Patent Application
20160006066
Energy supply and demand is typically cyclic being influenced by both market and natural forces. For example, energy supply from renewable energy sources may be decreased or increased depending on circumstances of weather or human intervention. Hydroelectric power generation may be decreased by both a naturally lower mountain snowpack and a manmade reduction in outflow through the turbines of a hydroelectric dam. As another example, energy supply may drastically increase during times of extreme temperature conditions (whether high or low) or when spot prices for electric power rise. Finally, power generation capacity and consumption may be affected by less-obvious influences, such as a government's environmental policy, which may reward or punish energy production under certain circumstances (e.g. rewarding production with renewable energy sources or punishing production under unfavorable weather conditions or with nonrenewable energy sources). Therefore, there is a need for a system of energy production and distribution that can account for and dampen some of the fluctuations in a system of energy supply and demand as measured by both energy production and energy pricing.
The Hydrogen Hub (Hub) is an invention designed to help provide a unique system solution to some of the most serious energy, food and transportation challenges we face in both the developed and developing world. Hubs create on-peak, zero-pollution energy, agricultural fertilizer, and fuel for transportation by synthesizing electricity, water and air into anhydrous ammonia and using it to help create a smarter, greener, and more distributed global energy, food and transportation infrastructure.
This patent describes the operational elements, subsystems and functions of a Hydrogen Hub. It also describes six embodiments of Hub configurations, detailed below, that are designed to insure Hubs can help meet a wide range of energy needs and other challenges. These six embodiments include:
(I) Land-Based, Integrated Hubs Fully Connected to the Power Grid. In this configuration, Hubs shape and control power demand, provide energy storage, then create on peak power generation at a single location.
(II) Land-Based, Disaggregate Hubs Fully Connected to the Power Grid. In this configuration, key Hub processes are disaggregated, deployed to separate locations, and connected to the power grid. This is done to maximize the operating efficiency of both the ammonia synthesis and generation functions. It also allows for strategic, large-scale placement of each function to precise locations on the power grid where they can achieve the highest possible value for capturing off peak resources, stabilize the power grid, and provide zero-emissions power generation at the source of load.
(III) Land-Based, Disaggregated Hubs Partially Connected to the Power Grid. In this configuration, Hub ammonia synthesis operations are deployed to isolated locations to capture high value wind and solar resources that may otherwise be lost because of the capital cost of transmission construction to reach the site, or long delays or outright prohibition of transmission construction across environmentally sensitive areas. The renewable ammonia created at these sites is then transported to grid-connected Hydrogen Hub generation locations at or near the center of load.
(IV) Land Based, Integrated Hubs, Operating Independently from the Power Grid. Land-based hubs, referred to here as Wind-Light Hubs, may operate independently of the power grid in smaller, isolated communities worldwide. In this configuration Hub functions are integrated into a singular design that captures intermittent wind and solar energy, water and air and turns these resources into predictable electricity, renewable ammonia, and clean water for villages and communities with little or no access to these essential commodities.
(V) Water-Based, Disaggregated Hubs Partially Connected to the Power Grid. Hydrogen Hub ammonia synthesis operations, referred to here as Hydro Hubs, can be placed on production platforms on large-scale bodies of fresh water or in the ocean. Then the resulting ammonia made from electricity from surface wind, high altitude (jet stream) wind, wave, tidal solar, water temperature conversion, or other renewable resources can transported by barge or ship to Hub generation locations. Here the renewable anhydrous ammonia will fuel grid-connected Hub generation with zero emissions near the center of load.
(VI) A Global Hydrogen Hub Energy-Agriculture-Transportation Network. It will take generations to achieve, but a fully integrated network of Hydrogen Hubs, operating on land and on water, can help capture large-scale renewable and other energy resources, stabilize power grids, distribute on peak, zero-pollution energy to load centers, create farm fertilizer from all-natural sources, and create fuel to power cars and trucks with zero emissions. A Hydrogen Hub network can work on a global scale—reaching billions of people in both the developed and developing world.
All six embodiments are described in this patent.
I. LAND-BASED, INTEGRATED HUBS FULLY CONNECTED TO THE POWER GRID. We first describe a fully integrated Hydrogen Hub connected to the power grid, one embodiment of which is illustrated in
This lower value, off peak power is captured as chemical energy by means of synthesizing electricity, water and air into anhydrous ammonia (NH3). Anhydrous ammonia is among the densest hydrogen energy sources in the world—50% more hydrogen dense than liquid hydrogen itself. Hydrogen gas would have to be compressed to 20,000 pounds per square inch—not possible with today's tank technology—to equal volumetric energy density of liquid anhydrous ammonia. The anhydrous ammonia is then stored in tanks for later use either as a fuel for on peak electric power generation at the integrated Hydrogen Hub site or sold for use as a fertilizer for agriculture, or for other uses.
A Hydrogen Hub is a system of hardware and controls that absorbs electric power from any electric energy source, including hydropower, wind, solar, and other resources, chemically stores the power in hydrogen-dense anhydrous ammonia, then reshapes the stored energy to the power grid on peak with zero emissions by using anhydrous ammonia as a fuel to power newly designed diesel-type, spark-ignited internal combustion, combustion turbine, fuel cell or other electric power generators. If the electricity powering the Hub ammonia synthesize process comes from renewable energy sources, we refer to this product as “green” anhydrous ammonia. When anhydrous ammonia is used as a fuel to power Hydrogen Hub generation, the emissions are only water vapor and nitrogen. There is zero carbon or other pollutant emissions from Hydrogen Hubs power generation using anhydrous ammonia as a fuel source. Under certain operating conditions there is the potential that nitrogen oxide might be created during combustion. But if this occurs, it can be easily controlled and captured by spraying the emissions with ammonia produced by the Hub (see below).
Hydrogen Hubs may be designed to offer a powerful, high-capacity renewable energy source that can be distributed by power system managers to precisely when and where the power is needed—all controlled and tracked by a new process described in this patent. Hubs can be scaled up or down in size. They can be designed to be portable—placed on truck beds to be quickly transported to locations of need in an energy emergency.
Taken together this integrated Hydrogen Hub system helps stabilize the power grid, increases the value of intermittent renewable energy resources, and puts off the need for new large-scale energy systems built to meet peak loads. Hub generation sites can also save billions of dollars in transmission congestion fees and new transmission and distribution facilities, constructed to bring power from distant locations to the center of load. Hubs can serve as a highly distributed, high capacity, demand-side resource serving the power needs of homes, blocks, neighborhoods or cities.
Natural Fertilizer: In addition to providing unique power benefits, the anhydrous ammonia created by Hubs can be used as fertilizer for agriculture. This creates the opportunity—unique among energy sources—for the cost of Hydrogen Hub development to be shared by at least two large-scale industries, energy and agriculture. This reduces the overall cost of Hubs to both groups and potentially creates savings for consumers of both energy and food. As a Hydrogen Hub network develops, there is also the possibility this partnership can extend to the transportation industry, as described in Section VI below.
If the anhydrous ammonia created by the Hub is made from renewable electricity, hydrogen from water and nitrogen from the atmosphere, we refer to it herein as “green” ammonia. Green anhydrous ammonia can be considered a “natural” or “organic” fertilizer. This can have a particularly high value in today's marketplace.
By contrast, global ammonia is one of the most highly produced inorganic materials with worldwide production in 2004 exceeding 109 million metric tons. The U.S. is large importer of ammonia. The People's Republic of China produced over 28% of worldwide production followed by India (8.6%), Russia with 8.4% and the United States at 8.2%. About 80% of ammonia is used as agricultural fertilizer. It is essential for food production in this country and worldwide. Virtually all 100+ million tons of anhydrous ammonia created in the world each year is made by a steam methane reforming process powered by carbon-based natural gas or coal. This method of producing ammonia constitutes one of the single largest sources of carbon in the world.
If the cost of power into the Hub ammonia synthesis process is five cents a kilowatt-hour (a typical year-round industrial rate for a full requirements customer of the Bonneville Power Administration), for example, it is estimated ammonia in the Pacific Northwest could be available for $900 a ton. By contrast, in 2008 the price for carbon-based global anhydrous ammonia ranged between $600 and $1,200 a ton in the Northwest.
The five-cent a kilowatt-hour price of power to synthesize ammonia can drop the price of produced ammonia in the Northwest to about $500 a ton if a new synthesis technology like Solid State Ammonia Synthesis (see 4.2 below) is employed. Using spring off peak prices of power at or below 2 cents a kilowatt-hour, the price of ammonia from this excess renewable energy would plunge even further, not counting the potential for carbon credits or a reduced capital cost due to a joint power/energy alliance to share in the cost of financing and building Hydrogen Hubs.
Firm and non-firm hydropower and, increasingly, wind energy dominate the energy output of the Bonneville Power Administration. This is also true of most electric energy created in the Northwest. Therefore, most of the ammonia made at Hydrogen Hub ammonia synthesis plants in the Northwest could be considered partly or entirely green. Because Hubs can capture intermittent renewable energy otherwise lost to the system, Hubs may qualify for carbon credits, renewable portfolio standards, and other benefits. Because the green ammonia created by Hubs and sold to farms displaces global ammonia, referred to in this patent as “blue” ammonia, created from carbon sources, it also may qualify for carbon credits and other environmental benefits. This could further lower green ammonia prices.
Other uses for Hub-synthesized ammonia are in refrigeration, power plant stack cleaning, as an alternative fuel for car and truck transportation (described below), and many other recognized commercial purposes.
INTEGRATED HYDROGEN HUB SYSTEMS AND FUNCTIONS. A fully integrated, grid-connected Hydrogen Hubs system is broken down into nine major categories: 1) Electronic Controls; 2) Acquisition, Storage and Recovery of Hydrogen; 3) Acquisition Storage and Recovery of Nitrogen; 4) Synthesis or Acquisition of Anhydrous Ammonia; 5) Acquisition, Storage and Recycling of Water; 6) Acquisition, Storage and Injection of Oxygen; 7) Ammonia Storage; 8) Electric Power Generation; and 9) Monitoring, Capture and Recycling of Generation Emissions.
Within these nine categories this patent identifies a number of subsystems and related functions described below that can be part of the Hydrogen Hub technology process, depending on specific Hub operating conditions, and the needs of individual utilities, energy companies and other potential purchasers of the Hydrogen Hub. These specific subsystems and functions are outlined below.
I. (1) Electronic Controls
Hydrogen Hubs can form an integrated subsystem of “smart,” interactive power electronics designed to control, monitor, define, shape and verify the source of electric energy powering Hydrogen Hub technology both on site, or remotely, and in real-time.
I. (1.1) Hub Power Sink System (HPS)
The HPS system will allow the grid operators to remotely control and manage the ammonia synthesis operations with on, off and power shaping functions operating within pre-set parameters. The HPS also may be electronically connected to emerging technologies designed to better predict approaching wind conditions, the likely duration and velocity of sustained winds, and wind ramping events within the specific geographic location of the wind farm. The HPS will allow Hub ammonia synthesis operations that can be located adjacent to wind farms, to better operate as an on-call energy sink (see 4.3 below) and as a demand-management tool. With HPS “smart” technology, Hub synthesis operations can mitigate transmission loadings and reduce transmission congestion fees by triggering idle Hub synthesis operations. The HPS can take advantage of Hub operating flexibility to maintain temperatures in the ammonia synthesis heat core to allow rapid response to changing intermittent energy patterns, or to rapidly bring synthesis system core temperatures from cool to operational as wind systems approach the specific geographic area of the Hub site. HPS also will allow Hubs to respond to periods of large-scale renewable (and non-renewable) generation, peak hydropower, wind ramping events and other periods of sustained power over-generation that can lower prices and cause grid instability.
I. (1.2) Hub Power Track (HPT)
The HPT system will establish the real-time tracking of the source of electricity powering the Hub ammonia synthesis operation. Increasingly, utilities are being required to track the sources of electricity flowing across their power systems at any given time. HPT will track and integrate this information in real time at the precise location of the Hydrogen Hub site.
For example, it is the early spring day at 1:15 p.m. in the afternoon. HPT tracks the fact that 70% of the power at the location near Umatilla, Oreg. comes from firm and non-firm hydropower sources, 15% from wind resources adjacent to the site, 10% from the Energy Northwest nuclear plant at Hanford, and 5% from the Jim Bridger coal plant in Wyoming. HPT will track this information continuously. HPT will log the fact that the ammonia produced at the site at this particular moment was, for example, 85% from renewable sources, 10% from non-renewable, carbon-free sources, and 5% from carbon-based coal. With this information, the Hub manager can determine how much of the ammonia synthesized by the plant can be considered green and thereby potentially qualify for carbon credits, meet renewable portfolio standards, and other similar benefits. The manager also knows what percentage of the ammonia may be subject to carbon taxes or costs—in this case a total of 5%. If all electricity into the Hub comes from wind farms, for example, the ammonia synthesized by the Hub is labeled as green ammonia and may qualify for carbon credits, renewable energy credits, portfolio standards and other benefits associated with green power generation. By contrast, if HPT records and verifies that power into the Hub came exclusively from coal plants during a specified period, the ammonia produced by the Hub would not qualify for renewable benefits and may be subject to carbon tax or cap and trade costs.
The tank of ammonia put into storage is matched with a “carbon profile” provided by HPT. This allows the Hub manager to track the green content of the fuel later used to power the Hub generation process (see below) or used as a fertilizer on local farms. Hubs may seek an independent third party to manage the HPT program to assure accurate, transparent, and independent confirmation of results—an official seal of approval creating confidence in a green ammonia exchange market (see 1.4 below).
I. (1.3) Hub Code Green (HCG)
The HCG uses the data from HPT to place physical identification codes on tanks of ammonia created by the Hub. The HCG then tracks the movement of that ammonia if it is sold or traded with other non-Hub-produced tanks filled with “blue” ammonia. This integrated tracking system allows for the cost-effective storage of green ammonia among and between Hydrogen Hubs and the agriculture industry, for example, with other tanks of “blue” global ammonia made from carbon-based sources. The combination of the HPT and HCG system is essential to establishing a transparent, highly efficient and well-functioning Hydrogen Hub green ammonia fuel market.
I. (1.4) Green Ammonia Exchange (GME)
The HPT and HCB systems together create the independently verified and transparent data that forms the foundation for the GME tracking system—a robust regional, national and international green ammonia trading exchange. The GME allows green ammonia to be purchased, sold, exchanged or hedged, physically or by contract, between parties. This exchange cannot exist without Hydrogen Hubs and their unique ability to create, track, code green ammonia fuel in real time.
I. (1.5) Green Ammonia Derivatives Market
Hydrogen Hubs are a technological way to help manage the risk associated with intermittent, renewable and other energy sources. The development of a distributed Hydrogen Hub network across a specific geographic area of significant (terrestrial or high altitude) wind, solar, hydropower, wave, tidal or other renewable resources helps shape the uncertainty or intermittent natural resources in these areas. With Hydrogen Hub networks forming the technological basis for managing renewable energy risks across identified sub-geographies, unique Hub-based financial instruments and derivatives to manage renewable energy risks become viable. The result is a geographically specific, green ammonia derivatives market—a new tool to help manage energy and agricultural risk—enabled by the integrated Hydrogen Hub system shown in
I. (2) Acquisition, Storage and Recovery of Hydrogen
The integration of a subsystem designed to acquire hydrogen through either the extraction of hydrogen by and through the electrolysis of water in an electrolysis-air separation Haber-Bosch process (see section I. 4.1 below), or from the reformation of water by and through an solid-state ammonia synthesis process (see section I.4.2 below), or by extraction of hydrogen gas from bio-mass of other hydrogen-rich compounds or from other sources (I. 4.3 below), or by the direct purchases of hydrogen from the open market, and/or through other methods or processes. Hydrogen can be stored in tanks on site.
I. (2.1) Hydrogen Injection System (HIS)
In a Hydrogen Hub designed to generate power from combustion turbines, the combustion turbine may require a mixture of some 80% ammonia and 20% pure hydrogen gas to operate at maximum efficiency (see section I.8.6 below). Therefore, before the hydrogen gas is absorbed into the electrolysis-air separation Haber-Bosch process described at section I.4.1 below, the HIS system diverts a portion of the hydrogen gas to the combustion fuel injection site under control of the Hub Green Meter Storage and Management system described at section I.4.6 below.
I. (3) Acquisition, Storage and Recovery of Nitrogen
The integration of a subsystem designed to acquire and store nitrogen through either the extraction of nitrogen from the atmosphere using air separation units, or the extraction of nitrogen from biomass and other nitrogen-rich compounds, the capture and recycling of nitrogen produced as emissions (along with water vapor) from the Hydrogen Hub power generation process, or by direct purchases of nitrogen from the open market, and/or through other methods or processes.
I. (3.1) Nitrogen Recovery System (NRS).
The NRS captures and recycles nitrogen gas back to the holding tank from generation emissions of anhydrous ammonia for potential storage and reuse in the Hydrogen Hub ammonia synthesis cycle, or for commercial sale. The NRS provides a “closed loop” environmental system wherein the nitrogen may be recovered, along with water vapor, from Hub generation emissions through a closed condensate-nitrogen separation process. This recovered nitrogen may be tanked and sold for commercial purposes or injected back into the nitrogen loop of the ammonia synthesis process, thereby potentially increasing the overall energy efficiency of Hydrogen Hub operations.
I. (4) Synthesis and/or Acquisition of Anhydrous Ammonia
The integration of a subsystem/s designed to synthesize hydrogen from water and nitrogen from the atmosphere into anhydrous ammonia or to purchase anhydrous ammonia from the open market. Ammonia synthesis and purchase options include:
I. (4.1) Electrolysis-Air Separation-Haber-Bosch (EAHB) Process.
First, hydrogen is extracted from water in the electrolysis-air separation Haber-Bosch process through the electrolysis of water using megawatt-scale electrolyzers available on the market today. The higher AC voltages from the power grid, or provided directly by wind turbines isolated from the power grid, are stepped down to the lower voltage, higher-amplitude or higher amperage DC power required by the electrolysis-air separation Haber-Bosch electrolysis process. It takes about 420 gallons of water to produce a metric ton of ammonia through electrolysis. The water can be nearly fully captured and recycled as water vapor from the Hub generation process (see 5.1 below).
