Progress 09/01/19 to 10/20/22
Outputs
Target Audience:The development of the LuNOx membrane and process will connect three key target audiences: the gas processing industry, the fertilizer industry, and the renewable energy community. Together, these three audiences will benefit farmers with lower fertilizer costs and the public through lower energy usage and decreased greenhouse gas emissions. The LuNOx process is based on a dual phase membrane technology for gas separation and processing. The development of dual phase membranes for new processes as well as the commercialization of this new technology is relevant to both the membrane community as well as the gas processing industry. Leaders of the gas processing industry (Air Products, AirLiquide, Praxair, Linde) have been developing ceramic-based membranes for primarily for air separation applications. These corporations are potential customers for commercially transitioning the ceramic-based LuNOx membrane to industry for converting air and steam into nitric acid. Luna has also been developing dual phase membrane technology variants for air separation and carbon capture applications, is presently engaging Air Liquide on these efforts, and will expand technology development conversations and efforts to include the LuNOx technology. The end users are expected to be engineering firms that construct and operate nitric acid production facilities, such as ThyssenKrupp, Koch Industries, CF Industries, and Nutrien. These end-users are fertilizer manufacturer that processes feedstocks (nitrates, ammonia, urea, etc.) into a complete fertilizer product for local distribution and agricultural use. These fertilizer manufacturers will incorporate the nitrates produced by the LuNOx process into complete fertilizer products relevant to the local agricultural community. Luna has already established preliminary relationships with ThyssenKrupp and Koch Industries and will cycle back to these potential partners upon having demonstrated a functional membrane module and further developed the techno-economic analysis through Luna's Phase II subcontract with Trimeric. The production of nitrates is ideally powered by renewable energy resources. Key renewable energy resources, such as wind and solar, are intermittent. There is currently no cost-effective means of storing energy when renewable energy is capable of capturing energy in excess of the electricity grid demand. Instead of going unused or uncaptured, this energy can be applied to fertilizer production because fertilizer products represent stored energy and local fertilizer demand is predictable. The operators of the LuNOx process with work with the local energy community to capitalize on and more effectively use intermittent energy. Changes/Problems:Most areas of the project have significant levels of delay to leverage the greatest extent of synergistic activities available from the related dual phase membrane technology variants for carbon capture, air separation, and hydrochloric acid extraction. These DOE-funded technology variants have higher funding levels, more options for follow-on projects, and higher frequencies for funding opportunities. Luna Labs has therefore been applying a strategy that only uses this USDA Phase II projects funds to support LuNOX-specific efforts and leveraging DOE funds to advance cross-cutting efforts that benefit all of the membrane variants. Currently, the next set of experiments has been delayed while Luna Labs awaits delivery of bilayer/asymmetric membranes from Median and Process Technology, which are expected in the next two months. Luna Labs has requested a 12-month no cost extension. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?
Nothing Reported
How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?
Nothing Reported
What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?When Media and Process Technology delivers asymmetric tubes (Task 2.3), Luna Labs will be able to accelerate its testing program (Task 4) and customize its electrolyte approach for the reduced separation layer thickness (Task 2.1). Because of ongoing synergistic membrane programs through the DOE, Luna Labs has advanced its test setups and membrane manufacturing techniques so that progress will resume quickly when Media and Process Technology resolves its delays.