Speaker: Matt Palys, postdoctoral associate, University of Minnesota
Title: Renewable ammonia for sustainable energy: Systems engineering for economic viability
Abstract: Renewable ammonia synthesized from water and air is a promising energy vector due to its high energy density, geographical versatility, and carbon-free use in energy production. These characteristics have led to rapid recent growth in both government and corporate interest, but questions remain as to how to best use renewable ammonia from an economics perspective. In this seminar, I will describe a systematic approach to maximizing the economic viability of ammonia energy systems which relies combined capacity planning and scheduling optimization. I will discuss the use of this combined capacity planning and scheduling model in three different applications for ammonia energy storage. First, I will describe a hydrogen/ammonia energy storage study where we determined optimal 100% renewable ESS designs for 15 cities throughout the continental United States, where the studied locations comprehensively represent all climate-moisture zones. Then, I’ll discuss a potential early adopter for renewable ammonia energy storage: combined heat and power systems in remote locations. Finally, I will discuss our investigation into the role of ammonia in the sustainable energy transition, both as an energy storage medium and in coupling the energy and agriculture sector to improve economics.
Biography: Matt Palys is a postdoctoral associate in the Daoutidis group at the University of Minnesota. His research focuses on mathematical modeling and optimization to address design and operational aspects of chemical production from variable renewable energy (VRE) and utilization of these chemicals to enable energy supply with high VRE penetration. He received his PhD in Chemical Engineering from the University of Minnesota in 2021. His thesis was entitled “Renewable ammonia for sustainable agriculture and energy: Process, system, and enterprise optimization”.
Webinar Link: https://iastate.zoom.us/j/91974478792
Host: Anne Kimber