Second, nitrogen is extracted from the atmosphere using an Air Separation Unit (ASU), again using existing technology.
Third, the hydrogen and nitrogen are then synthesized into NH3 using a market-available Haber-Bosch catalytic synthesis loop process in which nitrogen and hydrogen are fixed over an enriched iron catalyst to produce anhydrous ammonia. If the source of the power running the EAHB/ASU system is wind, solar, hydro or other renewable energy, green anhydrous ammonia is created. It is estimated that an electrolysis-air separation Haber-Bosch process consuming one megawatt of electricity would produce two tons of anhydrous ammonia per day, before any efficiency improvements. Hydrogen Hubs will recycle steam from the Hub generation process, super insulate core temperatures inside the synthesis process, and recycle nitrogen from generation emissions to create greater efficiencies within the electrolysis-air separation Haber-Bosch process.
I. (4.2) Solid State Ammonia Synthesis (SSAS) Process.
In the Solid State Ammonia Synthesis process, the higher AC voltages from the power grid—or provided directly by wind turbines isolated from the power grid—are again stepped down to the lower voltage, higher-amplitude or higher amperage DC power required by the solid-state ammonia synthesis process. With solid-state ammonia synthesis water is decomposed at an anode, hydrogen atoms are absorbed and stripped of electrons; the hydrogen is then conducted (as a proton) through a proton-conducting ceramic electrolytes; the protons emerge at a cathode and regain electrons, then react with absorbed, dissociated nitrogen atoms to form anhydrous ammonia. Solid-state ammonia synthesis is, as of this writing, at the design stage. Solid-state ammonia synthesis has the potential to significantly improve the efficiency and lower the cost, of ammonia synthesis compared to the electrolysis-air separation Haber-Bosch process. Again, if the source of the power running the solid-state ammonia synthesis system is wind, solar, hydro or other renewable energy, then “green” anhydrous ammonia is created. It is estimated that a solid-state ammonia synthesis system consuming one megawatt of electricity would produce 3.2 tons of anhydrous ammonia per day. Hubs would seek to improve the solid-state ammonia synthesis efficiency still further through recycling of heated steam and nitrogen from Hub generation emissions directly into the solid-state ammonia synthesis process.
I. (4.3) Hydrogen Acquired from Bio-Mass and Other Organic Compounds
In addition to hydrogen acquired from water as part of the ammonia synthesis processes described in I.4.2 and I.4.3 above, Hubs can also acquire hydrogen from operations to recover hydrogen gas from biomass and other organic sources and/or compounds. Hydrogen from these sources can be collected, stored and introduced directly into the Haber-Bosch process described above to create ammonia. This avoids the energy costs associated with the electrolysis of water. Trucks can transport portable Hub ammonia synthesis plants to key locations where hydrogen from biomass and other sources can be directly synthesized into ammonia.
I. (4.4) Core Thermal Maintenance System
Hydrogen Hub ammonia synthesis operations can be designed to help solve one of the most serious problems facing utilities with increasing exposure to wind energy: wind ramp events. In one example, the Bonneville Power Administration recently recorded the ramping of some 1,500 megawatts from near zero to full output capacity within a half hour on Mar. 14, 2009, as shown in
Hub ammonia synthesis operations can be designed to act as a valuable power “sink” to capture intermittent power resources, including wind ramping events, during periods of high or unpredictable generation. To achieve this, the thermal systems embedded in the electrolysis-air separation Haber-Bosch, solid-state ammonia synthesis and other synthesis processes must maintain temperatures and other operational characteristics sufficient to be able to “load follow” these and other demanding generation conditions.
The core thermal maintenance system will super-insulate the thermal cores and provide minimum energy requirements to the electrolysis-air separation Haber-Bosch and solid-state ammonia synthesis core systems. This will assure sufficient temperatures are maintained to be able to trigger on the ammonia synthesis processes within very short time durations. This will allow the solid-state ammonia synthesis, EHAB and other ammonia synthesis process to capture these rapidly emerging wind ramping events. These thermal efficiency improvements will be integrated to the real-time information gathering and predictive capabilities of Hub Power Sink (HPS) (see 1.2 above) to insure Hub synthesis technology is “warmed” to minimum operating conditions during periods when wind ramping conditions, for example, are predicted for the specific geographic location of the wind farm located in proximity to the Hydrogen Hub.
The goal is to use core thermal maintenance and HPS systems to help insure Hub synthesis operations some or all of these key services: 1) ongoing power regulation services sufficient to respond within a 2-4 second operational cycle; 2) load following services within 2-4 minutes of a system activation signal; 3) spinning reserves within 10 minutes of a system activation signal; 4) non-spinning reserves within 10-30 minutes of a system activation signal; and other load following values.
The HPS uses “smart” control systems to activate and shape Hub ammonia synthesis operations. HPS can turn the synthesis operation on or off in real time by remote control and under preset conditions agreed to by the Hub and power grid manager. Or HPS can shape down the synthesis load through the interruption of, for example, quartiles of synthesis operations at and among a network of Hubs under control of HPS within a designated control area. This allows maximum flexibility of Hubs to respond to unpredictable natural wind events across a dispersed set of wind farms within general proximity to one another while core thermal maintenance insures sufficiently high core temperatures to respond to these various load following demands.
I. (4.5) Interruptible Load
The HMS and HPS systems can also be used to automatically interrupt part or all of the Hub ammonia synthesis operations by preset signal from power grid managers under defined operational and price conditions. The ability to drop Hub synthesis load has great value during peak power emergency conditions, for example. This unique flexibility can also increase effective utility reserves.
At the same time, Hydrogen Hub on peak power generation can also be automatically triggered under HPS to help increase energy output during a pending emergency or when real-time prices trigger Hub generation output. Hydrogen Hubs uniquely combine these two important characteristics in a single, integrated technical solution. A 50-megawatt Hydrogen Hub can provide 100 megawatts of system flexibility by instantly shutting down 50 megawatts of its ammonia synthesis operation and simultaneously bringing on line 50 megawatt of on peak, potentially renewable energy within minutes. Few other energy resources can provide this virtually real-time, grid-smart integrated energy value.
I. (4.6) Hub-Enabled Blue/Green Ammonia Purchase and Exchange Agreements
There are a number of potential alternatives means to acquire anhydrous ammonia, including the purchase of “blue” (non-renewable) anhydrous ammonia from the open market. As described (in I.1.2, 1.1.3 and I.1.4) above the HPT, HCB and GME systems together create the independently verified, transparent foundational data and tracking system for establishing a robust regional, national and international green ammonia trading exchange wherein green ammonia can be purchased, sold, exchanged or hedged, physically or by contract, between parties.
Hub ammonia purchase and exchange agreements, allow the tracking and exchanging of Hub-created green ammonia with blue ammonia from the open market across the world. This Hub-enabled market is particularly important given the potential for carbon cap and trade requirements. As mentioned earlier, anhydrous ammonia sold on the open market today is almost exclusively made through a steam methane reforming process powered by natural gas or coal. This 100 million ton per year global anhydrous ammonia market is therefore one of the world's largest single sources of carbon dioxide and other pollutants. “Blue” ammonia purchased from this market would not qualify as green or be eligible for renewable energy or carbon credits, for example. It may be subject to carbon taxes or other costs.
But, “blue” ammonia, purchased and used as fuel as Hydrogen Hub generation sites (see below) would nonetheless—like green ammonia—generate only water vapor and nitrogen emissions at the site of generation. It could therefore provide on peak power, like green ammonia fuel, without adding to local air pollution. Both green and blue anhydrous ammonia fuel could therefore power Hydrogen Hub generation sites, even during serious air quality episodes, with zero pollution. To the extent the Hydrogen Hub had to use non-renewable ammonia as a fuel source, that pro rata portion of the power generated by the Hub would not qualify as renewable energy. That portion of generation at the Hub that used green ammonia as a fuel could qualify as renewable. We propose a Green Meter Storage and Management System (below) to measure and help manage the fuel mix at the Hydrogen Hub.
Purchase agreements, and other commodity exchange contracts enabled by Hydrogen Hub identification and tracking systems can be shaped to provide supplemental blue ammonia fuel stocks when green ammonia production naturally diminishes due to predictable reductions in renewable energy on a seasonal basis. These agreements and other natural energy derivative contracts (see 1.1.5 above) can also mitigate price risk and availability concerns for ammonia fuel in the event of emergencies, transportation disruptions, or other serious events. The Hydrogen Hub design allows for the use of both green and blue ammonia as a generation fuel while carefully tracking green ammonia from Hub sites and carefully metering (see below) the use of both green and blue fuels as they enter the ammonia-fueled power generators.
I. (4.7) Green Meter Storage and Management (GMS).
To create fail-safe systems for accurately tracking green ammonia production and power generation by the Hub, two integrated metering systems are proposed. The first is the Hub Power Track (HPT) described in (1.2) above—a subsystem designed to determine the nature of the energy resource powering the Hydrogen Hub ammonia synthesis-related technologies. The HPT determines in real-time what percentage of the synthesized ammonia produced and stored at the Hub came from renewable energy resources, or other, resources.
Green Meter Storage then makes a second calculation. The GMS measures the percentage of stored green and blue ammonia entering the ammonia-fueled power generation system. For example, assume there are two ammonia tanks at the Hub, one filled with carbon-based blue ammonia purchased in the marketplace. The other tank contains pure green ammonia. Or it may contain and HPT-defined green ammonia and non-green ammonia fuel mixture created on-site by the Hub. Let's assume the HPT has calculated earlier in the Hub synthesis process that the amount of green ammonia in the second tank constitutes 50% of the total.
Let's further assume the Hub managers determine they want the Hub generators to operate in a 25% renewable power condition. The GMS will automatically signal Hub system controls for ammonia fuel injection into the generators to insure an equal mix of ammonia fuel from both the “green” and “blue” tanks. GMS control electronics open valves from both tank sufficient to insure the renewable power objective. The 50% green ammonia fuel from the green tank will be diluted to 25% by the equal injection into the power generation system of ammonia fuel from the tank containing 100% blue ammonia and thus the power input of the Hub will match the 25% renewable power objective set by managers.
The HPT and GMS systems work together to determine the final green power output of the Hub at a given time. The data from these two integrated systems is designed to be managed by an independent firm, be transparent to regulatory and other authorities, be available in real time, supply constant, hard-data backup and be tamper-proof.
I. (5) Acquisition, Storage and Recycling of Water
A system to collect and store water in a holding tank for use as a hydrogen source for the EHB, solid-state ammonia synthesis, and other ammonia synthesis processes. About 420 gallons of water is used to make a ton of ammonia. One basic source of water comes from municipal and other local water supplies.
I. (5.1) The Water Vapor Recovery System (WVRS)
The WVRS is designed to capture water vapor from Hub generation emissions and recycle the water through a condensation and recovery system back into the Hydrogen Hub water holding tank, or directly into the Hydrogen Hub synthesis process. It is expected that the WVR will recover virtually all of the water converted to hydrogen in the ammonia synthesis process. The WVR forms a “closed loop’ environmental system where little net water is lost during Hydrogen Hub operations. The WVR is integrated with the Nitrogen Recovery System described at 3.1 above.
I. (6) Acquisition, Storage, and Generation Injection of Oxygen.
A system to collect, store and use oxygen at the Hydrogen Hub site created as a by-product of the EHB, solid-state ammonia synthesis, and potentially other ammonia synthesis processes using water as a source of hydrogen.
I. (6.1) The Hub Oxygen Injection System (OIS)
The OIS is a subsystem designed to divert the oxygen gas created during the electrolysis and solid-state ammonia synthesis processes for use for an energy efficiency boost in the NH3-fueled electric power generation systems. The OIS is electronically integrated with the Green Metering System and controls the injection of oxygen into the ammonia fuel combustion chambers. This enhances both the ability to ignite ammonia's relatively high combustion energy, and increases the overall energy efficiency of ammonia fueled generation an estimated 5-7 percent depending on conditions and the specific generator design.
I. (7) Ammonia Storage
Anhydrous ammonia synthesized at Hydrogen Hub sites or purchase from the commercial market will be stored on site. Tanks will vary inside depending on the megawatt size of the Hub generation system and the desire duration for power generation from the site. Peak power plants usually are required to run less than 10% of the year. Portable anhydrous ammonia tanks can range in size from under a thousand gallons to over 50,000 gallons in size. Large-scale stationary anhydrous ammonia tanks can hold tens of thousands of tons. There are 385 gallons per ton of anhydrous ammonia.
A 10-megawatt Hydrogen Hub operating for 100 continuous hours, for example, would require about 500 tons (200,000 gallons) of anhydrous ammonia. This amount of ammonia could be held in four, 50,000-gallon tanks, for example. Fewer tanks would be required if the Hydrogen Hub synthesis operation was continuously providing ammonia supply at the same time Hub power generation was operating.
The global safety track record in storing and transporting ammonia has been very good. Indeed, millions of tons of ammonia are handled every year in most urban areas without incident. Ammonia is currently stored extensively at power generation sites and used to remove sulfur oxide (SOx) and nitrogen oxide (NOx) from the exhaust of natural gas- and coal-fired thermal projects.
I. (7.1) Heat Exchange System (EHS)
The anhydrous ammonia will be withdrawn from the storage tanks for injection into the Hydrogen Hub ammonia generation system (see below) as pressurized gas at about 150 pounds per square inch, depending on prevailing ambient temperatures. During withdrawal, liquid anhydrous ammonia will be converted into vapor by waste heat provided from the generator. The EHS will take coolant from the generator and rout it to a heat exchanger installed on the ammonia storage tank to provide sufficient temperatures for efficient transfer of ammonia as pressurized gas from storage to Hydrogen Hub generators.
I. (7.2) Hub Ultra Safe Storage and Operations (HUSO)
While the overall safety record of the anhydrous ammonia industry is good, NH3 can be a serious human health risk if ammonia gas is accidentally released and inhaled. Because Hubs will operate in industrial locations and elsewhere near urban areas, we proposed the option of the integrated HUSO system to all Hub operations. HUSS will incorporate options such as double-shell tanks with chemical neutralizers, protective buildings equipped with automatic water-suppression systems (large amounts of ammonia are easily absorbed by relatively small amounts of water) automatically triggered by ammonia-sensors, fail-safe connectors, and next generation ammonia tanks, fittings, and tubing to insure ultra-safe Hydrogen Hub operations.
I. (8) Hydrogen Hub Electric Power Generation
Anhydrous ammonia is a flexible, non-polluting fuel. In the past NH3 has powered everything from diesel engines in city buses, to spark-ignited engines, to experimental combustion turbines, to the X-15 aircraft as it first broke the sound barrier. A ton of anhydrous ammonia contains the British Thermal Unit (BTU) equivalent of about 150 gallons of diesel fuel.
Hydrogen Hubs will take full advantage of this flexibility. Anhydrous ammonia made by Hydrogen Hubs or purchased from the open market can power many alternative energy systems. These systems include modified diesel-type electric generators, modified spark-ignited internal combustion engines, modified combustion turbines, fuel cells designed to operated on pure hydrogen deconstructed from ammonia, new, high-efficiency (50%+), high-compression engines designed to run on pure ammonia, or other power sources that operate with NH3 as a fuel.
In addition, Hub generation also can run on a fuel mixture of pure anhydrous ammonia plus a small (+/−5%) percentage of bio-diesel, pure hydrogen or other fuels to effectively decrease the combustion ignition temperature and increase the operational efficiency of anhydrous ammonia.
Pass-Through Efficiency
Hydrogen Hubs make their own fuel. They then use the fuel to generate power, or to sell anhydrous ammonia as fertilizer for agriculture, or for other purposes. But in the power production mode, the total pass-through efficiency for Hydrogen Hubs range from roughly from 20% to over 40%, depending on the efficiencies of the ammonia synthesis and power generation technology chosen. Existing electrolysis-air separation Haber-Bosch technology and power generators will result in pass-through efficiencies at the lower end of the range. New ammonia synthesis technologies such as solid-state ammonia synthesis combined with high-efficiency power generators will increase overall efficiency to the top end of the range—and possibly beyond.
A comparison of Hydrogen Hub pass-through efficiencies with power generator by natural gas is instructive. Comparable natural gas generation would start with the efficiency of the generator. This would be roughly comparable to the efficiency of the same generator modified to run on ammonia.
But overall natural gas pass-through efficiency would need to also include energy efficiency deductions for energy lost in locating the gas field, building roads to the site, preparing the site, drilling and capturing the natural gas from underground wells, transporting the gas to the surface, compressing the gas for transport, building the gas pipeline and distribution systems, somehow capturing CO2 to create a level playing field, and then, finally, using the gas to power the combustion turbine. If all these elements are taken into account, Hydrogen Hub pass-through efficiencies are comparable. This does include the Hub environmental and location benefits associated with the use of a carbon-free fuel.
An efficient Hydrogen Hub, for example, can convert hundreds of thousands of megawatt hours of off-peak spring Northwest hydropower, wind and solar electricity priced (in 2008) from a negative two cents a kilowatt-hour to plus two cents a kilowatt-hour into on peak power. The on peak pass-through prices could range between less than zero cents a kilowatt-hour to under ten cents a kilowatt hour depending on the Hub technology in place at the time. The power would be deliver by Hub generation sites at the center of load with zero pollution.
By comparison, West coast peak energy prices in the past five years ranged between some eight cents a kilowatt-hour to thirty cents a kilowatt-hour, according to the Federal Energy Regulatory Agency (FERC). During the west coast power emergencies at the turn of this century, peak prices escalated rapidly at times to over one hundred cents a kilowatt-hour and more.
FERC indicates peak power demand is one of the most serious challenges facing utilities nationwide—and elsewhere around the world. Meeting peak power demand is a major reason utilities commit to new, large-scale, at distance, carbon-burning power plants. By contrast, Hubs are designed to shave system peaks by placing non-polluting generation sources at the center of the source of demand.