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Luna is developing the LuNOx process for producing nitric acid, which is a dual phase catalytic separation membrane technology. Nitric acid is a key component of nitrogenous fertilizers. By producing nitric acid directly from air and steam, the LuNOx technology will reduce the costs of producing nitric acid primarily by using almost a tenth of the energy as the conventional approach based on the Haber + Ostwald processes. The LuNOx technology will decrease the overall costs of nitrogenous fertilizer and is projected to increase the profitability of common crops by a few percent. The greater energy efficiency and better capabilities for integrating into the industrial nitrogenous fertilizer production and transportation infrastructure will also increase the profitability of the fertilizer industry. The greater energy efficiency and improved potential for integration with renewable energy resources will help reduce the greenhouse gas emissions of agricultural community. Technical Objective 1: Develop the manufacturing capabilities to assemble and scale up multi-membrane modules to a surface area about 100 times greater than the Phase I test samples. Luna revised the molten phase chemistry for improved performance at lower temperatures, transitioned to from a manganese to iron catalyst for additional performance improvement, and is now refining catalyst concentration before proceeding to map out operational conditions. These efforts included preparing molten phase specimens of the dual phase membranes, characterizing their melting temperatures and stability limits with differential scanning calorimetry, and measuring nitric acid production and rates under relevant conditions in real time with a collection of gas and condensed nitric acid sensors. Manganese, iron, cobalt, and copper catalysts were screened for this new nitrate-based molten phase. The catalyst composition was down selected to iron(III) nitrate both because it was the most active and because there was no evidence that it was precipitating from the molten nitrate liquid phase at the upper limit of relevant temperatures (300 °C). The iron catalyst concentration in the molten was refined to 3 mol% because higher concentrations (e.g. 10 mol%) has an adverse effects on melting temperatures and viscosity. Technology development has therefore progressed to Objective 2. Technical Objective 2: Demonstrate stable, functional operation in relevant conditions to define and validate parametric performance values. The LuNOx membranes have begun testing in relevant conditions in Luna's Scale 1 testing platform (see attached report for technical description). The dual phase membranes are prepared by infilling the molten nitrate phase into the nanoporous walls of a high strength zirconia ceramic tube. Capillary action retains the non-volatile molten phase in the pores with pressures of 5 - 30 atmospheres. The Scale 1 tube membranes specimens are about the size of a pen at roughly 8 cm long, 1 cm in diameter, and 1 mm wall thickness. The customization of the ceramic materials, the manufacturing processes, and test methods have been completed. The performance of the membranes has just begun characterization as a function of temperature (150 - 300 °C), air pressure (1 - 5 ATM), and steam flow rates (0.1 - 0.5 ml/min). The construction of the Sale 2 testing platform has been completed and the Scale 2 membrane module has been finalized and is now under construction. The membrane consists of multiple (6X) longer tubes (40 cm) for a 30X scale-up. The final membrane advancement to a reduced separation layer thickness has not yet been achieved due to significant delays from Luna Labs' ceramic materials supplier, Media and Process Technology. The delivery of the bilayer membrane will enable a ~25x increase in permeation by reduction of the separation layer. MPT has confirmed tubes will be delivered for testing in the coming months. Once this scale-up milestone is achieved, Luna Labs will efficiently proceed to complete testing, techno-economic analysis, and scale-up planning. Luna Labs has been granted a 12-mont NCE. Technical Objective 3: Perform a detailed techno-economic analysis to quantitatively estimate the economic potential of the LuNOx process based upon input costs, output values, efficiency (e.g. 75 kJ/mol HNO3), operational and equipment costs, and other factors. Significant techno-economic analysis efforts will begin once the target operational conditions have been determined based on the Technical Objective 2 performance evaluation results. Technical Objective 4: Detail the technical and commercial plans for advancing to the pilot scale of 1,000 - 100,000 tons of nitric acid per year using an integrated network of modules. Significant efforts of this objective will progress once the techno-economic analysis efforts have progressed and the performance and simulation of the Scale 2 module have been characterized.
Publications
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Progress 09/01/21 to 05/31/22
Outputs
Target Audience:
Nothing Reported
Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?
Nothing Reported
How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?
Nothing Reported
What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?When Media and Process Technology delivers asymmetric tubes (Task 2.3), Luna Labs will be able to accelerate its testing program (Task 4) and customize its electrolyte approach for the reduced separation layer thickness (Task 2.1). Because of ongoing synergistic membrane programs through the DOE, Luna Labs has advanced its test setups and membrane manufacturing techniques so that progress will resume quickly when Media and Process Technology resolves its delays (Table 2).
