GREEN AMMONIA (Syllabus: GS Paper 3 – ENV AND Eco)

• Context: Recently, Chidambaranar Port Authority , Tamil Nadu successfully handled 3×20 ISO Green Ammonia Containers, weighing 37.4 tons of Green Ammonia, from Damietta Port, Egypt.

Green Ammonia

• Ammonia: Ammonia, a sharp-smelling gas, plays a pivotal role in the manufacturing of agricultural fertilizers.
• Green Ammonia: Green ammonia production refers to a process where the creation of ammonia is entirely reliant on renewable energy sources and is devoid of carbon emissions.
• Production: Traditionally, ammonia is primarily synthesized from methane, water, and air through a combination of steam methane reforming (SMR) to produce hydrogen and the Haber process.
• Green ammonia involves slashing emissions from ammonia production by taking natural gas out of the equation and instead making hydrogen by splitting water with electricity sourced from renewables.
• The rest of the Haber-Bosch process remains the same, powered by renewable electricity.

The Haber-Bosch Process

• The typical ammonia production method involves extracting hydrogen from natural gas using steam, which generates carbon dioxide (CO2) as a by-product. 
• Subsequently, this hydrogen is combined with nitrogen from the atmosphere under high pressure and elevated temperatures, a process known as the Haber-Bosch process.