The pass-through prices identified above do not include capital and other costs. But they also do not include a joint agriculture/energy capital program that can reduce these costs, potential BETC credits in Oregon, potential carbon credits, potential to create a strong, distributed network of generation sites inside urban areas to respond to load, resulting savings in transmission costs and congestions fees, potential savings in distribution system cost such as substations an new poles and wires to bring at-distance power generation to the center of load, or the fact that Hub generation may qualify to meet renewable energy portfolio standards, and other benefits.
These dominantly ammonia fueled generators can range in sizes and respond to a number of unique power requirements including large-scale power generators and/or generation “farms” designed to support the power grid, irrigation pumping, home and neighborhood power supplies, and many other purposes.
There are at least five major generation alternatives for Hydrogen Hub power generation.
I. (8.1) Converted Ammonia-Fueled Diesel-Type Generators
A key early element of Hydrogen Hub power generation will be the conversion of existing diesel-type engines to run on ammonia. This large fleet of existing diesel fired generators on the market today. These generators, often purchased for use at distributed locations for backup power in event of emergencies, have been little used due to strict limits on carbon-related emissions in urban areas. Severe air shed restrictions have can effectively limited or prohibited diesel-fueled generators—particularly during periods of severe air quality alerts when demand for peak power often escalates.
Often used diesel generators have only been operated for a short period of time—if at all. Their value has already been deeply discounted by the marketplace. As a result, these highly dependable, formerly polluting, diesel generators can be converted into Hub electric generation systems running on green ammonia from renewable power sources, with zero pollution, at a fraction of the cost of new purchasing new power generators. This has the potential of saving consumers tens of millions of dollars.
New generation systems may cost between $1.5 million and $2 million a megawatt. Hydrogen Hubs can convert existing diesel generators typically ranging in size from 35 kilowatts to five megawatts in size into clean, distributed electric power generators at the center of load. At the time of this patent application, the estimated cost for purchase and conversion of used generators is less than $500,000 per megawatt.
Converted diesel-type fuel systems will be redesigned to be free of any copper and/or brass elements that may come in direct contact with the ammonia fuel. This is due to anhydrous ammonia's capacity to degrade these elements over time. These elements will be replaced with similar elements typically using steel or other materials unaffected by exposure to NH3.
Anhydrous ammonia has a relatively high combustion temperature. This can be overcome by three separate methods in diesel-type generators.
I. (8.2) Converted Spark-Ignited, Ammonia Fueled Diesel-Type Generators. The first method is to retrofit the former diesel-fueled system to allow for spark-ignition of the ammonia in the combustion chamber. The resulting system creates a spark sized to exceed pure anhydrous ammonia's ignition temperature and allows for efficient operation of the Hub generators.
I. (8.3) Converted Spark-Ignited, Ammonia/Oxygen Fueled Diesel Generators. In the second method, the energy efficiency of Hub generation can increase if the ammonia fuel is combined with oxygen gas in the refurbished generator and injected in under controlled conditions and in pre-determined ratios by the Hub Oxygen Injection System (described at 6.1 above). Oxygen injection into the ammonia combustion process by HOIS is expected to increase the energy efficiency of ammonia-fueled diesel-type engines by an estimated 3-7%.
I. (8.4) Converted Ammonia/Oxygen/Hexadecane Fueled Diesel
Generators. The third method does not require spark ignition into initiate ammonia combustion. In this method a small amount of high-hexadecane fuel, such as carbon-neutral bio-diesel fuel (or similar), is added to the anhydrous ammonia at a roughly 5% to 95% ratio.
During operation, as described by experiments conducted at the Iowa Energy Center, vapor ammonia is inducted into the engine intake manifold and (in this case normal) diesel fuel is injected into the cylinder to initiate ammonia combustion. The ammonia-bio-fuel mixture herein proposed will allow for efficient combustion of the ammonia without spark ignition and yet maintain the carbon-neutral characteristics of Hub generation. Care needs to be taken to use Hub control electronics to synchronize the continuous induction of vapor ammonia with the transient nature of the engine cycle in order to increase operating efficiencies and insure clean emissions.
This alternative will require the integration of a bio-fuels tank at the Hub location. It will also require the mixture of 5% bio-fuel with both green and blue ammonia from the Hub site. The Green Meter and Storage System (described at 4.6 above) can help control this mixture, insuring proper overall fuel balance and reporting during operations. The ammonia/hexadecane blend can be separately identified and tracked against green and blue ammonia sources by the GMS.
As with spark-ignited diesel-type generators, the HOIS system can increase the energy efficiency of non-spark generators by an estimated 3-7% by managing the injection of oxygen into the generating process during operation.
I. (8.5) New High-Efficiency, High Compression Ammonia Engines
New spark ignited internal combustion engines are being designed to run on pure ammonia and with increased compression ratios exceed 50% energy efficiency during the Hub power generation process. These generators may also be able to run on a mixture of ammonia and hydrogen, or ammonia and other fuels if necessary. The efficiency may be further increased at the Hub do to HOIS and other Hub system designs.
I. (8.6) Combustion Turbines
During the 1960s the U.S. Department of Defense tested a combustion turbine designed to run on ammonia. As with diesel and spark-ignited ammonia fueled engines, the keys to efficient operation of combustion turbines on ammonia fuel are to insure the ammonia does not come in contact with any copper or brass parts, and can that the Hub electronic control systems can manage the optimum injection of fuel into the turbine's combustion system.
In the case of combustion turbines, preliminary technical indications imply that prior to injection the anhydrous ammonia may need to be partly deconstructed into hydrogen gas to allow a mixture of 80% pure ammonia fuel with 20% pure hydrogen gas for optimum combustion turbine efficiency. This can be accomplished through the Hub Hydrogen Injection System (HIS) described in section 2.1 above. With the HIS, a portion of the hydrogen gas produced by the ammonia synthesis process described in sections 4.1 and 4.2 above can be diverted and managed by the GMS directly toward use in the combustion turbine fuel ignition process. In the alternative, hydrogen can be acquired from commercial sources and stored in tanks at the Hub generation site.
Combustion turbines bring a wide scale to Hydrogen Hub generation sites. This scale ranges from less than one megawatt-sized micro-turbines designed to power a home, office or farm, to 100+ megawatt sized Hydrogen Hub generation sites scaled up and distributed to key locations on the power grid to help meet the peak power needs of cities and other centers of electric load. Combustion turbines are an important element of the ability of Hydrogen Hubs to respond to scaled-up and scaled-down energy demands throughout the world.
I. (8.7) Ammonia-Powered Fuel Cells
Fuel cells have been developed with high cracking efficiency that can deconstruct anhydrous ammonia into hydrogen and nitrogen to power fuel cells. Fuels cells can be greater than 60% efficient and, combined with ultra-safe ammonia storage systems, will increase the pass-through efficiency of Hubs scaled to meet the backup energy needs of homes, offices, and small farms—and cars (see below).
I. (8.8) Portable Hydrogen Hubs
Self-contained Hydrogen Hubs modules can be sized within standard steel cargo containers. These contains can then be put on pre-configured pallets, and transported by trucks, trains, barges, ship, or other specifically-vehicles to create portable Hydrogen Hubs. These portable, fully integrated Hubs including system controls, ammonia synthesis, ammonia storage, and ammonia generation technologies sized to fit in the container and moved rapidly to the point of use. In the alternative, the self-contained module can contain a Hub power generation system only—with ammonia storage and other features permanently pre-positioned at key locations on the power grid. These portable Hubs—ranging from fully integrated to generation only systems depending on utility need—can provide generation backup in the case of emergencies other contingencies.
I. (9) Emissions Monitoring, Capture and Recyling (EMCC)
Hydrogen Hubs employ an integrated Emissions Monitoring, Capture and Recycling system to monitor, capture and recycle valuable emissions from ammonia-fueled electric power generation. There are four fundamental elements in overall EMCC system:
Nitrogen Recovery System
The NRS is described in section 3.1 above. NRS captures and recycles nitrogen gas back to the holding tank from generation emissions of anhydrous ammonia for potential storage and reuse in the Hydrogen Hub ammonia synthesis cycle, or for commercial sale.
Water Vapor Recovery System
The WVRS is described at 5.1 above. WVRS is designed to capture water vapor from Hub generation emissions and recycle the water through recovery tubes back into the Hydrogen Hub ammonia synthesis process or into a water holding tank. It is expected that the WVR will recover virtually all of the water converted to hydrogen in the ammonia synthesis process. The WVR forms a “closed loop’ environmental system where little net water is lost during Hydrogen Hub operations.
Three other systems are also included in EMCC
I. (9.1) Hub Emissions Monitoring (HEM)
EMCC constantly monitors and provides real-time reporting data on air emissions from Hub generators. If pure anhydrous ammonia is used as a fuel, ECON should continuously verify Hub generation emissions are only water vapor and nitrogen.
As mentioned above, under certain circumstances it is possible for Hub operators to choose to inject a small percentage (estimated at 5%) of other fuels like bio-diesel into Hub combustion systems to help ignite ammonia combustion in non-spark ignited diesel-type generators. In this case, the EMCC sensors will accurately assess the relative level of all emissions produced as a result of mixing ammonia with another fuel source and provide real-time data to managers.
I. (9.2) Nitrogen Oxide Control (NOC)
Hydrogen Hub power generators may occasionally produce internal heat under specific circumstances to drive endothermic reactions between nitrogen and oxygen high enough to produce a small amount of nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions. As Hub operational conditions threaten the formation of NOx, the EMCC system can alert Hub operators. NOC can then eliminate any residual nitrogen oxide emissions by spraying the emissions with on-site ammonia—used throughout the power industry as NOx cleansing agent.
I. (9.3) Thermal Water Recovery (TWR)
If the solid-state ammonia synthesis ammonia synthesis process is used, TWR offers the option of capturing hot water vapor emissions from Hub generation and re-introducing the vapor into the solid-state ammonia synthesis system. This can increase the operating efficiency of the solid-state ammonia synthesis thermal core and therefore overall Hub pass-through efficiencies.
II. LAND-BASED, DISAGGREGATED HUBS FULLY CONNECTED TO THE POWER GRID. In this configuration, the two most basic processes within Hydrogen Hubs—ammonia synthesis and power generation—are designed, built and sited at separate locations. Each location is connected to the power grid. The objective is to create ammonia and generate power at large scale with the greatest possibility overall efficiency.
Disaggregated Hubs can help capture the maximum value each process can provide to the power system—and to other industries as well. This value grows as the network of ammonia synthesis Hubs expands in rural areas to better capture wind and solar energy and as Hub power generation locations separately expand throughout cities and other centers of growing peak power demands. Both of these expansions help strengthen the power grid. Ammonia synthesis captures and shapes renewable energy at the source helping the grid manage increasingly large-scale intermittent resources. Hub zero-pollution power generation creates generation at the center of load that looks like demand response—helping the grid manage peak power demand.
Disaggregated Hubs can be scaled precisely respond to these challenges. They can be rapidly deployed to key locations on both ends—the power production and power consumption sides—of the energy equation. Separated Hub ammonia synthesis and power production can be scaled up at hundreds of separate sites, each operating at peak efficiency to meet the specific needs of the power grid at that location.
This increases the value of renewable energy, strengthens the power grid and diminishes the need to deploy billions of dollars to expand distribution and transmission systems to bring distance, isolated energy resources to market. Disaggregated Hubs can help stabilize costs for energy consumers. But they also can help lower the costs of ammonia produced for agricultural fertilizer, as a fuel for car and truck transportation fuel, and for other purposes.
Separate Hydrogen Hub ammonia synthesis plants can be designed to use the system controls, alternative synthesis technologies, and ammonia storage alternatives discussed in (I) above. These Hub synthesis sites can be located in rural areas near large-scale wind farms with access to roads, train tracks or water transportation. The Hub synthesis system can be located between the wind farm and the integrating point for energy from the wind farm into the power grid.
II. (1) HUB-ENABLED ENERGY-AGRICULTURE EXCHANGE AGREEMENTS. Large-scale disaggregated Hubs, scaled up to hundreds of megawatts, offer unique opportunities to maximize the value of Hubs to both the energy and agriculture industry. This in turn allows for capital sharing and price arrangements that cannot be matched by other energy technologies. A Hydrogen Hub energy-agriculture exchange agreement can dramatically reduces prices to both industries.
An operational example of an energy-agriculture exchange arrangement may help. In the vicinity of Umatilla, Oreg., for example, energy from large scale wind farms located at the east end of the Columbia River Gorge provide power to the grid. This power blows heavily during the spring, when hydro conditions already create hundreds of thousands megawatt hours of electricity that we excess to the needs of the Pacific Northwest. These new wind farms add to this surplus, renewable power condition, causing prices to range from minus two cents to plus to cents a kilowatt hour.
Let's assume an initial 100-megawatt Hydrogen Hub ammonia synthesis plant is located between these wind farms and the high voltage power grid operated by the Bonneville Power Administration. Let's further assume the synthesis plant is located at the Port of Umatilla on the Columbia River, a port that has access to ocean-going barges and other vessels that transport ammonia by water. Umatilla is surrounded by one of the most agriculture intense regions of the Northwest. There is a heavy demand for ammonia as a fertilizer throughout the area and on into eastern Oregon and Washington.
The fundamental elements of the Hydrogen Hub-enabled, Energy-Agricultural Exchange Agreement are a power/commodity exchange between the grid operator and ammonia synthesis operations. The Agreement would allow both industries to share the capital and operating costs of Hydrogen Hubs, reducing overall costs to both industries. Hydrogen Hub technologies create new operating flexibility that can benefit both sides.
Energy Values
For the energy interests, the agreement: (1) will allow the grid operator to control, reduce or interrupt the ammonia synthesis load when the grid faces peak energy demands or other interruptible conditions defined under contract—power grid conditions that typically do not occur more than 5% of the year; (2) will allow the grid operator to shape and manage high generation conditions that may threaten grid stability by diverting high wind output directly into Hub ammonia synthesis operations located adjacent to the wind farm and away from the power grid; (3) will allow the energy interests to own ammonia synthesized during the conditions described in (2) above, and also during defined periods (typically less than 10% of the year) when high generation output may significantly reduce the value of energy produced by wind and other sources; and (4) will allow the energy interests use this ammonia to fuel on peak power at Hub generations sites near the center of load.
The energy in the ammonia produced in a single day of from a 100-megawatt Hub synthesis plant would range between the equivalent of 30,000-48,000 gallons of diesel fuel, depending on whether electrolysis-air separation Haber-Bosch or solid-state ammonia synthesis processes were used. But unlike diesel fuel, the non-carbon ammonia would produce zero emissions as it fueled Hub generation sites near the center of load.
Agriculture Values
In exchange for provide these unique load and generation benefits to energy interests, the agriculture interests would be allowed a reduced power rate for the Hub ammonia synthesis operations during the balance (estimated at 90% depending on contract conditions) of the operating year. Agriculture would own the ammonia produced during this period. This price reduction would be designed to insure that ammonia produced by the plant would remain competitive with ammonia produced from carbon sources throughout the world. As mentioned, a significant percentage of this ammonia in the Northwest would be from renewable sources and potentially qualify for carbon credits and other benefits.
The basic elements of a Hub-Enabled Energy-Agriculture Exchange Agreement would include:
II. (1.1) Basic Power Contract
The 100-megawat Hub ammonia synthesis operation runs year-round at the Umatilla site from power purchased from the Bonneville Power Administration. Energy from Bonneville's system is from over 85% non-carbon sources, including hydropower, wind, solar, and nuclear energy. When normal conditions prevailed, the Hub synthesis operation would operate at full high capacity taking power directly from the grid. With power prices at 5 cents a kilowatt-hour, ammonia can be produced for estimated $500-900 a ton, depending on the synthesis technology chosen. Normal ammonia prices ranged between $550-$1,200 a ton in the Northwest in 2008.
II. (1.2) Guaranteed Ammonia Price
Agriculture interests in the region agree to purchase ammonia from the Hub site for a guaranteed price of $700 a ton plus inflation over a contract period of, for example, ten years. This price does not reflect the carbon benefits of producing green ammonia from renewable power sources. The ammonia is transported to existing ammonia storage locations already used agriculture. The $700+a ton price pays for the capital and operational costs of the ammonia synthesis operations.
II. (1.3) Reduced Cost Power Contract
The power grid operator agrees to provide a discounted power rate below the 5-cent basic price. In exchange, agriculture interests allow a portion or all of the Hub ammonia synthesis operation to be interrupted during high periods of high wind conditions and during limited peak power periods, as described above. These periods are limited by contract to, for example, ten percent of the operating year.
II. (1.4) Wind Farm Interruption Agreements
During high wind periods, the Hub synthesis operation may be automatically disconnect from the power grid by authority of the grid operator under the contract. In this situation, the Hub will instead be powered dominantly or exclusively by wind energy from the nearby wind farms. Some or all of the wind power, including power from wind ramping events, is diverted directly into the Hub synthesis operation. This helps stabilize the power grid. It also diverts wind energy that will be sold at very low values (−2 cents to +2 cents a kilowatt hour in 2008) into the creation of highly valuable green ammonia fuel for later use on peak at Hydrogen Hub generation sites at the center of load.
(11.1.5) Water Transportation Agreement
Standard ammonia barges containing large-scale ammonia tanks pull up to the Umatilla Hub synthesis site next to the Columbia River. Under the Agreement, green ammonia produced during this period is controlled by the energy interest.
The synthesis of wind energy, water and air produces green ammonia that is transferred by pressurized pipes into these barges. The barge moves the ammonia downstream to Hydrogen Hub generation locations on the Columbia River near Portland, Oreg. and Vancouver, Wash. These sites are designed to allow the barge to connect dock at the site. The green ammonia can also be transported via truck or train to the Hub generation site if water transportation alternatives are not available.
The barge then pumps the green ammonia fuel into the Hub generators for on peak, zero-emissions renewable energy at the source of load. The Hub generation site is chosen for proximity to the Columbia River and to take advantage of existing substation and other distribution facilities from a previously abandoned or underutilized industrial operation. The Hub turns this location into a green energy farm.
II. (1.6) Peak Power Interruption Contract
Under a peak power interruption agreement, the agriculture interests agree to allow Hub operations to be interrupted—in part or in whole—during peak summer or winter power conditions.