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Task 1:The project team of personnel, test equipment, and R&D procedures were reviewed at the beginning of the Phase II project. The testing, manufacturing, and data processing procedures were revised during the process of training the new personnel. After 2 years of use after initial construction, the Scale 1 thermochemical membrane testing platform underwent its first maintenance and update cycle to incorporate higher performance valves, enable faster gas purge times, improve ease and automation of testing, and reassess safety and control features. While this USDA project to develop the LuNOX technology has significantly contributed to the construction and development of the Scale 1 testing platform, the majority of efforts has been supported by the Department of Energy (DOE) through Luna Labs' related dual phase membrane technologies for applications that include carbon capture (DE-SC0017124, DE-AR0001315 ), separation of oxygen from air (DE-SC0019629), and ammonia from hydrochloric acid (DE-SC0017142). The funding from the DOE has also been leveraged to develop the Scale 2 testing platform that will enable Objective 1's scale up to higher numbers of larger tubes. Because of the higher funding levels and opportunities for multiple (follow-on) Phase II projects, Luna Labs has focused on using DOE funding to support the common dual phase membrane efforts, such as test platform construction and maintenance, R&D procedures, ceramic material developments, and modeling tools. Luna Labs has shifted towards reserving the USDA SBIR funds to efforts that only specifically benefit the LuNOX technology. While this strategy has enhanced the efficiency of the USDA funds for developing the LuNOX technology, this prioritized use of DOE funds has reduced how fast the USDA funds have been applied to technology development. Luna Labs has reviewed the progress of this USDA Phase II at the contract midterm and has requested a no cost extension. Task 2:The transition from porous ceramic material components manufactured by CoorsTek Ceramics to Media and Process Technology (MPT) manufacturers has led to the production of more robust, higher quality ceramic membrane materials. Unfortunately, delays in tube delivery have impacted Luna Labs' testing schedule. Additionally, problems sourcing correctly sized particles has led to delays of the production of the bilayer membrane, which is a key outstanding scale-up step. The delays are presently resolved and MPT plans to deliver bilayer tubes in the coming quarter.? The final deliverable expected in the next quarter from MPT will be 40 asymmetric membranes with a slipcast nanoporous ~40 micron layer on a support tube with dense ceramic interconnects ready for testing. Task 3:Luna Labs has employed the time to finish designing and build a 30X scale-up test rig for multiple long (40 cm) tubes (Figure 2, bottom left). The first long tube membrane testing began at the end of 2021. The cause of the significant delay in delivering the first batch of longer tubes by M&PT was never clearly communicated. The membrane test fixture for multiple parallel long tubes has been completed. Task 4:Task 4 testing is currently being delayed due to a lack of testable membrane materials from Media & Process Technology. Luna Labs has begun a partnership with Saint Gobain, and they are working on demonstrating new material methods and shipping testable tubes to Luna Labs before September. The final electrolyte formulation needs to be tuned to the bilayer tube design, and testing will resume as soon as Luna Labs has bilayer tubes in-hand. Task 5:Trimeric will perform the techno-economic evaluation of the LuNOX process at an American Association of Cost Engineers (AACE) Level 4 for feasibility studies. A process design basis will document the process flow diagram with inputs, operating conditions, throughput, and salable product purity requirements and estimated market values. The LuNOX process design will detail energy and utility requirements, NOX emission control and potential nitric acid distillation capabilities, and major equipment operational parameters (compressor power requirements, heat exchanger duties, etc.). The techno-economic analysis will estimate capital and operating costs, energy performance of the technology, and the overall potential to generate revenue per unit of nitric acid produced. This analysis will include a representative process simulation with AspenTech or similar software, vender budgetary estimates, and data found in the literature. Trimeric will calculate economic metrics for the process and identify key aspects of the technology that have the greatest impact on cost and/or have the most technological risk in relation to successful technology scale-up. Trimeric will perform relevant sensitivity studies regarding the key parameters that are identified and provide input regarding technical challenges associated with process development and scale-up. Luna Labs will provide key LuNOX data such as performance as a function of operational conditions, as well as review and provide guidance on the development of the analysis. Trimeric and Luna Labs will work together to identify and develop any technical variants or options that can reduce or avoid these cost drivers. The goal of this feedback loop between analysis and technical development is to enhance productivity and minimize risk of future technical or process redesigns. Significant efforts on this Task will begin once Luna Labs has resolved the key ranges temperature and pressures that will be established upon completion of the Task 2 electrolyte and catalyst development efforts. Task 6:Luna Labs may sell or license the LuNOX process to ThyssenKrupp, who would be Luna Labs' direct customer. ThyssenKrupp would install the LuNOX process at facilities operated by Koch, who would be the end user. Both Koch and ThyssenKrupp will be key commercialization partners both as potential funders of Phase III programs as well as technical contributors to pilot scale demonstrations. During commercialization discussions in the Phase I program, Ken Wabel (Ken.Wabel@kochind.com), Director of Strategy & Business Development for Koch Ag & Energy Solutions, has suggested that one of their existing nitric acid production facilities would be a good scale-up test site due to the availability of steam and other supporting infrastructure. Also during commercialization discussions in the Phase I program, Jens Mathiak, Executive Vice President of ThyssenKrupp Industrial Solutions (Jens.Mathiak@thyssenkrupp.com), has indicated that ThyssenKrupp would be an engineering resource that could contribute to the construction of a pilot scale LuNOX skid system and provide baseline data for comparison against conventional, state-of-the-art nitric acid production technology. Pending successful development and demonstration, ThyssenKrupp would acquire the LuNOX technology for commercial manufacture and distribution to the leading domestic and international nitrogenous fertilizer producers. The initiation of productiveconversations with these potential industrial partners regarding large scale process technologies requires significant technical demonstration to establish confidence and credibility.
