Techno-economic analysis of a small-scale power-to-green urea plant

By Fernando Calvin, Widodo W Purwanto | Publication, Scientific Paper

Power-to-green urea is the concept of urea production using hydrogen from photovoltaic (PV)-electrolysis; a promising option for remote area that do not have natural gas reserves. In this study techno-economic analysis of a small-scaled power-to-green urea plant is conducted with the purpose of obtaining energy efficiency of the system, specific energy consumption, and urea price. Process simulation is carried out by using Aspen Plus and green urea price is calculated using cash flow with 4 schemes. Scheme 1 uses investment cost of technology in 2019, scheme 2 is modification of scheme 1 with additional revenue through clean development mechanisms (CDM), scheme 3 uses investment cost of technology in 2030 and 2050, and scheme 4 is a combination of scheme 2 and 3. The obtained result shows the system efficiency of 7.9% and specific energy consumption of 109 GJ/MT urea. The price of green urea with Scheme 1, 2, 3, and 4 in order are 2342, 2320, 2026 and 1704, as well as 2004 and 1682 USD/MT urea, respectively. Power-to-green urea could not compete economically with conventional large-scale urea; however, due to its stable price and easily acquired raw material it is still highly relevant for remote areas in the future.