At the same time, the power grid can signal Hydrogen Hub generation systems located at the center of load to turn on. The simultaneous reduction of 100 megawatts of ammonia synthesis load, and the increase of 100 megawatts of peak power from Hydrogen Hub generation sites at the center of load creates a 200-megawatt INC—all controlled in real-time under pre-specified conditions by the power grid operators under the Agreement.
Under this Energy-Agriculture Exchange Agreement both parties benefit along with energy and food consumers.
Agriculture interests get a new source of ammonia—a crucial ingredient to global food production—produced from local power sources from potentially all “organic” sources—renewable electricity, water and air. The long-term price is competitive. They reduce their dependence on foreign sources of fertilizer made by carbon-based energy sources, subject to uncertain carbon taxes, and potential supply disruptions. The benefits paid them by the power interests are vital and it creates a power sales price that makes the cost of the locally produced ammonia competitive over time. As a result, the agriculture interests effectively pay for the capital and operating costs of the Hydrogen Hub ammonia synthesis operation.
In exchange, the power interests to the agreement would realize at least four major benefits: 1) access to a non-polluting, hydrogen-dense, potentially renewable fuel at very reasonable prices; 2) on-peak, zero-emission power generation near the center of load; 3) a load that can act as an on-demand “sink” for intermittent wind and solar energy, and wind ramping events; 4) a load that can be partly or fully interrupted during extreme on peak conditions or when a power emergency occurs; and 5) long-term stabilization of the power grid.
Peak prices could be very competitive particularly if the Hub green ammonia fuel were created with electric energy at or below two cents a kilowatt-hour. Moreover, it is estimated that diesel-type engines can be converted to run on ammonia for some $500,000 per megawatt. The price per megawatt of new wind or other new generation resources in 2008, for example, ranged between $1.5 million and $2 million per megawatt.
As described in above, the Hub Power Track system (I. (1.2 above) would monitor the flow of electrons from specific sources in real time, providing a “green” profile for the ammonia being produced by electricity from these sources. As wind events approached threatening to destabilize the power grid, the Hub Power Sink system (I. (1.1) above) would signal the Hub to turn off ongoing ammonia production to create a stand-by reserve. Other Hub “smart” electronic control systems could also employed in a disaggregated Hub configuration.
III. LAND-BASED, DISAGGREGATED HUBS PARTIALLY CONNECTED TO THE POWER GRID. The primary purpose of this Hydrogen Hub configuration is to capture wind solar and other sources of renewable energy isolated from the power grid.
Capturing Large-Scale Isolated Renewable Energy
As
Beyond terrestrial-based wind and solar resources, there are new, proposed high altitude wind generators (HAWG) that may also prove of great value to the renewable energy future of the both the U.S. and global markets. HAWGs are typically configured in a constellation of four 1-10 megawatt wind turbines connected by a light composite structural platform. The platform of connected turbines is designed to fly itself into the jet stream, some 15,000-30,000 feet above the earth. At these altitudes, the winds in the jet stream, particularly between 40-60 degrees latitude in both the northern and southern hemispheres, blow at year-round capacities approaching 90 percent. Some estimates indicate that, due to the relatively low cost of HAWGS and high capacity of jet stream winds, the costs of power from this new alternative may average five cents a kilowatt hour or less.
Once they capture the wind energy in the jet stream, the high altitude generators move into an auto-rotation cycle, generating net electric energy. The energy is then sent back to platforms on through Teflon-type coated, aluminum cables. If this sub-space wind energy can be tapped it could potentially provide base-load type renewable power. Jet stream energy could be integrated with terrestrial wind and solar energy across a wide range of geographic locations.
Scientists have estimated that capturing jet stream winds in one percent of the atmosphere above the United States could power the entire electric needs of the country. The HAWG technology is maturing quickly. As of this writing, a two thousand megawatt high altitude wind generation site as been proposed for an isolated ranch in central Oregon. The first prototype HAWG can be constructed and tested in the jet stream within two years, according to its inventors. HAWG energy is important because it can help provide relatively constant power to Hub synthesis operations, supplemented by terrestrial wind and solar power. This allows maximum operational efficiency and keeps the ammonia synthesis thermal core systems at optimum temperatures.
Hydrogen Hub ammonia synthesis plants can capture isolated terrestrial wind and solar energy, and high altitude wind generation, in the form of green ammonia. Hubs then offer an alternative to the electric transmission of energy to load. Hubs store and deliver this energy in the form of green ammonia to Hydrogen Hub generation sites or to other markets by truck, train and/or pipeline. Hubs form a second option spending potentially billions of dollars, and many decades, on the integration of these isolated renewable sites with high voltage transmission systems. Hubs can save time, money and minimize environmental impacts capturing these resources. Hub plants can be precisely sized to meet the energy output of the renewable resource site—and can grow if the size of the site increases. Ammonia synthesis and transportation can also complement—not just compete with—standard energy transmission alternatives depending on geographic and other circumstances.
Water Sources and Recycling
The isolated Hub green ammonia synthesis sites will require groundwater sources, and on-site water storage, sufficient to meet the requirement for hydrogen in the synthesis process.
If net consumption of water is an issue in the locality, water can be brought back to the isolated site by the same trucks that carried the green ammonia out. The returning water can come from recycled emissions from the Hydrogen Hub generation sites as described in (I) above. The water recovered from emissions is returned to the Hub synthesis site and stored in water tanks for future use. The same trucks that transported the ammonia to market can bring the water back in their empty tanks. The water can be reused in ammonia synthesis at the site, causing little net loss of local water resources.
III. (1) Hub Water Exchange Market (WEM)
In the alternative, a Hydrogen Hub water exchange market can be established. The Hub Emissions Monitoring system (9.1 above) can be used to track the water resource recovered through emissions at the Hub generation site. Rather than expending the energy required to bring back a full tank of water to the isolated site, the water recovered and captured at the Hub generation location can be used to create a water credit.
The credit can be applied to the municipality, for example, closest to the isolated Hub synthesis site. Trucks with empty tanks can stop at the municipality on the way back to the Hub synthesis site. The municipality should receive a value mark-up for the water used, reflecting the net energy saved in not having to transport the water the entire distance back from the Hub generation location.
IV. LAND-BASED, INTEGRATED HUBS OPERATING INDEPENDENTLY FROM THE POWER GRID. Over a billion people in the world have no access to electricity, clean water or fertilizer to grow crops. A small-scale (typically less than one megawatt) Hydrogen Hub is designed help provide these essential commodities to the developing world.
Wind Light Hubs
This smaller, fully integrated system, operating entirely independently from the power grid, is referred to in this invention as a Wind Light Hub.
Optimum locations for Wind Light Hubs are those near existing villages and towns with available ground water, or groundwater that than can be tapped by a well. The local geography must also have significant terrestrial wind and solar energy resources to power the Hub. Depending on its latitude in the northern or southern hemisphere, the Hub may also be connected to power from a high altitude wind generator (HAWG) as described in (III) above.
Land-based hubs, referred to here as Wind-Light Hubs, operating completely independent from the power grid in smaller, isolated communities worldwide. In this configuration Hub functions are integrated into a singular design that captures intermittent wind and solar energy, water and air and turns these resources into predictable electricity, renewable ammonia, and clean water for villages and communities with little or no access to these essential commodities.
IV. 1 Wind Light Tower
A Wind Light Tower looks from a distance like a standard one-megawatt wind turbine. But the base of the Wind Light Hub is thicker, allowing it to contain an anhydrous ammonia storage tank, a water tank, green ammonia synthesis technology, and two ammonia-fueled power generators.
As shown in
As seen in
IV. (1.1) Wind Light Tower—Module 1
Module one forms the foundation of the Wind Light Tower. This module houses the ammonia-fueled power generation system.
These generators are chosen for their durability and may include new high-efficiency internal combustion or diesel engines designed to run on pure ammonia. The module will contain induction valves controlling the flow of ammonia into the combustion chambers. Oxygen gas from the ammonia synthesis operation in Module II is injected into the combustion chamber. Water vapor emissions from the generator are captured and recycled into the water tank in Module II. Nitrogen gas from the ammonia synthesis process can be recycled into the synthesis operation or vented back into the air.
The generators are turned on by electronic controls under preset conditions determined by the light, heat or refrigeration needs of the village, or by manual control overrides. The power is distributed to the village by way of underground cable or above ground power lines. Villagers can access fresh water from one spigot at the side of the Module. At the other side of the Module, green ammonia can be tapped for fertilizing local crops through a safety-locked value designed to release ammonia directly and safely into portable tanks.
IV. (1.2) Wind Light Module 2
Module 2 houses the green ammonia synthesis function, depicted here as a one-megawatt scaled Solid State Ammonia Synthesis system producing an estimated 3.2 tons of ammonia per day at full capacity. The solid-state ammonia synthesis system rests in a separated chamber at the top of the Module separated from the tanking system below by a steel floor.
Module 2 also includes a green ammonia fuel tank, a water tank that surrounds the ammonia tank and provides protection from ammonia leaks. A fourth element is an in-take system pumping water up from the underground well into the water tank.
Embedded sensors monitor water and ammonia levels in the tanks, as well as any indication of ammonia or water leakage. The information is sent remotely to Wind Light managers in the village and via satellite uplink to a central information management center which constantly monitors all aspects of Wind Light Hub operations from many separate sites. If information indicates problems have developed, a team is dispatched to help the village manager assess and repair the problem.
The sides of the module are covered in flexible solar sheaths that are positioned to capture sunlight throughout daylight hours. The solar sheaths are protected from damage by a translucent composite. Power is collected from the solar sheaths and distributed up to the ammonia synthesis operation to keep the thermal temperatures of the synthesis system sufficiently “warm” to be ready for fast restart when high altitude or terrestrial wind becomes available to power the solid-state ammonia synthesis operation.
There is the option of injecting both hot water vapor and separated nitrogen into the solid-state ammonia synthesis process from the emission of the ammonia-fueled generators in Module 1. This is designed to improve the efficiency of the solid-state ammonia synthesis system.
IV. (1. 3) Wind Light Module 3
Wind and solar power are integrated at the top of the Wind Light Hub in Module 3.
Here power control and conditioning systems will take the high voltage AC electric output of the wind turbine, along with the output of the solar sheaths, and reshape them into the lower voltage, higher-amplitude or higher amperage DC energy required by the solid-state ammonia synthesis system. This is also where power will be integrated from the High Altitude Wind Generator (not pictured) operating in the jet stream at near 90% capacity and sending power to a platform adjacent to the Wind Light Tower.
When the wind blows, the solid-state ammonia synthesis system takes water from the tank as a source of hydrogen, nitrogen from the atmosphere through an air separation unit, and electricity from the high altitude and terrestrial wind turbines and solar sheaths. Energy, water and air are synthesized into green anhydrous ammonia. The ammonia is diverted into the tank inside the tower.
In the spring, this ammonia is diverted through the outlet in Module 1 into mobile tanks that spread the ammonia on the nearby fields nearby, fertilizing the crops. Local farm equipment and small trucks can be designed to run using ammonia as a fuel. Sensors will alert local managers if ammonia in the tank approaches levels that may threaten minimum fuel requirements for the ongoing power requirements of the village.
Village electric power is created from the ammonia-fueled generators in Module 1. Fresh water vapor generated as emissions from the power generators is condensed and recycled back into the water tank. The village uses the clean, potable water for personal consumption, or to help water crops in a drought. This can help disrupt cycle of poverty caused by seasonal droughts and create net produce beyond village needs for sale to others—increasing the wealth, health and independence of the community.
V. WATER-BASED, DISAGGREGATED HUBS PARTIALLY CONNECTED TO THE POWER GRID. Much of the earth's renewable energy resources are located above or within large bodies of water. Ocean and water based Hydrogen Hubs—referred to here as Hydro Hubs—can uniquely help capture this energy.
Hydro Hubs
Hydrogen Hub ammonia synthesis operations can be placed on production platforms on large-scale bodies of fresh water or in the ocean, or floated out on ships designed and built specifically for this purpose. Hydro Hubs can be built on a scale that can respond to vast global energy requirements.
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Hydro Hubs can capture this otherwise lost energy without the need for large-scale, expensive and power transmission facilities to ship the energy back to the mainland. It is often the power transmission system capital demands, environmental impacts, and delays that cause delays in water-based energy solutions.
Instead, Hydro Hubs can synthesize the energy into green ammonia at very large scale. The green ammonia will be shipped in ocean-going barges and ammonia tankers back to port cities. Here, the green ammonia will fuel large and small-scale, distributed, grid-connected Hub generation sites creating zero emissions near the center of load.
V. (1) Ocean-Based Hydro Hub Ammonia Synthesis Platforms
Ocean and water based, gigawatt-scale Hydro Hubs can be placed on retired oil platforms presently on the ocean, on new platforms designed specifically for this purpose. Hydrogen Hub designated zones off shore and in international waters can be established to manufacture, trade and transport water, energy and ammonia on a potentially global scale.
An expansion of the Hydrogen Hub network to ocean-based systems will vastly increase the size and scope of such key Hub elements as the Hub Water Exchange Market, the Hub Code Green (HCG) tracking system, the Green Ammonia Exchange (GME), the Green Ammonia Derivatives Market, and many others. In addition to stationary platforms, barges and ships can be configured to function as floating, fully integrated, highly flexible and potentially portable Hydrogen Hubs.
The solid-state ammonia synthesis process produces 3.2 tons of ammonia per megawatt per day. There is the equivalent energy of 150 gallons of diesel fuel per ton of ammonia. Therefore, a 1,000-megawatt Hub synthesis plant would produce ammonia equal to 480,000 gallons of diesel fuel per day—or 175 million gallons per year. Two hundred and thirty such plants would produce the equivalent of 40 billion gallons of diesel fuel used each year in the United States from all sources. There are ammonia river and ocean barges that hold between 500 and 3,000 ton of ammonia. Ocean going ships can carry tens of thousands of metric tons of ammonia.
This fleet of barges and ship can be configured to bring out water from the mainland to use as a hydrogen source in the ocean-based Hub synthesis plant. They can return to port carrying green ammonia. These barges and ships can return to urban-centered, specifically designed Hub ports and provide sufficient fuel storage to power Hydrogen Hub generation sites ranging up hundreds of megawatts or more in size. The large-scale Hub power sites can be distributed throughout complex urban centers and together can help meet the peak power needs of major cities. Once this network is more mature, Hydrogen Hubs designed to power neighborhoods and homes can further strengthen and “smarten” the power grid of the 21st century.
VI. AN INTEGRATED GRID-AGRICULTURE-TRANSPORTATION HYDROGEN HUB GLOBAL NETWORK. Once the Hydrogen Hub-based ammonia distribution systems branch out further into urban areas they can reach into neighborhoods, and finally the home. This neighborhood-based network of smaller scaled, zero-emissions Hydrogen Hub power generation systems forms the backbone of new Hydrogen Hub micro-grids of the future.
VI. (1) Hydrogen Hub Micro Grids
Distributed networks of Hydrogen Hub generation systems will form an energy web of micro grids managed and controlled by smart technology. Ultra-safe manufacture and storage of ammonia in home-based Hydrogen Hubs sets the stage for independently powered houses, home-grid power exchange agreements, and the increased protection of the power grid from cascading blackouts. Individual consumers can control electric power generation and for the first time. Hub power generation systems provide power to neighborhoods, homes, farms, substations, hospitals or other key commercial and industrial facilities.
The existing power grid is designed to break down into separate islands of power control—Independent Operating Power Regions (IOPRs). These IOPRs can form the basis for new Hydrogen Hub micro grids. Individual homeowners can use Web 2.0 technologies, for example, to aggregate themselves into neighborhood-based independent power providers—selling zero-pollution power and collective energy efficiency guarantees back to the central grid manager and receiving payments in return. When predetermined consumer price points are met, or when emergency back up power is needed, Hub-based smart technologies can automatically trigger power generation to meet these needs.
With Hydrogen Hub technology consumers can help shape a new energy web—controlling for the first time in history the use, price and generation of electricity in real time from the center of load.
VI. (2) Green Fuel Transportation Network
Once a Hydrogen Hub network is placed to meet the needs of the power grid and agriculture, the network can become a fuel distribution system for new cars and trucks designed to run on pure anhydrous ammonia. Hydrogen Hub synthesis systems deployed for power generation in the home can also act as fueling tanks for a new vehicle in the driveway. These vehicles will run on internal combustion engines and fuel cells powered by ammonia—often from renewable resources—with zero pollution at the source of use.
To the extent the Hub identified that the ammonia was “tagged” as created by green power sources such as hydropower and wind, for example, the cars would be powered by entirely renewable energy. If the cost of the green ammonia can be reduced to $500 a ton through increased scale and operating efficiencies in the ammonia synthesis process, the cost of running the car on ammonia would be roughly equal to the car running on diesel fuel costing $3.33 per gallon. This price is well within the recent range of diesel fuel prices between 2008 and 2009. This price comparison does not include potential carbon credits or other benefits associated with running cars or trucks on non-carbon fuel.
Estimates on the potential cost of carbon emissions vary. The Congressional Budget Office estimated in 2008 that a carbon cap and trade system then being considered by Congress would range start at $23 a ton and rise to $44 a ton by 2018. According to the CBO, this would create over $900 billion in carbon allowances—or costs—in the first decade of the proposed carbon cap and trade system.
A fully deployed and distributed Hydrogen Hub network can reach from isolated ocean platforms and wind farms of the central plains to home garages in the largest cities. If this occurs, the costs of the new carbon-free ammonia fuel network will be shared by the three largest industries in the world—the electric power, agriculture, and transportation industries. Sharing capital costs of the Hydrogen Hub network among these global industries offers the potential for reducing the overall costs of energy, food and transportation for billions of consumers while helping sustain the planet.
Although the present invention has been shown and described with reference to the foregoing operational principles and preferred embodiments, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes in form and detail may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. The present invention is intended to embrace all such alternatives, modifications and variances that fall within the scope of the appended claims.
The original patent application, referenced above proposed a “Hydrogen Hub” (Hub) to create a unique suite of zero-carbon products from a single, closed-loop manufacturing system using the most abundant elements on earth. The Hub begins with water, air and intermittent renewable energy and converts these products into a number of valuable “Green-Certified” (GC) products, controlled renewable energy, water and air.