Publications
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Progress 09/01/20 to 08/31/21
Outputs
Target Audience:
Nothing Reported
Changes/Problems:Luna Labs is requesting a 12-month no cost extension to allow for additional time to complete the membrane development and scale-up efforts. In the six months since the previous REEport Luna has completed construction of a scaled-up multi-tube test module which effectively increases the membrane surface area 30X. Luna Labs has also designed and begun construction of a scale III membrane module capable of processing gas one the tonnes/day scale. The key outstanding material development is the production of bilayer membranes to demonstrate constant permeance through reduction of the separation layer thickness. Luna Labs' ceramic material supplier, Media and Process Technology, is experiencing delays from its source materials suppliers and also in their own in-house development and testing program. When Media and Process Technology delivers asymmetric tubes (Task 2.3), Luna Labs will be able to accelerate its testing program (Task 4) and customize its electrolyte approach for the reduced separation layer thickness (Task 2.1). Because of ongoing synergistic membrane programs through the DOE, Luna Labs has advanced its test setups and membrane manufacturing techniques so that progress will resume quickly when Media and Process Technology resolves its delays. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?
Nothing Reported
How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?
Nothing Reported
What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?When Media and Process Technology delivers asymmetric tubes (Task 2.3), Luna Labs will be able to accelerate its testing program (Task 4) and customize its electrolyte approach for the reduced separation layer thickness (Task 2.1). Because of ongoing synergistic membrane programs through the DOE, Luna Labs has advanced its test setups and membrane manufacturing techniques so that progress will resume quickly when Media and Process Technology resolves its delays. Scaled-up module demonstration is a program priority as overall system performance and the resulting techno-economic projections will drive interest in the technology. Luna Labs also has plans to investigate the economic potential of a NOx separation membrane due to interest from a potential commercialization partner.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Luna is developing the LuNOx process for producing nitric acid, which is a dual phase catalytic separation membrane technology. Nitric acid is a key component of nitrogenous fertilizers. By producing nitric acid directly from air and steam, the LuNOx technology will reduce the costs of producing nitric acid primarily by using almost a tenth of the energy as the conventional approach based on the Haber + Ostwald processes. The LuNOx technology will decrease the overall costs of nitrogenous fertilizer and is projected to increase the profitability of common crops by a few percent. The greater energy efficiency and better capabilities for integrating into the industrial nitrogenous fertilizer production and transportation infrastructure will also increase the profitability of the fertilizer industry. The greater energy efficiency and improves potential for integration with renewable energy resources will help reduce the greenhouse gas emissions of agricultural community.
