ammonia. Commercial plants utilize natural gas to make the needed hydrogen component.
HYDROGEN PLANT
The Minnesota pilot project uses the same chemical concept without natural gas. Instead, the plant produces hydrogen by applying electricity generated from wind turbines to break apart the hydrogen and oxygen atoms that compose water molecules.
The pilot plant began making anhydrous ammonia in June and will produce about 25 tons a year. That's a drop in the anhydrous tank compared to average commercial-sized plants.
However, size doesn't matter to the University of Minnesota researchers. Their dream is to design a system that cooperatives or owners of a few wind turbines could use to build economically viable businesses.
Local anhydrous plants powered by wind could reduce the volatility of anhydrous ammonia prices, increase economic activity in rural towns and shrink the carbon footprint of growing corn.
Turning wind, air and water into anhydrous may be the easy part. "From a technical standpoint, we know the process will work. We just need to work out the bugs and then figure out the economics of a community-sized plant," says Joel Tallaksen, University of Minnesota researcher.
Part of the process of analyzing the economics will be putting a value on rural wind that is not being used today. "People often ask me why so many wind turbines are idle on windy days," says University of Minnesota Extension energy economist Doug Tiffany. "The reasons stem from inadequate power demand or too little transmission capacity. Using wind-based energy to drive chemical processes or electrochemistry is a great way to use wind resources, especially when producing products needed in farming areas."
EXCESS WIND
A local plant making hydrogen or anhydrous ammonia would provide a market for this unused wind by keeping lonely turbines running at night and other times when demand for electricity is low. The potential of using this stranded wind energy would provide one incentive for a cooperative or a small group of farmers to invest in a plant that could make anhydrous for their county.
Another incentive could be that corn fertilized by anhydrous ammonia made from wind and water would have a much smaller carbon footprint than corn fertilized by anhydrous ammonia from natural gas, Tiffany says. Currently, the market doesn't reward growers of low-carbon-footprint corn, but that could change.
"Greenhouse gas emissions are becoming more and more important at every level of agriculture," Tiffany explains. "Some buyers may prefer corn that is certified as having been grown with a low-carbon footprint." He believes carbon taxes either in the U.S. or in other countries may help drive this trend.
Commercial anhydrous ammonia plants extract nitrogen from the atmosphere by compressing and filtering air. Pressurized hydrogen and nitrogen is driven over a catalyst to produce anhydrous ammonia. Commercial plants utilize natural gas to make the needed hydrogen component.
HYDROGEN PLANT
The Minnesota pilot project uses the same chemical concept without natural gas. Instead, the plant produces hydrogen by applying electricity generated from wind turbines to break apart the hydrogen and oxygen atoms that compose water molecules.
The pilot plant began making anhydrous ammonia in June and will produce about 25 tons a year. That's a drop in the anhydrous tank compared to average commercial-sized plants.
However, size doesn't matter to the University of Minnesota researchers. Their dream is to design a system that cooperatives or owners of a few wind turbines could use to build economically viable businesses.
Local anhydrous plants powered by wind could reduce the volatility of anhydrous ammonia prices, increase economic activity in rural towns and shrink the carbon footprint of growing corn.
Turning wind, air and water into anhydrous may be the easy part. "From a technical standpoint, we know the process will work. We just need to work out the bugs and then figure out the economics of a community-sized plant," says Joel Tallaksen, University of Minnesota researcher.
Part of the process of analyzing the economics will be putting a value on rural wind that is not being used today. "People often ask me why so many wind turbines are idle on windy days," says University of Minnesota Extension energy economist Doug Tiffany. "The reasons stem from inadequate power demand or too little transmission capacity. Using wind-based energy to drive chemical processes or electrochemistry is a great way to use wind resources, especially when producing products needed in farming areas."
EXCESS WIND
A local plant making hydrogen or anhydrous ammonia would provide a market for this unused wind by keeping lonely turbines running at night and other times when demand for electricity is low. The potential of using this stranded wind energy would provide one incentive for a cooperative or a small group of farmers to invest in a plant that could make anhydrous for their county.
Another incentive could be that corn fertilized by anhydrous ammonia made from wind and water would have a much smaller carbon footprint than corn fertilized by anhydrous ammonia from natural gas, Tiffany says. Currently, the market doesn't reward growers of low-carbon-footprint corn, but that could change.
"Greenhouse gas emissions are becoming more and more important at every level of agriculture," Tiffany explains. "Some buyers may prefer corn that is certified as having been grown with a low-carbon footprint." He believes carbon taxes either in the U.S. or in other countries may help drive this trend.