The Hub manufacturing system converts renewable electric energy, hydrogen from water and nitrogen from the atmosphere into zero-carbon chemical energy in the form of GC anhydrous ammonia, the densest zero-carbon liquid on earth. The plant also produces GC oxygen, GC nitrogen, wind integration services and other GC products from low cost, wind, solar, hydro, geothermal, tidal and other renewable energy sources. The GC ammonia is then stored to fuel a Hub power generation plant on site or transferred and/or exchanged to Hub power generation plants at other locations.
The Hub plants are new high efficiency power generation systems designed to run on GC anhydrous ammonia and other fuels. The distributed Hub power plants produce zero-carbon base load, peak and backup electric energy at key locations on the power grid. The locations are chosen the strengthen the electric power grid while minimizing the costs of building the transmission and distribution system required to bring distant power sources to the center of load. The Hubs also are designed to provide power generation for residential, commercial or industrial facilities, allowing the facilities to be completely independent of the power grid. The only emissions from Hub power plants are nitrogen, returned back to the atmosphere, and fresh water.
The Hub Intelligence System (HIS) provides a unique real-time product profiling, control and tracking system across the entire Hub product manufacturing and electric power generation cycle. HIS identifies, certifies, stores, and tracks to final market utilization the unique suite of products and credits created by the Hub integrated manufacturing system. The Hub green product manufacturing facilities together with the Hub distributed power generation plants create at least 25 green certified (GC) products from a single, integrated manufacturing process.
Hub products include, but are not limited to: GC ammonia, GC high purity ammonia, and GC ultra-high purity ammonia from the Acquisition of Anhydrous
Ammonia (1) (4); GC oxygen and GC ultra-high purity oxygen provided from Oxygen Acquisition and Storage (I) (6), GC hydrogen and GC ultra-high purity hydrogen from Acquisition, Storage and Recovery of Hydrogen (I) (2); GC nitrogen and high purity GC nitrogen from Nitrogen Acquisition, Storage and Recovery (I) (3); along with GC argon and other products.
The HIS also codes products produced at the Hub power plant including millions of gallons of GC water recovered from emissions via the Water Vapor Recovery System (WFRS) (5.1), GC peak electric energy, GC backup power, emergency power, and a unique combination of GC load/power management services. The HIS assigns a renewable energy recovery credit from the Hub absorption of “over generation” surplus wind and hydropower—energy otherwise lost to the market as occurs each spring, for example, in the Pacific Northwest.
The Hub also creates at least seven added credits from its zero-carbon power generation plant available under, for example, California law. These credits are also tracked by HIS and include (but are not limited to): 1) renewable production credits; 2) smog credits; 3) greenhouse gas credits; 4) particulate pollution credits; 5) energy storage credits; 6) distributed generation credits; 7) potable water production credits, and other environmental values.
An improved Hub integrated product manufacturing and energy conversion system, referred to herein as a “Hyper Hub” (Hub), is proposed.
New elements are proposed to the original Hydrogen Hub integrated manufacturing system to significantly increase the overall energy efficiency of Hub operations, expand Hub-created GC products and reduce Hub GC product prices to better compete with carbon-based alternatives without subsidies.
The overall objective of these system improvements is to create the most sustainable, energy efficient manufacturing system in the world. This Hub manufacturing process also is designed to form a technological cornerstone in transforming the global electric sector into a far more flexible, clean, resilient and reliable power grid.
New elements within the fully integrated Hyper Hub manufacturing process include:
Two additional sources of acquiring low-cost hydrogen from water are proposed. The first method captures hydrogen from the exposure of water to an aluminum-based compound. The hydrogen is then tracked, stored and converted into a unique suite of GC product and services. The second converts hydrogen gas from renewable biogas created from anaerobic digestion of biomass in wastewater treatment plants, landfills, food processing and other similar facilities.
These distributed sources of GC hydrogen are co-located with Hub methods of acquiring and tracking GC hydrogen (as well as GC nitrogen and GC ammonia) allow the Hub green products manufacturing and the Hub power plant to be co-located at key locations near renewable sources of hydrogen and the center of electric load. This increases overall energy efficiency by reducing the need to transport fuel to Hub generation sites. It also creates distributed, renewable Hub power plants that improve overall energy efficiencies for the Hyper Hub process, strengthen the power grid and dramatically reduce transmission and distribution system costs.
The number of sources of GC ammonia, GC hydrogen and GC nitrogen, are also increased. This lowers the price of Hub GC products to compete without subsidies against similar carbon-based products.
I) High-Efficiency Acquisition of Hydrogen from Water Via a Reactive Metal Compound
The high-efficiency acquisition of GC hydrogen and other GC products via a catalytic reaction between water and an aluminum-based metal compound within a fully integrated Hub process is proposed.
The proposed patent improvement is based on Section I. (2) of the original patent that calls for: “The integration of a subsystem designed to acquire hydrogen . . . by the extraction of hydrogen from bio-mass of other hydrogen-rich compounds or from other sources . . . and/or through other methods or processes.”
Aluminum has the highest energy density of any material. Over half of global aluminum is produced using renewable hydropower.1 An estimated 400 million metric tons of scrap aluminum is permanently consigned to landfills and never recycled—creating a global graveyard of abandoned, latent energy. This landfill aluminum scrap represents an important, undiscovered source of renewable energy. The energy value trapped inside this abandoned aluminum waste alone equals about 3.5 billion megawatt-hours of energy—12% of the annual energy consumption (all forms) in the United States. 1 See: http://www.rusal.ru/en/aluminum/energetics.aspx
The metal compound is fabricated at the Hub site. The metal is comprised of 95% scrap aluminum (Al) forged together with a 5% combination of GC gallium (Ga), GC Indium (In) and GC tin (Sn) (AGIT compound). Each metal within the AGIT compound is identified, controlled, tracked and recycled within the larger Hub manufacturing process by the HIS.
The primary purpose of the AGIT compound is to reduce the effect of the passivation layer that inhibits oxidation of the outer layer of aluminum during the reaction with water. When the compound is immersed in a water vessel, the internal lattice structure of the Al is directly exposed to water. The result is a powerful thermal reaction. Dr. Jerry Woodall and associates at Purdue University originally patented this concept.
The AGIT compound is introduced into the base of a reactor vessel filled with water. Oxygen is rapidly absorbed by the exposed aluminum within AGIT, creating a powerful thermal reaction that heats the water to boiling. Hydrogen is released from the water and rises to the top of the vessel.
The process creates a number of sustainable, high-efficiency product improvements:
HIS-Tracked GC Thermal Energy Recovery
The thermal reaction in water creates steam that is tracked by HIS sensors and transported via pipe to Hub high-efficiency steam generators. The power generated by this steam creates GC base load electric energy. The GC energy, tracked and managed by HIS, provides power for all internal Hub operations. Excess energy is sold to the local power grid.
On the way to the generators the piped steam is heat exchanged into electricity. This helps improve overall Hub electrical efficiency to the 80% goal outlined below. In addition, residual steam emerging from the thermal power generation system is recovered. It may be merged with clean steam produced by the separate, GC ammonia-fueled power generation system (see below). The two sources steam can be recycled back into the water vessel, increasing the thermal efficiency of the reactor.
Both of these added elements increase the overall electrical efficiency of the Hub power generation system to the 80% energy efficiency goal.
HIS-Tracked GC Hydrogen
The thermal reaction in the water vessel also releases GC hydrogen from the water. It rises to the top of the vessel where it is tracked by HIS and directed via pipe to the Hub's on-site GC hydrogen utilization site. There, the GC hydrogen may be used directly to power the Hub's multi-fuel power generation plant (see below), combined with GC nitrogen via a Hub Haber-Bosch process into GC ammonia, or sold directly as GC hydrogen to industry.
HIS-Tracked GC Nitrogen
GC nitrogen is extracted from the atmosphere via a Pressure Swing Absorption System operating on electric energy produced by the Hub's internal power system. Since the power system is operating on renewable energy from recycled metal compounds, the nitrogen can be tracked and labeled GC by HIS.
HIS-Tracked GC Ammonia
The GC hydrogen and GC nitrogen are combined into GC ammonia used as a fuel for Hub base load power, peak power and backup power generation. It can also be sold to a variety of industries including LED light manufacturing, industrial refrigeration and to agriculture as a renewable fertilizer.
HIS-Tracked GC Aluminum Hydroxide
The major residual material left in the vessel following the thermal reaction is recovered as HIS-Tracked GC aluminum hydroxide, refined and sold to aluminum smelting and manufacturing plants as alumina.
HIS-Tracked GC Fresh Water from Seawater
Thermal energy also drives an advanced, forward osmosis desalinization process at the Hyper Hub. This process turns seawater into fresh water. This concept is particularly valuable semiarid climates near ocean water, such as California, with high electric energy prices, growing requirements for base load, peak load and backup power from non-polluting, renewable energy sources, and looming fresh water shortages.
HIS-Tracked AGIT Metals
The GC aluminum, GC gallium, GC indium and GC tin are recovered along with aluminum hydroxide at the bottom of the vessel. The HIS-tracked metals are recovered via centrifuge and recycled for use. These metals may recycled and reused up to 40 times by the in this process.
A Hyper Hub operating on energy produced from the AGIT compound can form the basis of a global Hub network wherever aluminum scrap metal and water are available in reasonable quantities. The scale of benefits is significant. A pilot Hyper Hub consuming 90,000 tons of aluminum scrap per year is estimated to produce:
2) High-Efficiency Acquisition of Hydrogen from the Anaerobic Digestion of Biomass
The high-efficiency acquisition of GC hydrogen and other GC products via the anaerobic digestion of biomass within a fully integrated Hub process is proposed.
There are tens of thousands of wastewater treatment, landfill, food processing and other anaerobic digestion facilities in the country. Together, these facilities form an archipelago of potential renewable fuel facilities located at or near the center of electric load. Co-locating Hub manufacturing and power facilities at or near anaerobic digestion plants offers exception opportunities to produce renewable anhydrous ammonia and green energy where valuable products are now wasted to the atmosphere.
The proposed improvement is based on two sections of the original patent.
Section I. (2) in the referenced patent proposes the acquisition, storage and recovery of hydrogen from electrolysis of water, “ . . . or by the extraction of hydrogen gas from bio-mass or other hydrogen-rich compounds or from other sources, or by the direct purchase of hydrogen from the open market, and/or through other methods or processes. In addition, Section I. (4.3) in the referenced patent proposal identifies that Hubs also can acquire hydrogen gas “ . . . from biomass and other organic sources and/or compounds. Hydrogen from these sources can be collected, stored and introduced directly into the Haber-Bosch process described above to create ammonia. This avoids the energy costs associated with the electrolysis of water.”
A patent for a small-scale aerobic digestion process leading to the production of hydrogen and ammonia has been proposed by, for example, AGREBON, Inc. The Hyper Hub integrates the AGREBON-type process into the larger Hub GC energy and GC product manufacturing process tracked by HIS. Hub multi-fuel power generation plants are co-located at or near the wastewater facility. As a result, the integrated Hub process captures, tracks, and converts biogas from the anaerobic digestion of organic material at wastewater treatment plants, food processing facilities, landfills and other biomass facilities into GC hydrogen, GC nitrogen, GC ammonia, GC base load power, GC peak GC backup power and other GC products.
At many wastewater treatment and landfill facilities today are the source of large-scale releases of pollutants into the atmosphere. Open holding ponds at wastewater water facilities, for example, cause the release of CO2 via aerobic digestion of the exposure of biomass to oxygen. As a result, wastewater treatment facilities, landfills and other biomass facilities constitute one of the largest sources of CO2 pollution.
With the Hub, high-efficiency anaerobic digestion facilities are co-located with Hub multi-fuel generation (see below) and green product manufacturing facilities. The wastewater plant's ponds are covered to eliminate exposure to oxygen. This allows for the anaerobic digestion of the biomass and the creation of biogas certified as renewable by the HIS. The biogas is then used as the basis for a number of sustainable and energy efficient Hub GC products including:
HIS-Tracked GC Biogas Production
The resulting anaerobic digestion within the covered pond produces biogas, a renewable fuel source. The biogas is collected and diverted by HIS to either the Hub power generation plant or a hydrogen production module.
HIS-Tracked GC Power Generation from GC Biogas
HIS tracks and may divert some of the biogas directly to Hub multi-fuel power generators located nearby. The Hub power plant can directly combust the biogas as an optional renewable fuel thereby creating base load power production. This power, in turn, can be used to operate the Hub facilities and those of the adjacent wastewater treatment plant.
The biogas is a renewable fuel that would otherwise be lost to the atmosphere in the absence of anaerobic digestion.
The HIS system credits the Hub with the energy from the biogas that would otherwise have been lost to the open-air ponds. The credit is captured in the new Energy Quality Certificate Exchange described in (5) below.
HIS-Tracked GC Bio-Methane Production
The biogas not used directly for power production is transferred to a gas cleanup module where it is converted into bio-methane. Carbon dioxide resulting from the cleanup process may be sequestered and recycled into the wastewater treatment process or sold.
HIS-Tracked GC Power Generation from Methane
As with biogas, HIS tracks and may divert some of the biogas directly to Hub multi-fuel power generators located nearby. The Hub power plant combusts the methane as an optional renewable fuel, creating base load power production. This power, in turn, can be used to operate the Hub facilities and those of adjacent wastewater treatment plant.
HIS-Tracked GC Hydrogen Production
The remaining methane is stream methane reformed (SMR) into pure hydrogen. Some of this hydrogen may be used to directly power the nearby Hub multi-fuel generators or sold. The remainder of the hydrogen is diverted and tracked by HIS to an ammonia synthesis plant.
HIS-Tracked GC Nitrogen Production
GC Nitrogen is produce at the integrated Hub site by a PSA system operating on green certified renewable energy produced by the Hub and tracked by HIS.
HIS-Tracked GC Ammonia Production
The GC hydrogen and GC nitrogen is combined into GC anhydrous ammonia via a Haber-Bosch process, or similar, process. The GC anhydrous ammonia can be further refined in GC urea and other products under the AGREBON concept.
HIS-Tracked GC Peak Power and GC Back Power Generation
The GC ammonia is stored in tanks on site. It is used to fuel the multi-fuel Hub generation system providing GC peak power and GC backup power to the Hub production facility, or for sale to the local power grid.
HIS-Tracked Generation Emissions
Emissions from the Hyper Hub GC ammonia-fueled generation are water vapor and nitrogen. The GC nitrogen can be recovered and reused in the GC ammonia synthesis process or sold.
The GC water vapor emissions can be: 1) recovered for sale as potable water; 2) sent through a heat exchange system to convert the thermal energy to electricity thereby improving the overall electricity output from the Hub; 3) recycled back to the wastewater plant to improve the efficiency of the facility; or 4) a combination of the above.
Sustainable Markets/Carbon Prices
The Hyper Hub creates new markets for renewable biomass by producing price competitive GC products and services from medium to small-scale anaerobic digestion facilities where the renewable energy content of biomass is now underutilized or entirely lost.
It is estimated a city between 100,000 and 200,000 people can support a Hyper Hub creating over 7,000 tons of GC anhydrous ammonia a year, tens of thousands of megawatt hours of zero-carbon GC base load, GC peak power and GC backup power when the Hub power plant operates using GC biogas, GC methane and GC ammonia as a fuel. The Hub will also create millions of gallons of fresh water from emissions while constantly recycling the sustainable products. This creates a low-cost, state-of-the-art, hyper-efficient green products and clean energy manufacturing process.
Many small-medium biomass facilities are typically not capturing biogas or methane for utilization. The energy resource is wasted due to a lack of compelling economics. As a result, the biogas and methane captured and converted by the Hub into valuable green products should be priced at or below that of standard natural gas. This means that Hub power prices and GC products can compete directly with carbon based alternatives without subsidies—an economic breakthrough for consumers and with potentially large-scale benefits for the global environment.
3) A Multi-Fuel, High-Efficiency Power Plant
A multi-fuel Hub power plant fully integrated into the HIS-tracked Hub process is proposed. The plant will operate using ammonia, other renewable fuels and carbon-based fuels at with exceptional 70+ % energy efficiencies.
The proposed patent is based on Section I. (8.5) of the original patent proposing new engines: “ . . . with increased compression ratios exceeding 50% energy efficiency during the Hub generation process. These generators may also be able to run on a mixture of ammonia and hydrogen, or ammonia and other fuels if necessary. The efficiency may be further increased at the Hub do to the HOIS (Hub Oxygen Injection System) or other Hub system designs.’
Multi-Fuel Flexibility
Hub power plants incorporate new exceptionally efficient power plants designed to run on virtually any fuel source including GC ammonia, GC hydrogen, GC biogas, GC methane, along with merchant ammonia, natural gas, propone and other carbon-based fuels.
Using the HIS Green Meter Storage and Management (GMS) system identified in Section 1 (4.7) in the original patent, the Hub operator can now “dial in” the environmental and economic profile of the plant without requiring separate generation systems.
If a plant has access to GC ammonia, merchant ammonia and natural gas, for example, a Hub operator can choose to operate the Hub: 1) entirely on GC ammonia creating energy with no pollution and fresh water as a byproduct; 2) on merchant ammonia (made from carbon sources) that will not qualify as “green” energy but will still provide pollution-free base load power, peak power and backup power in the local air shed along with fresh water from emissions; 3) on lower cost natural gas depending on prices, energy requirements and local environmental conditions; and 4) on any combination of these fuels.
With the availability of low-cost GC hydrogen, GC biogas, GC methane, the renewable power options of the plant operator expand. Over time, as prices for Green
NH3 drop and availability increases, the Hub can increasingly run on GC ammonia alone. The HIS GMS allows a dialed energy revolution over time as more GC fuels are added to Hub multi-fuel sites. This also saves billions of dollars in the purchase of inefficient and outmoded base load and backup power generation systems designed to run separately only on carbon-based fuels.
Recent breakthroughs in combustion ignition and related technologies have created new power generation systems capable of running at exceptionally high rates of efficiencies using multiple fuels.
