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Decarbonizing urea: Techno-economic and environmental analysis of a model hydroelectricity and carbon capture based green urea production
Department of Chemical Engineering, Chungbuk National University, Cheongju, Chungbuk 28644, South Korea, Chungbuk.
Department of Chemical Science and Engineering, Kathmandu University, Dhulikhel PO BOX 6250, Nepal.
Department of Chemical Science and Engineering, Kathmandu University, Dhulikhel PO BOX 6250, Nepal.
KTH, School of Industrial Engineering and Management (ITM), Energy Technology, Energy Systems.ORCID iD: 0000-0002-0033-9982
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2024 (English)In: Applied Energy, ISSN 0306-2619, E-ISSN 1872-9118, Vol. 372, article id 123789Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

This study reports a comprehensive techno-economic and environmental assessment of a realistic pathway for decarbonizing the urea industry. The proposed green urea synthesis plant utilizes hydroelectricity-powered electrolysis process and carbon capture from cement flue gas to create sustainable and environmentally friendly production process. Utilizing Aspen Plus and MATLAB, this study first, models the electrolysis, air separation, ammonia synthesis, carbon capture and urea synthesis units, and then evaluates the economic and environmental parameters of the synthesis process. Furthermore, the study highlights the transformative impacts of carbon credit and the renewable energy prices on the profitability metrics of the green urea plant. For the proposed 220 kt/year urea plant, the total energy consumption is 8.18 × 106 GJ/year with the electrolysis unit accounting for half of the energy demand. The estimated total capital investment for the urea plant is 510.79 million USD, with an annual operating expenditure of 156.02 million USD. The urea synthesis unit accounted for half of the total capital expenditure, while electricity contributed to the largest proportion (73%) of the operating expenses. The levelized cost for urea (LCOU) is estimated to be 570.96 USD/t which is approximately 62.2% higher than the urea obtained from conventional process. The electrolyzer unit contributed to 34.4% of the total LCOU. Sensitivity analysis showed that 30% decrease in the electricity price from the base case could lower the LCOU by 27%. The global warming potential of the proposed green urea process is 326.11 kg CO2/t of urea. Lower hydroelectricity prices and carbon credit opportunities significantly improve the economic viability of the green urea production process.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Elsevier BV , 2024. Vol. 372, article id 123789
Keywords [en]
Carbon capture, Carbon market and financing, Global warming potential analysis, Green urea, Nepal, Techno-economic analysis
National Category
Energy Engineering
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-350702DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2024.123789ISI: 001262142100001Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-85197564135OAI: oai:DiVA.org:kth-350702DiVA, id: diva2:1884668
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QC 20240719

Available from: 2024-07-17 Created: 2024-07-17 Last updated: 2024-07-22Bibliographically approved

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