Publications
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Progress 09/01/19 to 08/31/20
Outputs
Target Audience:The development of the LuNOx membrane and process will connect three key target audiences: the gas processing industry, the fertilizer industry, and the renewable energy community. Together, these three audiences will benefit farmers with lower fertilizer costs and the public through lower energy usage and decreased greenhouse gas emissions. The LuNOx process is based on a dual phase membrane technology for gas separation and processing. The development of dual phase membranes for new processes as well as the commercialization of this new technology is relevant to both the membrane community as well as the gas processing industry. Leaders of the gas processing industry (Air Products, Air Liquide, Praxair, Linde) have been developing ceramic-based membranes for primarily for air separation applications. These corporations are potential customers for commercially transitioning the ceramic-based LuNOx membrane to industry for converting air and steam into nitric acid. Luna has also been developing dual phase membrane technology variants for air separation and carbon capture applications, is presently engaging Air Liquide on these efforts, and will expand technology development conversations and efforts to include the LuNOx technology. The end users are expected to be engineering firms that construct and operate nitric acid production facilities, such as ThyssenKrupp, Koch Industries, CF Industries, and Nutrien. These end-users are fertilizer manufacturer that processes feedstocks (nitrates, ammonia, urea, etc.) into a complete fertilizer product for local distribution and agricultural use. These fertilizer manufacturers will incorporate the nitrates produced by the LuNOx process into complete fertilizer products relevant to the local agricultural community. Luna has already established preliminary relationships with ThyssenKrupp and Koch Industries and will cycle back to these potential partners upon having demonstrated a functional membrane module and further developed the techno-economic analysis through Luna's Phase II subcontract with Trimeric. The production of nitrates is ideally powered by renewable energy resources. Key renewable energy resources, such as wind and solar, are intermittent. There is currently no cost-effective means of storing energy when renewable energy is cable of capturing energy in excess of the electricity grid demand. Instead of going unused or uncaptured, this energy can be applied to fertilizer production because fertilizer products represent stored energy and local fertilizer demand is predictable. The operators of the LuNOx process with work with the local energy community to capitalize on and more effectively use intermittent energy. Changes/Problems:A strategic benefit to the Phase II project has also led to a modest delay in the schedule. Luna is developing the LuNOX technology, which is a dual phase membrane technology to produce nitric acid. Nitric acid is a key component of nitrogenous fertilizers. Decreasing the costs and environmental impact of nitric acid production will benefit the agricultural community. This dual phase membrane technology also has the potential to significantly benefit other large scale gas separation and processing technologies, such as carbon capture from flue gases and the separation of oxygen from air, through decreased costs and improving the environmental impact of our domestic energy economy. The development of these other dual phase membrane technology variants with funding by the US Department of Energy has benefited the development of the LuNOX membrane for nitric acid production through synergistic effects between projects. These DOE-funded technology variants have higher funding levels, more options for follow-on projects, and higher frequencies for funding opportunities. Luna has therefore been applying a strategy that only uses this USDA Phase II projects funds to support LuNOx-specific efforts and leveraging DOE funds to advance cross-cutting efforts that benefit all of the membrane variants. To date, Luna has focused the USDA SBIR Phase II project to develop the LuNOX membranes has shifted towards focusing only on the efforts that only benefit the LuNOX technology. These efforts specifically include developing the molten phase chemistry and catalysts responsible for oxidizing air's nitrogen and synthesizing nitric acid. The electrolyte composition has been revised for operation at lower temperatures and other performance enhancement effects, the catalyst composition has been down-selected to iron, and the catalyst concentration is presently being refined. All other technology efforts that are synergistically cross-cutting amongst the other dual phase membranes, such as the development of ceramic materials, testing platforms and procedures, the scale up to larger modules, and process simulations, and approaches to integrating heat and steam have been developed with funds from the Department of energy. This strategy is substantially enhancing the effectiveness of how the USDA funding is being applied to specifically benefit the nitric acid production application and will enable a greater advancement of the LuNOX technology from the awarded USDA funds. For example, Luna has been able to achieve most of the same technical goals of the Phase II project by spending almost half of the USDA funds. This strategic use of DOE funding to support cross-cutting membrane advancements that also benefit and advance the LuNOx technology has, however, has also contributed to a moderate delay in the overall Phase II project. Luna will therefore prepare to request a no cost extension. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?
Nothing Reported
How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?