Sturman Industries, for example, has created ultra-efficient engines by applying advanced engine control retrofits to converted diesel engines. These engines, operating on GC ammonia and other fuels, can form the backbone of the Hub multi-fuel power generation system. The Sturman advanced engine controls are based on the conversion of valves actuators from analog operation to micro-digital control. These are coupled with advanced hydraulics, software and combustion strategies. The combined high power density, ultra-fast operation system is designed to enable variable compression ignition on demand, and superior micro-second management of combustion, including stable Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition (HCCI) across a wide engine operating range. The Sturman engine design also incorporates cam-less systems with Air Controlled Engine combustion control technology.
New multi-fuel Hub power generation systems can achieve levels of efficiency that are unmatched in other internal combustion or combustion ignition engines. These basic electrical efficiencies may exceed 60% using GC ammonia as a fuel. This is because the Sturman computer controlled combustion process allows for near-complete combustion of ammonia within controlled temperatures assuring no mono-nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions are created and the ammonia is completely combusted. No SCR after-treatment is required because the only emissions are GC nitrogen (returned to the atmosphere or sold) and GC fresh water from steam emissions.
Unmatched Energy Efficiency
The objective of 70+ % overall electrical efficiency begins with an estimated 60% electrical efficiency of the basic Sturman combustion process using GC ammonia as a fuel. By comparison, standard internal combustion engines using carbon-based fuels typically are less than 30% efficient. Standard combustion ignition systems using diesel or other fuels are 40% efficient. Certain combined cycle combustion turbine and fuel cell technologies can reach efficiencies of 60% or higher. But they are very expensive and do not as yet provide the power flexibility of running sequentially on multiple fuels in real-time.
The Hub generation system combines the high basic efficiency and fuel flexibilities with added system efficiencies provided by the integrated Hub manufacturing process. The Hub power plant using Sturman technology, for example, will dramatically increase engine compression ratios when operating on GC ammonia or merchant ammonia. Increased compression ratios together with other combustion breakthroughs are the beginning. Integration of these engines with unique Hub GC processes, including heat recovery, heat exchange, oxygen injection and other process breakthroughs, increases GC power output still further. The result is achievement of the overall 70+ % electric efficiency objective. With these combined breakthroughs, the Hub becomes one of the most energy efficient commercial power plants in the world.
GC Oxygen Injection
With the co-location of the Hub green products manufacturing and power generation plants, GC oxygen released from the electrolysis of water is recovered and mixed with GC ammonia and other fuels. GC oxygen also may be acquired from the atmosphere for Hub plants isolated from the Hub green products manufacturing process by using a pressure swing absorption system powered by renewable fuels at the Hub plant. Oxygen pre-mixed or injected separately with other fuels into the combustion chamber is expected to increase power generation efficiencies of the Hub by an additional 5-10%. This increases overall electric efficiency of Hub multi-fuel generation to 65% or higher.
Electricity and Heat Recovery from Pure Water
The integrated Hub power system operating on GC ammonia fuel uniquely creates only fresh water (and nitrogen) as emissions. By contrast, heat emissions from carbon-based generation sources may include pollutants and chemical reactants that make capture and recycling of this “grey” water more problematic.
Pure water from the GC ammonia-fueled Hub can be piped through an advanced heat exchange process without complicating pollutants. The heat exchange converts the thermal energy into electricity, thereby increasing overall energy efficiency of the Hub generation process by an additional 5-10%. The remaining pure steam can be used for district heating, capturing additional energy efficiency.
Finally, the steam cools into fresh water in a Hub water recovery and capture system. The water is held in tanks for sale as potable water, or for use on site in the water deluge safety system proposed in (6) below and/or for other purposes.
IV. A Hub GC Products Manufacturing Process Operating at Exceptional Overall Energy Efficiency
The proposed Hub green products manufacturing system creates at least nine GC products. This is accomplished from a single pass through of electric energy at an overall estimated efficiency of 65%. The products include: 1) GC ammonia; 2) GC high-purity ammonia; 3) GC oxygen; 4) GC high purity oxygen; 6) GC nitrogen; 7) GC argon; 8) providing real time wind integration services (utilizing the Core Thermal Maintenance System from Section I. (4.4) in the original patent); and 9) interruptible load services during peak power or emergency conditions on the power grid (Under I. (4.5) in the original patent). Because the hydrogen and oxygen come from water, not the atmosphere, the Hub creates very high purity versions of these gases without additional energy required to further purify the products. For the same reason, Hub ammonia is also a high-purity product. All products are green certified when the plant operates on renewable hydro, wind, solar and other renewable resources.
By contrast, most hydrogen is now created worldwide through coal or natural gas fired steam methane reforming. The collective energy losses incurred by each of the separate, carbon-based manufacturing processes are significantly below the patent pending Hub integrated manufacturing energy efficiencies. For example, the natural gas or coal-based steam methane reform processes to produce hydrogen, nitrogen and ammonia range from 55-75% efficient depending on the age of the plant. Separately, oxygen is extracted from the air and purified using carbon-based energy to power Pressure Swing Absorption and Distillation systems an estimated energy efficiency of 50-70% depending on the level of purity required. Argon requires yet more separation and purification systems with an added efficiency of 50-70%.
The combined energy inefficiency of producing these products from separate carbon-based manufacturing systems drops the estimated overall efficiency in carbon-based systems to well below 50%. Moreover, SMR systems provide no real-time integration of wind power or interruptible load. Carbon based systems cannot create green certified hydrogen, oxygen, ammonia, nitrogen, argon or other products.
Recovery of Heat and Electricity for Use in the Acquisition of Hydrogen
The clean steam from the Hub power generation process operating on GC ammonia and other fuels may be recycled back into the hydrogen acquisition process, increasing its efficiency.
For example, pure steam heat can be added to the SMR process to produce ammonia at an anaerobic digestion/biomass plant co-located with the Hub generation plant. Similarly, the clean steam emissions can be recycled into the water reactor vessel at the Hub aluminum-compound site. This further increases the overall energy efficiency of the Hub manufacturing and energy production system by an estimated 5-10%.
Finally, steam heat can be recycled back into the Hub electrolysis system capturing hydrogen from water as outlined in the original patent. This recycling of pure waste steam back into the electrolysis system increases the energy efficiency of that process above 80%. The waste steam cannot be recycled long term into the electrolysis process from carbon based energy sources because the pollution in the carbon emissions would poison the electrolysis system. Only a Hub generation plant operating on GC ammonia or hydrogen can practically capture and recycle emissions in this manner.
Electricity is recovered from the thermal heat produced from generation emissions via an adiabatic process employing, for example, Stirling engines. The engines convert thermal heat flowing through pipes toward energy-efficient recovery (as described above) into electricity. The electricity is used to help power internal Hub operations or sold to the local power grid.
These combined electricity and heat recovery systems can increase overall electric efficiency of the Hub GC products manufacturing process to exceed 80%. This makes the Hub green products plant one of the most energy efficient manufacturing facilities in the world.
5) A Certificate Exchange Program for Green Certified Hub Products
A detailed Energy Quality Certificate Exchange (Exchange) is proposed on the basis of Section I (4.6) in the original patent dealing with Ammonia Purchase and Exchange Agreements. The purpose of the Exchange is to provide a systematic valuation, tracking real-time market for the 25 (or more) green certified products produced by Hub. Key elements of the Exchange include:
Green Production Certificates
The Exchange will issue Green Production Certificates (certificates). The certificates will provide specific energy, environmental and price attributes for GC products. Example certificate attributes may include for example: 1) the sources of electricity generation as a percentage of power required for each product; 2) the carbon dioxide emissions avoided for each product based upon the electricity sources; 3) the water use footprint (net loss or gain) of each product; 4) an Exergy Conservation Rating evaluating the expected total energy save in production of the product; 5) a total product valuation based on these and other elements.
The Hub Information System (HIS) establishes a real-time database tracking system that tracks certificates for all GC products during their lifetime. The system will record all transfers and issue Certificates of Final Use (COFU) to retire Production Certificates for the end user. The certificate system within the Exchange will receive simultaneous debit/credit inputs from a marketing/sales system.
The Exchange will track the value of the certificates in real time as they are traded with the goal of establishing a current market value, average value and spot value.
Product Certificate Codes
The Exchange will create unique Production Certificate Codes with part of the code being a random number generated as inventory is dispatched from a production plant or received by a generation facility. The Exchange will create and manage unique, four-digit PIN codes allowing trading between members of the exchange network. Members will pay a yearly fee to belong to the Exchange and small fee based on a percentage per trade.
Members may require prequalification to join and maintain a code of ethics to stay as members in good standing. This will allow audit functions and limit speculation.
Production certificates can be aggregated to meet the sales needs of the holder or holders prior to trade for no charge.
Certificates of Final Use
Certificates of Final Use (CFU) are issued when the product is finally consumed. The characteristics of CFUs are: 1) they may be issued for no fee; 2) they cannot be traded; and 3) they will include the Trading History, Face Value, Final Trade Value and final Spot Price at issuance of the Production Certificate.
CFUs are a “death certificate” for production credits and allow for the cessation of trading for the energy and environmental characteristics along with a final price for purposes of for interfacing with federal, state and local tax codes, renewable portfolio standard programs and other regulations. Written documentation from the final owner of the production certificate will include NAICS and SIC identification codes. It will verify how and where the certificate was consumed.
CFUs provide a verified audit trail of the energy and environmental characteristics of the product originally produced at a Hydrogen Hub. CFUs also may be traded electronically (or virtually). The trade value of certificates and CFUs may change among regions where the energy and environmental characteristics of the certificates and CFUs may have greater or lesser values than the in the region where the product was originally produced by the Hub. CFUs provide proof to Government Agencies and other Third Parties that the production of certified products, and all related transactions, are legitimate and comply with applicable law.
Production Credits
Production credits are a vehicle for the electronic (or virtual) trading the environmental/renewable aspects of a physical product made at a Hub. The renewable aspects may change in value over time to provide greater or lesser market value as laws and regulation evolve.
Once issued by the Exchange, production credits: 1) cannot be publically or privately traded outside the Exchange; 2) can be resold for market price through the exchange; 3) cannot be “resized” outside of the exchange; and 4) will include a minimum size requirement.
Exchange Rules
The Exchange will establish and interpret rules insure that the characteristics of in-trade products are clearly identified along with a sunset date. Production credits also are a promise to issue a Certificates of Final Use upon surrender of the production credit. The exchange will provide one month's written notice before the certificate expires.
The Exchange System will be audited yearly by competent Third Parties using the trust funds set aside by certificate Trading. All excess trust funds after audit will be used to improve the Exchange and funds in excess of that revert to the owners of the Exchange. A predetermined minimum account balance will be maintained in the Exchange Trust Fund for operational requirements. The Exchange will employ a Trust Administrator and a Board of Trustees to oversee Exchange operations.
The Exchange will have limited guest access. This will allow partial access to information to verify provenance of in-trade certificates and to make informed decisions about joining the exchange.
An ultra-safe ammonia storage system is proposed based on Section I. (7.2) Hub Ultra Safe Storage and Operations in the original patent application. The concept is referred to here as the “Ammonia Vault” (Vault).
Ammonia safety is an important issue to the public. Over 150 million tons of ammonia are manufactured and transported worldwide each year. Ammonia's safety record is significantly better than that of oil and gasoline, carbon-based competitive fuels. However, ammonia is a toxic chemical and it's vital the public is not exposed to ammonia leaks. Any ammonia accidents may undermine anhydrous ammonia's breakthrough value as the densest zero-carbon liquid in the world and the leading commodity capable of challenging carbon-based energy and products.
The Ammonia Vault
The Ammonia Vault incorporates a dynamic suppression system incorporating multiple backup safety systems to insure ultra-safe ammonia storage and handling at Hub sites. This system integrates five separate layers of safety: 1) reinforced ammonia tanks and fittings designed to exceed maximum earthquake standards; 2) an enclosed, reinforced building surrounding ammonia storage tanks built to exceed earthquake standards and for ballistic resistance; 3) a network of ammonia sensors located within and outside the storage building to trigger automatic ammonia suppression systems at the first sign of a leak; 4) the dynamic suppression of any ammonia leak inside the storage room through a water-based deluge system triggered by the ammonia sensor system; and 5) the real-time purging of the remaining ammonia in any leaking tank into an empty ammonia safety tank maintained exclusively for such emergencies.
Multiple Tank Configuration
The Hub places multiple small tanks in the ammonia storage facility. One of the tanks is left purposefully empty act as a quick response repository for the contents of one of the active systems tanks should a tank experience an integrity breach. This constitutes an N−1 tank safety strategy with real-time ammonia transfer capabilities.
The N+1 design also allows the Hub owner to take one active tank off line to allow for periodic inspection and testing while it is empty. This process also allows the Hub to make any piping or valve changes that may be required to the tank without taking the storage and connected generation systems off-line.
Underlying Design
The underlying design concept for anhydrous ammonia tank storage includes standard response to code gravity, wind, snow and seismic forces using an Importance Factor of 1.5 as used in Critical Facilities.
Tank Safety
The ammonia storage tanks will be protected by a ballistic resistant enclosure on any side with public access or line of sight. There needs to be perimeter security and access systems. The tanks will be designed to a minimum of 265 pounds per square inch (PSI) to limit the possibility of high temperature release of NH3 gas. The redundant pressure relief vents will be routed to water diffusion tanks. Any opening of a pressure relief event will result in a system alarm. The NH3 piping and controls will be designed with redundant fail-secure isolation valves and the ability to compartmentalize the overall system to limit the amount of product which could be released in some type of accidental breach.
Water Deluge System
If ammonia sensors in the tank storage room should detect an anhydrous ammonia release, a pre-action water deluge system will be engaged with the system looking for a second detector. If the Hub's ammonia generation system is running the fuel source will be changed to the other dual fuel (e.g. natural gas) on the fly and the entire NH3 storage system will be isolated and tank pressures monitored for leakage. The water and neutralized ammonia will be captured as aqueous ammonia in a sump area below the elevation of the tanks and access doors. The deluge system can also be used to cool the tanks to prevent outgassing if there is a fire threatening the room. The water for the deluge system can be captured and stored on site from condensed Hub generation exhaust, or provided from municipal water lines, or a combination of both sources.
Automatic Tank Purge
In the event that a tank is losing pressure outside of a predetermined range the contents will be immediately pumped down to the spare tank and the tank in question re-isolated. The water deluge system will flow to neutralize any escaping product if a second detector goes into alarm and the room access will be locked down. There will be manual overrides on each side of the door that may require an air lock vestibule with interlocking access doors.
The room volume enclosing the tanks will be designed for larger than normally internal pressures. Roof-based pressure relief doors or hatches will protect the structure should the suppression system not be fully effective.
A self-fueled power generation, fuel storage and fuel recovery system is proposed, hereafter referred to as the “Hyper Loop.” The Hyper Loop is designed to be an exceptionally powerful, low cost, zero-pollution renewable energy storage and fuel recovery system.
The Hyper Loop continuously generates electric energy utilizing renewable fuel reconstituted from its own power plant emissions, integrating an ultra-efficient power generation plant with a closed-loop fuel recovery process. The Hydro Loop continuously manufactures, consumes and recaptures the most energy dense, zero-carbon fuel blend in the world. The fuel blend is composed of hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen, among the most common elements on earth.
The Hydro Loop is an improved system of hardware and controls that: 1) utilizes certified renewable energy sources to extract hydrogen and oxygen from water and nitrogen from the air to produce certified renewable oxygen, hydrogen and nitrogen (standard hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen can also be utilized from non-renewable sources); 2) introduces the separated nitrogen and ammonia into a medium/high temperature ammonia synthesis system that catalytically fixes the hydrogen and nitrogen into anhydrous ammonia—an energy dense, zero-carbon liquid; 3) separately stores the resulting ammonia in an ultra-safe storage/buffering system; 4) separates and stores the extracted oxygen from the ammonia synthesis process in an ultra-safe storage/buffering system; 5) manages the co-injection of the stored ammonia and oxygen into a high-efficiency electric power generation system designed to operate on this blended fuel; 6) ignites the ammonia+oxygen fuel blend in the generation system to produce base load, peak and backup electric energy; 7) insures no outside air or other pollutants are introduced into the closed-loop power generation/fuel recovery system; 8) fully captures oxygen, nitrogen and hydrogen emissions from the power generation system with no emissions escaping into the outside atmosphere; 9) directs emissions from power generation into a emissions separation system; 10) separates the captured power generation emissions into pure nitrogen gas and steam (hydrogen+oxygen); 11) directs the separated streams of hot nitrogen gas and steam emissions into separate, ultra-safe storage/buffering systems that strictly manages the temperature, pressure and storage of the emission streams; 12) conserves energy from the emissions recovery process by encasing the entire Hydro Loop fuel system in a super-insulted enclosure designed to capture lost heat and exchange the heat into added electrical energy output to supplement electric energy from the power generation system; 13) recycles the recovered nitrogen and steam emissions at optimum temperatures back through the medium/high temperature ammonia synthesis process to make more (now renewable) anhydrous ammonia; 14) recycles the recovered (and now renewable) oxygen back into the ultra-safe oxygen safe storage/buffering system; 15) injects the recycled, renewable ammonia and oxygen back into the power generation system; 16) repeats the process to form a sustained self-fueled power generation, fuel storage and fuel recovery system.
Previous patent applications described Hydrogen Hubs, Hybrid Hubs, Hyper Hubs (Hubs) and related systems. Hubs are multi-fuel electric power generation plants that also manufacture renewable, “green-certified” (GC) anhydrous ammonia, GC oxygen, GC hydrogen and GC nitrogen. The GC ammonia is made using renewable energy sources, such as wind, solar and hydropower and geothermal power. The power is used to synthesize hydrogen from water and nitrogen from the air into GC ammonia.
Other described methods of manufacturing GC ammonia include extraction of green certified hydrogen (GC Hydrogen) from bio-methane. Sources of bio-methane include wastewater treatment facilities, landfills, energy dense crops, and other sources. In this manner, these various sources of renewable hydrogen, chemically fixed to nitrogen from the atmosphere and elsewhere, are converted into zero-carbon chemical energy.
As described in earlier submissions, Hub power plants operating on GC fuels in an open loop produce controlled electric energy with the only emissions byproducts nitrogen gas (released back into the atmosphere) and steam that can be cooled and consumed as potable water.
