The solar potential of the state of Ceará and meeting its future demand of nitrogen fertilizers based on renewable energy hydrogen

N. ESTEVES; A. SIGAL; T. DO CARMO SOUSA; F. B. LIMA DA SILVA; F. SALES ÁVILA CAVALCANTE; L. CARMO DE LIMA

Río de Janeiro

Congreso; COBEM 2015, 23rd ABCM International Congress of Mechanical Engineering; 2015

The main objective of this presentation is to analyze the feasibility of producing ammonia as main component for the synthesis of nitrogen fertilizers in the state of Ceará, Brazil. The potential for the ammonia production, via the Haber-Bosch process with electrolytic wind and solar photovoltaic hydrogen, is described with maps showing it per unit area in eachmunicipal division of the state. Thus, by using high resolution solar radiation digital databasesand average wind regimes databases (speed, Weibull factor, terrain roughness)available for Ceara, news maps of the potentials for solar and wind hydrogen are developed. Then a map of renewable hydrogen as the sum of both was created along with the corresponding potential for ammonia production with this renewable hydrogen. Land use and environmental externalities were considered as areas where energy development would be restricted.