Nothing Reported
What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?The next reporting period will characterize the LuNOx membrane's nitric acid production performance as a function of operational conditions, such as temperature and steam sweep rate. Some situations will achieve higher performance at the cost of more energy intensive conditions. Performance will be evaluated as a function of the rate and concentration of nitric acid production, how much energy is required to compress (and potentially preheat) the air, and the steam generation requirements. This parametric performance analysis will be shared with Trimeric Corporation for the subcontracted techno-economic analysis. The technology integration approach will be developed based on the performance and process requirements. Process flow diagrams and stream tables will be prepared to model and describe the process. These efforts will enable quantification of the key attributes, such as cost, energy efficiency, functionality, etc., required to substantiate customer interest, continue investment, and scale-up. The scale up to the membrane module will proceed during and support the techno-economic analysis. The results of the techno-economic analysis will prepare the LuNOx technology for substantive communications with potential customers, other target audiences, and the patent attorney. Luna will work with Nixon & Vanderhye, PC to prepare and file a patent application to protect the LuNOx technology. Luna will time further cultivate the interest and communications with potential customers and commercialization partners so that so that execution of nondisclosure agreements with these target audiences will coincide with the patent filing submission.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Luna is developing the LuNOx process for producing nitric acid, which is a dual phase catalytic separation membrane technology. Nitric acid is a key component of nitrogenous fertilizers. By producing nitric acid directly from air and steam, the LuNOx technology will reduce the costs of producing nitric acid primarily by using almost a tenth of the energy as the conventional approach based on the Haber + Ostwald processes. The LuNOx technology will decrease the overall costs of nitrogenous fertilizer and is projected to increase the profitability of common crops by a few percent. The greater energy efficiency and better capabilities for integrating into the industrial nitrogenous fertilizer production and transportation infrastructure will also increase the profitability of the fertilizer industry. The greater energy efficiency and improves potential for integration with renewable energy resources will help reduce the greenhouse gas emissions of agricultural community. Technical Objective 1: Develop the manufacturing capabilities to assemble and scale up multi-membrane modules to a surface area about 100 times greater than the Phase I test samples. Luna revised the molten phase chemistry for improved performance at lower temperatures, transitioned to from a manganese to iron catalyst for additional performance improvement, and is now refining catalyst concentration before proceeding to map out operational conditions. These efforts included preparing molten phase specimens of the dual phase membranes, characterizing their melting temperatures and stability limits with differential scanning calorimetry, and measuring nitric acid production and rates under relevant conditions in real time with a collection of gas and condensed nitric acid sensors. Manganese, iron, cobalt, and copper catalysts were screened for this new nitrate-based molten phase. The catalyst composition was down selected to iron(III) nitrate both because it was the most active and because there was no evidence that it was precipitating from the molten nitrate liquid phase at the upper limit of relevant temperatures (300 °C). The iron catalyst concentration in the molten was refined to 3 mol% because higher concentrations (e.g. 10 mol%) has an adverse effects on melting temperatures and viscosity. Technology development has therefore progressed to Objective 2. Technical Objective 2: Demonstrate stable, functional operation in relevant conditions to define and validate parametric performance values. The LuNOx membranes have begun testing in relevant conditions in Luna's Scale 1 testing platform (see attached report for technical description). The dual phase membranes are prepared by infilling the molten nitrate phase into the nanoporous walls of a high strength zirconia ceramic tube. Capillary action retains the non-volatile molten phase in the pores with pressures of 5 - 30 atmospheres. The Scale 1 tube membranes specimens are about the size of a pen at roughly 8 cm long, 1 cm in diameter, and 1 mm wall thickness. The customization of the ceramic materials, the manufacturing processes, and test methods have been completed. The performance of the membranes has just begun characterization as a function of temperature (150 - 300 °C), air pressure (1 - 5 ATM), and steam flow rates (0.1 - 0.5 ml/min). The construction of the Sale 2 testing platform has been completed and the Scale 2 membrane module has been finalized and is now under construction. The membrane consists of multiple (6X) longer tubes (40 cm) for a 30X scale-up. Technical Objective 3: Perform a detailed techno-economic analysis to quantitatively estimate the economic potential of the LuNOx process based upon input costs, output values, efficiency (e.g. 75 kJ/mol HNO3), operational and equipment costs, and other factors. Significant techno-economic analysis efforts will begin once the target operational conditions have been determined based on the Technical Objective 2 performance evaluation results. Technical Objective 4: Detail the technical and commercial plans for advancing to the pilot scale of 1,000 - 100,000 tons of nitric acid per year using an integrated network of modules. Significant efforts of this objective will progress once the techno-economic analysis efforts have progressed and the performance and simulation of the Scale 2 module have been characterized. The technical objective of this USDA Phase II project are proceeding rather effectively and efficiently. The main technical challenges of preparing and manufacturing the membrane materials, modules, testing platforms, test methods, modeling simulations, and plant integration approaches have primarily been hammered out through projects funded by the Department of Energy. This has enabled Luna to focus on only leveraging these USDA funds on LuNOx-specific efforts. This approach will enable Luna to exceed the technical milestones and development efforts proposed for the Phase II project, which will better position the technology for commercialization. This cost efficiency is apparent in the comparison of the project schedule against the funds spent: the project is only technically about 30% behind schedule even though the funding spend rate is closer to 60% behind schedule. Luna is planning on requesting a no cost extension to continue facilitating the advancement of the LuNOx technology.
Publications
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