The original Hubs also can produce excess GC ammonia and other green-certified products. These include GC high purity oxygen, GC nitrogen, GC hydrogen, wind integration services ammonia and other renewable products. These products are sold separately to the semi-conductor manufacturing, agriculture, refrigeration and other industries. In this manner, the Hub also increases the renewable profile of key industries worldwide.
Hubs also are designed to generate power using carbon-based anhydrous ammonia (merchant ammonia), natural gas, propane and other fuels.
This proposed Hyper Loop patent builds on Hydrogen Hub designs described in earlier submissions.
Key elements utilized in the Hydro Loop from the original patent submissions include: I. (2) the Acquisition, Storage and Recovery of Hydrogen; I. (2.1) the Hydrogen Injection System; I. (3.1) the Nitrogen Recovery System; I. (5) the Acquisition, Storage and Recycling of Water; I. (5.1) the Water Vapor Recovery System; I. (6) the Acquisition, Storage and Generation injection of Oxygen; I. (6.1) the Hub Oxygen Injection System; I. (9) the Emissions Monitoring, Capture and Recycling System; I. (8) the Hydrogen Hub Electric Power Generation; I. (8.5) New High Efficiency, High Compression Ammonia Engines; and others.
The objective of the Hydro Loop is to create a fundamental breakthrough in energy storage and reuse as outlined in the following observation:
This is a classic description of Gibbs Free Energy (GFE) wherein additional energy also is obtained from the surrounding environment. The Hydro Loop is designed to maximum energy output via the recycling of common, renewable elements and heat from emissions, optimum combined heat and power recovery and GFE.
The entire Hydro Loop power/fuel recovery system is tightly contained in a closed, super-insulated building. Instead of venting emissions to the atmosphere, as with carbon-based generation systems, the Hyper Loop's renewable emissions are captured, then separated using polymeric separation (or other) technology. The isolated streams of nitrogen and steam are distributed via super-insulated conduits. Lost heat is recovered through an advance combined heat and power (CHP) system. The separated emissions streams are managed to optimal temperatures then introduced back into a medium/high ammonia synthesis process, such as solid-state ammonia synthesis (SSAS), described below.
The Hydro Loop is a sustained, self-fueled power system. Its high efficiency power generation, emissions recapture and combined heat and power (CHP) recovery system is expected to achieve overall energy efficiencies of85′)/0. This includes the energy consumed in both the power generation and fuel manufacturing process.
By contrast, the typical carbon-based power generation plant alone has energy efficiency well below 50%. This figure does not include the energy consumed in finding, recovering and transporting carbon-based and other renewable fuel. The Hydro Loop both manufactures its own fuel and generates electric energy from a single, fully integrated process with expected, overall efficiency of85′)/0.
The Hydro Loop manufactures and consumes its own zero-carbon, renewable fuel and fuel blends. These fuels are described as Hydro Fuels (HF). The system's self-fueling capability radically reduces the cost of fuel purchases. This, in turn, reduces Hyper Loop electric power prices significantly below that of carbon-based fuels.
The Hydro Loop is estimated to generate wholesale electricity prices at or below $0.065 a kilowatt-hour (KWh). This is half the average US electricity price ($0.125/KWh) paid by residential consumers. Hubs are designed to compete on price directly with carbon-based power generation system without subsidies.
Some examples of HF fuels include: 1) a controlled blend of GC anhydrous ammonia with GC oxygen; 2) GC anhydrous ammonia alone; 3) merchant anhydrous ammonia alone; 4) a blend of GC anhydrous ammonia and merchant ammonia; 5) a blend of anhydrous ammonia and N20 or other nitrogen oxides; 6) GC hydrogen; and 7) a GC hydrogen/GC oxygen fuel blend; 8) or others.
Merchant anhydrous ammonia and merchant oxygen can also be used to initiate fueling of the Hydro Loop. Once these elements have been recaptured from Hydro Loop emissions and reconstituted as fuel, the Hub Intelligence System (HIS), referenced in previous submissions, certifies the fuel as renewable in each subsequent pass through the Hydro Loop.
Hydro fuels are separated and recovered from Hub generation emissions and reconstituted at the Hub site. The HIS manages the real-time injection of HF fuels into the combustion chambers of the Hyper Loop's power plant. Use of an oxygen+anhydrous ammonia fuel blends increase energy output an estimated ≧10% compared to the use of anhydrous ammonia alone.
The introduction of oxygen plays another key role in the Hydro Loop process. Pure oxygen substitutes for the introduction of outside air into normal combustion processes. This allows for the formation of pure steam (hydrogen+oxygen) as power plant emissions. The use and reuse of pure oxygen in the system eliminates the need to introduce atmospheric oxygen, along with its environmental impurities, into the Hydro Loop system.
On combustion, anhydrous ammonia's (NH3) chemical bond between hydrogen and nitrogen is broken. The hydrogen is ignited and instantly bonds with the oxygen co-injected into the combustion chamber with anhydrous ammonia as a Hydro Fuel blend. The oxygen instantaneously bonds with hydrogen to form pure steam at high temperature. Nitrogen gas remains as the only other by-product from combustion of the HF fuel. As a result, pure steam and nitrogen gas are the only emissions from the Hydro Loop's power generation plant.
The HIS manages in real time the combustion temperatures inside the Hydro Loop power generation system. The HIS insures combustion temperatures are maintained well below 2,200 F, the temperature typically required to produce nitrogen oxides (NOx). Operating in this mode, the Hydro Loop therefore produces pure hydrogen, nitrogen and oxygen emissions with zero carbon, no pollution and zero NOx.
The pure steam and nitrogen generation emissions are then captured, separated and reformulated within the Hydro Loop's closed system back into Hydro Fuel. The objective is the complete capture and reuse of the hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen fuel elements. No outside pollution is introduced into the system. No pollution is created during the process and no pollution is released into the local air shed.
Hydro Loops can be distributed virtually anywhere within urban air sheds and operate even under the most severe air quality conditions. This dramatically reduces the need for large-scale, carbon-based power plants. It also saves consumers billions of dollars in new transmission and distribution infrastructure. It costs $1-3 million per mile to construct the power lines required to transmit electricity from distant plants to the center of load. Hydro Loops avoid this cost.
Hydro Loops can be scaled to power anything from a home to small city. This allows the Hydro Loop to be precisely sized to serve neighborhoods, industries and other key locations on the power grid. In addition, Hubs completely recover and recycle their generation emissions with no pollution.
A network of Hydro Loops, located within key population centers, can reduce electricity prices to consumers, radically reduce carbon pollution and put off costly power transmission and distribution system development required to move electricity from large-scale power plants to the center of load. The Hyper Loop, with N−1 configuration and on-site fuel tanks, is designed to provide power generation for residential, commercial or industrial facilities allowing these consumers the option of operating completely independently of the power grid.
Hydro Loops also can eliminate the environmental impacts, siting delays and ongoing operating costs of these new power lines. Employing advanced smart grid technology, Hubs also strengthens power grid safety and stability while reducing the threat of cyber-attack.
Hydro Loops also may qualify for greenhouse gas credits, distributed generation credits, combined heat and power (CHP) credits, nitrogen oxides reduction credits, transmission line loss credits and other benefits under California law.
The Hydro Loop can also operate sequentially multiple fuels in an open loop. In addition to HF fuels, the Hydro Loop can operate on biofuels and carbon-based fuels, including natural gas, propane, methane from associated oil-well gases and other sources of hydrogen. When operating on carbon-based fuel, the HIS can automatically divert Hydro Loop into an open-loop configuration. Operating in this mode, the Hydro Loop vents emissions into the atmosphere.
This multi-fuel features allows the Hydro Loop power plant operator to “dial in” an environmental/economic profile for the plant in real time, advancing the transition from carbon to non-carbon based electric power generation feeding the power grid. The Hub Intelligence (HIS) system controls the open loop or closed loop configuration of the Hydro Loop.
Even operating on natural gas, however, nitrogen oxides NOx emissions will be substantially reduced. The high-efficiency Hydro Loop power plant (described below), operating on natural gas is expected to be four times below the 2014 California NOX standards without employing selective catalytic reduction (SCR) technology.
Potable Water from Fuel
When operating the Hydro Loop in an open loop on GC ammonia, GC oxygen and other fuels, potable water from steam may be cooled and collected for human consumption or other purposes. A series of multi-fuel Hydro Loop power plants totaling 1,000 megawatts (MW) of output will provide an estimated 342 million gallons of water from steam emissions each year. The open-system Hyper Loop operating 7.5% of the time on anhydrous ammonia will produce 53 million gallons of pure, potable water.
The same Hyper Loop operating 92.5% of the time on natural gas will produce an estimated 289 million gallons of recoverable “grey” water.
Steam emissions from Hydro Loops operating on carbon-based fuels can be cleaned to “grey water” standards via polymeric separation. The recovered water is then cooled and captured for use for non-potable purposes, such as watering landscapes, parks, nature preserves and other source of non-potable water demand. The Hydro Loop's water-recovery option, using both carbon-free and carbon-based fuel, is vital for with no available water supplies or experiencing severe drought condition places like southern California.
In addition, Hydro Loop generation systems can be placed, for example, near isolated locations where hydraulic fracturing is producing large quantities of natural gas. The natural gas can be converted on site into anhydrous ammonia via steam methane reforming (SMR). The power for the SMR process can be provide by the Hydro Loop, fueled by the locally produced merchant ammonia. Water emissions from the Hydro Loop power plant can be used in the hydraulic fracturing process itself. In this manner, anhydrous ammonia and natural gas can be produced at isolated locations with no access to the power grid.
The Hydro Loop's reuse of its own power plant emissions as fuel cuts the need for outside fuel purchases, thereby dramatically reducing the cost of electricity for consumers.
By contrast, with natural gas-fired power generation an estimated 86% of the electric power production costs is the ongoing cost of fuel purchases. With coal and nuclear power fuel purchases represent 78% and 31% of power production costs respectively. Fuel costs for the Hydro Loop are estimated at less than 5% of ongoing costs.
Hydro Loop base electricity prices may be further reduced by qualifying for federal, state and other credits under law and regulation. These include distributed generation (DG) credits, transmission loss credits, backup power credits, combined heat and power (CHP) credits, self-generation credits, renewable portfolio standard credits, greenhouse gas reduction credits, NOX reduction credits, water conservation credits and other benefits.
If the Hyper Loop qualifies for similar credits to fuel cells the cost of electricity from the Hyper Loop is targeted at $0.05/kWh. This is 60% lower than the average retail 2012 price of electricity ($0.12/kWh) in the U.S. This price would be achieved from a fully renewable power system has the potential for large-scale disruption of the global energy marketplace.
Direct combustion efficiency from the Hydro Loop advanced power plant is estimated to be 70%. By comparison, the most advanced, low-sulfur diesel generation system in 2014 (for example, a 1 MW Cummins generator) is 36.7% electrically efficient when used for backup power. This represents a 90% increase in electrical efficiency for the Hydro Loop operating on anhydrous ammonia+oxygen vs. advanced diesel generation operating on low-sulfur diesel fuel.
This remarkable direct combustion efficiency is achieve as a result of a number factors including: 1) the use of oxygen in the blended hydro fuels to supercharge combustion compared to combustion with anhydrous ammonia alone; 2) the substitution of pure oxygen for air mixture in standard carbon-based fuel allowing for smaller combustion chambers and consequent capital cost savings; 3) the ability to fully control and management of the fuel explosion cycle within the Hydro Loop combustion chambers via ultra-fast hydraulic valves and 4) other factors described below. As a result, the Hydro Loop generation system operating on hydro fuel blends is expected to be significantly more energy efficient that standard fuel cells.
The Hydro Loop base generation efficiency is further improved by a state-of-the-art combined heat and power (CHP) technology. This powerful combination of technologies increases overall Hydro Loop energy efficiencies to an estimated ≧85%, exceeding power production systems currently available in the marketplace.
The Hub Intelligence System (HIS) software monitors and controls the timing, quantity and blend of the injected hydro fuels. Instant data feedback from inside the combustion chamber informs HIS of the efficiency of energy output and internal temperature. This, in turn, assures maximum energy output efficiencies and ignition temperatures constantly below temperatures that form NOX emissions.
Capital costs associated with Hydro Loop power generation are expected to be significantly lower than fuel cells and other advanced, low-zero carbon power generation technology. For example, the capital cost of a fuel cell is estimated at $5,000/KW, 4 over three times higher than the ≦1,500/KW for the Hydro Loop's power generation system. 4 See: EIA capital cost tables at: http:/www.instituteforenergyresearch.org/2010/11/23/cia-releases-new-generating-plant-capital-cost-data/
The Hydro Loop's self-fueled power generation system is composed of a number of key elements and sub-elements.
The first element, the self-fueled power plant (SFPP), is central to the Hydro Loop's design. Recent breakthroughs in combustion ignition and related technologies (Section 1.1 below) form the core of the SFP generation system.
The SFPP is highly scalable. It generates controlled electric energy for hours, days or weeks at a time. Emissions from the SFPP generation process, operating as part of a closed Hydro Loop system, are renewable nitrogen, hydrogen and oxygen—among the most comment elements on earth.
The SFPP employs breakthroughs in advanced electric power generation technology. For example, Sturman Industries has created ultra-efficient, multi-fuel engines with advanced engine controls to compression-based, and other, engine configurations. These and similar engines form the technological backbone of the SFPP generation system.
With advanced engine controls, valves actuators are converted from analog operation to micro-digital control in the SFPP. These are coupled with advanced hydraulics, software and combustion strategies. The combined high power density and ultra-fast operation enables variable compression ignition on demand. It provides microsecond management of combustion, including stable homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI), across a wide engine operating range.
The designs also incorporate cam-less systems with air controlled engine (ACE) combustion control technology. The advanced internal combustion engines also integrate hydraulic value actuation (HVA), digital valve injection and other technology breakthroughs.
The SFPP has separate injection ports for introducing hydro fuel elements into the combustion chambers. Fuel injection is monitored and controlled in real time by the Hub Intelligence System. In the case of the SFP, recovered GC oxygen from emissions substitutes for air introduced from the atmosphere. No air is injected into the system as with standard carbon combustion processes.
With standard combustion systems air is typically combined with carbon-based fuel and ignited in a combustion chamber. The introduction of air into the combustion process enables fuel ignition. However air is composed of mixture of some 15 compounds including CO2, methane and other dangerous elements. Standard combustion processes using both carbon-based fuels and polluted air, dramatically increase levels of CO2, NOx and other pollutants in the local air sheds.
Standard carbon-based generation processes also consume and pollute large quantities of fresh water. While some of the released energy from combustion is captured in the form of usable work, significant energy is lost due to inefficient control of the combustion process and venting of hot emissions into the atmosphere.
Operating in a closed loop, the SFPP produces no pollution. All combustion elements are recycled from emissions and reconstituted as a fuel. The level of hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen purity is crucial to the reconstitution and reuse of hydro fuels.
Operating in an open loop on hydro fuels the Hydro Loop's assures the real time combustion within a strictly controlled and monitored temperature range. This assures real-time combustion temperatures are held well below 2,200 degF, the temperature above which NOX emissions are formed. Since hydro fuels are carbon free, there is also no carbon emission in the hydro fuel blends. The open-loop emissions are nitrogen gas returned to the atmosphere and millions of gallons of potable water.
Taken together these breakthroughs, including an integrated combined heat and power (CHP) system, increase overall SFPP energy efficiencies to ≧85%. This exceeds the energy efficiency of standard fuel cells5 without producing atmospheric pollution. 5 See: the Fuel Cell Technologies Chart Comparison at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuel_cell
Previous patent submissions describe the co-injection of oxygen, along with GC and merchant anhydrous ammonia, into the combustion chambers of the Hub multi-fuel power plant.
In these submissions, the oxygen gas originates from the separation of water (H20) into pure hydrogen and oxygen gases. The hydrogen is then catalytically fixed to nitrogen extracted from the atmosphere to form GC ammonia. Pure GC oxygen is produced as a byproduct.
In previous submissions, Section I (6) refers to the “Acquisition, Storage and Generation injection of Oxygen,” via an integrated system to collect, store and use oxygen as a byproduct of various ammonia synthesis processes. The claim is that co-injection of oxygen (derived as a by-produce of GC ammonia production) into the Hub combustion chamber increases the energy output from the combustion of GC ammonia, merchant ammonia, hydrogen and other fuels. In the original Hub submissions, the oxygen is sourced from water at the Hub site via electrolysis, solid-state ammonia synthesis, and/or from other sources.
With the newly proposed Hydro Loop the initial injection of oxygen from manufactured sources is replaced by the recovery and reconstitution of oxygen from steam emissions from the SFP. The Oxygen Injection System (OIS) controls the injection of the recovered oxygen, together with anhydrous ammonia or other hydro fuels, into the combustion chambers of Hydro Loop's power generation system.
Buffer tanks of anhydrous ammonia, oxygen and nitrogen are integrated into the Hydro Loop production system. This helps HIS manage optimum fuel mixtures, facilitate onsite storage and help manage the continuous fuel manufacturing and power generation process. Under most conditions, anhydrous ammonia fuel is best utilized as a liquid.
The optimum blend of anhydrous ammonia and oxygen (and other hydro fuels) will be “dialed in” by HIS based on a number of factors including specific electric load requirements of the Hydro Loop, backup power needs, market dynamics, external environmental conditions, and other factors.
The injection of hydro fuels and GC oxygen into Hydro Loop combustion chambers is uniquely important. Air contains only 21% oxygen. It also includes carbon dioxide, methane, iodine, carbon monoxide and other potential pollutants.
Pure GC oxygen, by contrast, has many unique benefits including: 1) enhancing the combustion efficiency of anhydrous ammonia; 2) substituting for the injection of air in standard combustion process; 3) increasing the energy output of the SFP per unit; 4) eliminating the threat of chemical “poisoning” of hydro fuels via the introduction of atmospheric pollutants into closed-loop fuel manufacturing and power generation system; 5) saving capital by reducing the power plant size, per British Thermal Unit (BTU) output, compared to carbon-based power generation; and 6) allowing higher compression rations than standard combustion processes when GC oxygen is mixed with GC anhydrous ammonia.
