Proceedings

Currently, energy consumed by wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) for ammonia processing represents a significant percent the energy consumption. According to reports, WWTP industry is the fourth largest energy intensive segment in UK, consuming 7703 GWh y-1 and accounting for as much as 4 million tonnes of greenhouse gases [1,2]. Technological solutions exist for stripping ammonia from wastewater, such as the OTAR unit developed by Organics. Recovered ammonia can be electrochemically oxidised to benign nitrogen in an electrolyser, where hydrogen is a valuable by-product generated at the cathode. Hence, an electrolyser has the potential to convert ammonia to a non-toxic product and generate a valuable ‘green’ fuel for transport/heating applications. We demonstrate a novel electrode catalyst/substrate material combination that can oxidise ammonia in a scaled Anion Exchange Membrane Ammonia Electrolyser (AEMAE) system, and hydrogen can be produced as a valuable by-product at industrial-level current densities.