These benefits assure the purity of the hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen fuel elements within the Hydro Loop system. They also reduce costs for consumers and simplify the recovery and reconstitution of these renewable elements into hydro fuels.
The high temperature nitrogen gas and steam emissions from the SFP are captured, controlled and temperature-modulated by the Energy Recovery System (ERS).
The ERS employs combined heat and power technologies that are fully integrated within the unique Hydro Loop system. Depending on the specific Hydro Loop configuration required, the ERS options may include hybrid absorption chillers, electric vapor compression, heat exchange systems, Stirling Engines and super-insulated enclosures to maximize heat and energy recovery from the generated from the SFP.
The ERS is uniquely designed to achieve five key objectives: 1) the capturing and utilizing energy that would otherwise be lost from power generation and emissions; 2) insuring the purity of separated emissions; 3) insuring no emissions are lost to the atmosphere; 4) real-time management of the temperature and pressure of each separate emissions stream; 5) optimizing emission temperatures at the moment the emissions are injected back into the hydro fuels synthesis process (Element 6).
The SFP produces high temperatures nitrogen and steam emissions. As mentioned above, internal combustion temperatures of the SFP are kept below 2,200 degF to avoid creating NOX emissions. The ignition temperature of GC anhydrous ammonia, for example, is 630 degC (1,166 degF). The ignition temperature of other hydro fuels varies with selected blend of hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen.
The optimum temperature for medium-high temperature ammonia synthesis systems varies. The optimum temperature for ammonia synthesis and oxygen production via Solid State Ammonia Synthesis (SSAS) outline below, for example, is estimated at 500 degC (932 degF).
The layered ERS system utilizes technology (described below) to capture heat in excess of that required to achieve optimum ammonia synthesis within the Hydro Loop. This excess heat is then converted into useful work. This assures full hydro fuel recovery from emissions with minimal energy losses.
ERS technologies allow the complete Hyper Loop's power generation and fuel manufacturing and recovery system to operate at unmatched, total pass-through energy efficiencies. The direct combustion in SFP generation system is expected to achieve electric efficiencies from combustion alone of at least 70% when operating on HGF and other hydro fuels. Overall Hydro Loop power efficiency, with the SFP power and ERS system combined, is expected to be 85%.
Key sub-elements of the ERS system include:
Depending on the specific nature of power demand placed on the Hyper Loop, absorption chillers (AC) may be employed as a supplemental electric power source. AC helps increase overall Loop efficiency while also helping meet near-peak and on-peak power demand. The thermodynamic cycle of the absorption chiller is driven via heat from the SFP. Compared to electrically powered chillers, absorption chillers have low electrical power requirements making the viable candidates for the absorption and cooling of SFP emissions as they are separated and sent via closed loops to the SSAS for hydro fuel processing.
In addition, a thermo-electric heat pump system that uses a working fluid designed for the difference in temperature between the exhaust system and the ambient environment temperature also may be integrated into the system. The thermo-electric heat pump uses this Delta T to convert the heat of the exhaust system to electricity.
Vapor compression chillers also can be utilized to produce incremental energy to boost the Hydro Loop's overall electrical output.
Turbo expanders are integrated into the ERS system at key locations. The expanders work to harness the pressurized gases and heat from, for example, SFP emissions output to spin a shaft that creates added electricity output from the Hydro Loop.
This also helps in real-time management of heat and pressure created from the SFP nitrogen and steam emissions stream. Turbo expanders help insure optimum pressures and temperatures are achieved for introduction of the emissions back into the ammonia synthesis/oxygen production cycle.
Pressure/temperature management via turbo expansion may also be applied at other key Hydro Loop process points. For example, the point of introduction of GC ammonia, GC oxygen and other hydro fuels at optimum temperature and pressure as they emerge from the ammonia synthesis/oxygen process and are injected back into the SFP. Turbo expansion at these pressure/temperature inflection points present another area within the ERS for energy-recapture and the co-production of electricity by the Hydro Loop.
Electricity can also be recovered from the excess thermal heat produced from the Hydro Loop's generation emissions through an adiabatic process employing Stirling engines or other heat exchange systems. Stirling engines convert excess thermal heat flowing through the ERS into additional electric output from the Hydro Loop.
The ERS system includes buffer tanks to help the HIS track, manage and store emissions from the Hydro Loop power plant. The objective is to achieve the optimum temperature, pressure and purity of the emissions streams. The separated HIS-controlled streams of steam and nitrogen then would be separately introduced into the anhydrous ammonia/oxygen synthesis system (described at 7 below). The HIS manages the internal flow of pure emissions through the ERS via an automatic gate control (AGC) system.
An integrated system of pressurized vessels (PVS) forms a critical subsystem of the ER. These vessels provide buffers to maintain optimum pressure, temperature and purity of the nitrogen, hydrogen and oxygen fuel elements. The PVS, connected through HIS to the Embedded Sensor System (described at (5) below), provides a key element in real-time management of fuel recovery from emissions. The PVS includes line pumps, back check valves and other systems to help manage and control emissions flow in real time.
PVS options also include portable cylinders containing pure hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen and/or anhydrous ammonia. These provide replacement gases in the event of fugitive losses, blowout losses or fuel replacement following system maintenance.
The Hyper Loop power production and hydro fuel recovery system is designed to operate in a completely closed-loop. As a result, the Hydro Loop can operate entirely within an enclosed super-insulated building known as the Energy Vault (EV). The EV is designed to fully capture, convert and recycle into usable energy any remaining thermal heat losses from Hydro Loop operations.
New hyper-efficient energy conservation technologies, such as nanoporous insulation composed of amorphous silica and carbon, offer a unique energy efficiency opportunity for the self-enclosed, zero emissions Hydro Loop system. The Energy
Vault, lined with only a one-inch thick nanoporous insulation board vacuum panel, is estimated to provide the same heat resistance as a foot of fiberglass.6 6 See: http://nanoporeinsulation.com/the_technology.html
The super-insulated system is designed to insure that any residual heat escaping from the Hydro Loop system's ERS will be captured within the EV and converted into electricity or other work.
The EV will have an emissions stack, outlined in the open-loop options described above, for the potential release to the atmosphere of Hydro Loop fuel elements during periods of periodic maintenance or in the event of an emergency.
Real time management and control of a closed-loop, pressurized system constantly generating power and simultaneously recovering and reconstituting renewable fuel from renewable emissions is a highly complex task. It is made possible by breakthroughs in sensors and complex computing and visual imaging technology.
The Embedded Sensor System (ESS) is a complex network of sensors located both within and immediately outside the Hydro Loop (but within the EV). The ESS is connected to the Hub Intelligence System outlined in earlier submissions.
The ESS/HIS sensor network converts the environment within the Hydro Loop into three dimensions in which the operator is provided real-time data allowing virtual visualization of the Hydro Loop during operations. Real-time information provided by the ESS includes emissions quality, temperature, pressure, density, power generation efficiencies, energy recovery efficiencies, fuel blending, fuel injection, fuel recovery management, fuel storage, outside air quality, mechanical failure, system leaks and losses, along with other key factors.
The Hydro Loop's SFP produces only pure nitrogen and pure steam (hydrogen+oxygen) emissions under pressure at temperatures of ±1,200 degF. The emissions separation system (ESS) separates the nitrogen gas from the steam.
The separated streams of nitrogen and steam are then diverted into the ERS system. The ERS system includes super-insulated pipes, buffer tanks and energy recovery technologies outlined in (3) above. The emissions are recovered and directed to the hydro fuel manufacturing system described at (7) below.
An important ESS technology, for example, is Polymeric Membrane Separation (PMS), visualized below. Other potential nitrogen/steam emissions separation options include Ion Transport Membrane (ITM), Pressure Swing Absorption (PSA) and others.7 Other commercially available separation methods my also be employed to separate nitrogen and steam emissions. The methods are described and illustrated at: http://www.airproducts.com/˜/media/downloads/white-papers/A/en-a-review-of-air-separation-technologies-whitepaper.pdf
Fundamental breakthroughs in the PMS of hydrogen, oxygen and other gases have been recently reported:
A major benefit of membrane separation is the simple, continuous nature of the process. PMS processes use polymeric materials that are based on the difference in rates of diffusion of steam and nitrogen through a membrane that separates process streams.
Polymeric Membrane Separation
The ESS separates the two emissions streams from the Hydro Loop's power generation system. Due to the smaller size of the oxygen and hydrogen molecules, steam is more permeable than nitrogen. Hot nitrogen gas is thereby separated from steam and transported via separate conduits loops through the ERS. The ERS manages temperature control and pressure to optimize reintroduction of the nitrogen and steam into the hydro fuels manufacturing process. A prototype, 10 megawatt Hydro Loop would require a PMS system sized to separate and divert into the ERS an estimated 128 tons of GC ammonia and 484 tons of GC oxygen a day.
The Hydro Loop's Hydro Fuel Manufacturing (HFM) system employs medium-high temperature ammonia synthesis to manufacture hydro fuels from power plant emissions. HFM can employ different ammonia synthesis technologies, including Solid State Ammonia Synthesis (SSAS), medium-high temperature electrolysis, steam methane reforming of biogas and other technologies.
7.1—Solid State Ammonia Synthesis
Solid State Ammonia Synthesis (SSAS), for example, is a pre-commercial technology in which steam (H20) is split into hydrogen and oxygen via a proton-conducting membrane. Nitrogen gas is extracted from the atmosphere via Air Separation Units (ASU), as above. SSAS utilizes hydrogen from water and nitrogen from the atmosphere into anhydrous ammonia. Pure oxygen gas (also extracted from water) is a byproduct of this process. According to the inventors, SSAS (operating at about 500 degC) synthesizes anhydrous ammonia at exceptionally high efficiency with very low capital costs. SSAS is one example of a medium-high temperatures ammonia synthesis process that may form the core of the Hydro Loop's HFM system.
The Hydro Loop utilizes nitrogen from its own power plant emissions, not extracted from the atmosphere. This saves the energy and other resources required to extract oxygen from the atmosphere via ASU.
Similarly, capturing pure steam only from Hydro Loop power emissions eliminates the need for constant water inputs into the system. It also eliminates the energy required to heat the outside water to optimum temperature and pressure for the SSAS process. Instead, steam at optimized temperature is delivered to the hydro fuels manufacturing process from plant emissions.
The separated steam and nitrogen emissions enter the SSAS-based HFM system via separate portals under temperatures and pressures precisely designed for the HFM to reconstitute ammonia and oxygen. Inside the SSAS-based HFM system, the steam dissociates into protons and oxygen with SFP-supplied voltage driving the protons through the membrane. Nitrogen and protons react on the nitrogen side of the membrane to form renewable anhydrous ammonia.
The green certified ammonia is then shipped to ERS ammonia storage/buffer tanks. The ammonia is managed to an optimum pressure, temperature and density (typically as a liquid). The ammonia is then injected via an ammonia port into the combustion chambers of the SFP.
Captured oxygen from the hydro fuels synthesis process is simultaneously separated, shipped and stored in control tanks via the OIS. The pressure and temperature of the oxygen is optimized for co-injection (with ammonia) into the SFP combustion chambers. The Hub Intelligence System manages the blend these hydro fuels. HIS also monitors the temperature and efficiency of the combustion process inside the combustion chamber in real time.
Following ignition, ammonia's hydrogen and nitrogen bond is broken. The hydrogen instantly bonds with the available oxygen to form steam. Pure nitrogen gas mingles with the steam. The generation emissions are captured and the Hydro Loop cycle repeats itself.
Other technologies beyond SSAS designed to synthesize ammonia may be integrated into the Hydro Loop system to produce hydro fuels. These include the manufacture of hydrogen for synthesis into anhydrous ammonia via medium-high temperature electrolysis of water, steam methane reforming from biogas and other methane sources, the extraction of hydrogen from water via exposure to a gallium, indium, tin and aluminum metal compound and others outlined in previous submissions.
The ultra-safe storage of hydro fuels is a key factor in the Hydro Loop design. This is particularly important if the Hydro Loop is a closed-loop system designed within an Energy Vault building. Key elements of the Hydro Loop ultra-safe storage include:
A Dynamic Suppression System (DSS) related to storage of ammonia and oxygen has been described in earlier submissions. The Hydro Loop will be designed with an array of dynamic suppression technology during the continuous manufacture, storage and ignition of hydro fuels. These ultra-safe storage technologies will include:
The “Ammonia Vault,” integrates five separate layers of safety: 1) reinforced ammonia tanks and fittings designed to exceed maximum earthquake standards; 2) an enclosed, reinforced building (see Energy Vault above) surrounding ammonia, nitrogen and oxygen storage tanks built to exceed earthquake standards and for ballistic resistance; 3) a network of sensors located within and outside the storage building to trigger automatic ammonia suppression systems at the first sign of a leak; 4) the dynamic suppression of any ammonia leak inside the room through a water-based deluge system triggered by the ammonia sensor system; and 5) the real-time purging of any remaining ammonia in the Hydro Loop system into an empty ammonia safety tank maintained exclusively for such emergencies.
An improved system of hardware and controls, known as a Hydro Loop, that continuously generates electric energy utilizing renewable fuel reconstituted from its own power plant emissions.
The Hydro Loop manufactures, consumes and recaptures the most energy dense, zero-carbon fuel blend in the world. The fuel blend, known as Hydro Fuel, is composed of hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen, among the most common elements on earth.
Key elements of the fully integrated Hydro Loop system include:
1) The initial utilization of renewable energy sources to extract hydrogen and oxygen from water. Using the same renewable energy sources, nitrogen is initially extracted from the atmosphere. This produces certified, renewable oxygen, hydrogen and nitrogen.
2) The catalytic fixing of the renewable hydrogen and nitrogen into anhydrous ammonia, an energy-dense, zero-carbon liquid, via a Closed-Loop Hydro Fuel Manufacturing (HFM) process, operating at medium-high temperature.
3) The separation and storage of the HFM-produced anhydrous ammonia in an ultra-safe storage/buffering system known as the Closed-Loop Energy Recovery System (ERS).
4) The separation of the extracted renewable oxygen via a Closed-Loop Oxygen Injection and Recovery (OIR) system and the storage of the oxygen, separate from the anhydrous ammonia, in the ERS.
5) The controlled co-injection of the separately stored ammonia and oxygen into a high-efficiency electric power generation system, known as Self-Fueled Power Plant (SFPP), designed to operate on the blended anhydrous ammonia+oxygen hydro fuel produced by the HFM;
6) The ignition of the hydro fuel within the combustion chambers of the SFPP to produce zero-carbon/zero emissions base load, peak and/or backup electric energy at low cost.
7) The isolation of the entire Hydro Loop's power generation/fuel recovery system inside an Energy Vault (EV) that recovers lost heat, converts the heat to useful energy and seals the system from the introduction of outside air, or other pollutants, into the Hydro Loop.
8) The capture of all pure oxygen, nitrogen and hydrogen emissions from the SFPP while assuring no emissions are vented to the outside atmosphere.
9) The separation of hot nitrogen gas and steam (oxygen+hydrogen) emissions from the SFPP into separate emissions streams via a Closed-Loop Emissions Separation System (ESS) in preparation for the reconstituting of the hydro fuel.
10) The transfer of the separate steam and nitrogen mission streams from the ESS into the ultra-safe ERS storage/buffering system, optimizing the temperature, pressure and storage of the nitrogen and steam emission streams rapid introduction back into the HFM.
11) The conservation and conversion into useful work of energy released inside the EV from the ERS emission recovery process via a combined heat and power process providing supplemental electric energy, in addition to that directly produced by the SFPP.
12) The injection of the recovered, medium-high temperature nitrogen and steam emissions back into the HFM at optimum pressure and temperatures to produce more renewable anhydrous ammonia and oxygen at maximum efficiency.
13) The separation and transfer of the recovered (now renewable) ammonia from the HFM back into the ultra-safe ERS storage/buffering system for injection as a component of hydro fuel into the SFPP.
14) The separation and transfer of the recovered (now renewable) oxygen from the HFM back into the OIR system for injection as a component of hydro fuel into the SFPP.
15) Repeating the elemental processes described in steps 1-15 to achieve a fully integrated Hydro Loop system including: 1) a continuous, self-fueled power generation plant; 2) a fully enclosed, ultra-safe fuel storage, energy conservation and energy conversion system; and 3) a renewable fuel recovery system from power plant emissions with an expected overall energy efficiency of ≧85%.
It is believed that the disclosure set forth above encompasses multiple distinct inventions with independent utility. While each of these inventions has been disclosed in its preferred form, the specific embodiments thereof as disclosed and illustrated herein are not to be considered in a limiting sense as numerous variations are possible. The subject matter of the inventions includes all novel and non-obvious combinations and subcombinations of the various elements, features, functions and/or properties disclosed herein. Similarly, where the claims recite “a” or “a first” element or the equivalent thereof, such claims should be understood to include incorporation of one or more such elements, neither requiring nor excluding two or more such elements.
Inventions embodied in various combinations and subcombinations of features, functions, elements, and/or properties may be claimed through presentation of new claims in a related application. Such new claims, whether they are directed to a different invention or directed to the same invention, whether different, broader, narrower or equal in scope to the original claims, are also regarded as included within the subject matter of the inventions of the present disclosure.
This is a continuation-in-part of Ser. No. 13/749,631 filed Jan. 24, 2013 which is a continuation-in-part of Ser. No. 13/210,182 filed Aug. 15, 2011 which is a continuation of Ser. No. 12/406,894 filed Mar. 18, 2009 which claims priority to provisional application Ser. No. 61/070,065, titled “Energy Storage and Conversion Systems,” filed on Mar. 18, 2008. This application also incorporates by reference PCT Application No. PCT/US21011/052203 filed Sep. 19, 2011. All of the above disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 61070065 | Mar 2008 | US | |
| 61384214 | Sep 2010 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 12406894 | Mar 2009 | US |
| Child | 13210182 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 13749631 | Jan 2013 | US |
| Child | 14700136 | US | |
| Parent | 13210182 | Aug 2011 | US |
| Child | 13749631 | US | |
| Parent | PCT/US2011/052203 | Sep 2011 | US |
| Child | 13749631 | US |
