energy_mass_balancecostinghydrogen
Techno-economic screening of an electrified Haber-Bosch ammonia plant fed by green hydrogen and ASU nitrogen.
Delivered green hydrogen feed price (priced input, matching IRENA cost decomposition).
Delivered nitrogen feed price from the cryogenic air separation unit (priced input).
Real discount rate used to compute the capital recovery factor (CRF).
Economic lifetime for levelized cost (linear depreciation basis).
Levelized cost of ammonia (LCOA)
Total annual cost divided by annual NH3 output
Scaled specific synthesis-island CAPEX
Synthesis-island capital intensity after scale curve and clamps
Synthesis-island CAPEX
Synthesis loop + ASU + balance of plant (excl. electrolysis)
Annualized CAPEX (CRF-based)
Synthesis-island CAPEX as an annual payment equivalent
Fixed O&M
Annual fixed operating and maintenance cost
Total annual cost
Annualized CAPEX + O&M + H2 + N2 + electricity + N2 purification
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Select the synthesis-island configuration. Affects feed intensities, synthesis-island electricity and reference CAPEX.
Nameplate (100% load) ammonia output of the synthesis island. Actual output scales with capacity factor.
Average annual utilization vs nameplate. Drives operating hours and annual NH3 output.
Annual ammonia output
Main product, annualized by capacity factor
Annual hydrogen consumption
Green H2 feed required for the synthesis loop
Annual nitrogen consumption
N2 feed from the air separation unit (ASU)
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Annual synthesis-island electricity
Compression + ASU + synthesis (excl. electrolysis)
Effective synthesis-island electricity intensity
Specific electricity adjusted by part-load penalty
Total energy intensity (incl. electrolysis)
Cross-check vs C-THRU 37.3 GJ/t and IEA BAT 34.4 GJ/t
Average delivered electricity price for synthesis-island loads (compression + ASU + synthesis).
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LCOA breakdown: hydrogen
Hydrogen feed contribution to LCOA
LCOA breakdown: annualized CAPEX
Capital contribution to LCOA
LCOA breakdown: synthesis electricity
Synthesis-island electricity contribution to LCOA
CAPEX breakdown: synthesis loop
Indicative allocation within synthesis-island CAPEX
CAPEX breakdown: air separation unit (ASU)
Indicative allocation within synthesis-island CAPEX
Calculator context
Screening techno-economic model of an electrified Haber-Bosch (HB) plant fed by green hydrogen (electrolysis) and nitrogen from a cryogenic Air Separation Unit (ASU). Reaction N2+3H2->2NH3. Computes annual NH3 output, H2 and N2 consumption, synthesis-island electricity (compression + ASU + synthesis, excluding electrolysis) and the levelized cost of ammonia (LCOA, EUR/t). H2 and N2 are priced inputs, matching the IRENA renewable-ammonia cost decomposition. LCOA = (annualized synthesis-island CAPEX + fixed O&M + H2 cost + N2 cost + synthesis-island electricity + N2 purification) / annual NH3 output. Defaults: CRF(7%,20y)=0.0944, OPEX 3%/y of CAPEX, capacity factor 0.7, H2 0.18 t/t NH3, N2 0.82 t/t NH3, synthesis-island electricity 1.083 MWh/t NH3 (C-THRU/IEA Table 5). Cross-check: total energy 37.3 GJ/t (C-THRU), IEA BAT 34.4 GJ/t, IRENA headline 10 MWh/t; renewable NH3 cost USD 720-1400/t today and USD 310-610/t by 2050. EUR~USD parity assumed for screening.
45 assumptions used in the calculations
Prevents division-by-zero and NaN propagation in edge cases.
Market range Not applicable (numerical parameter).
Used for capacity-factor annualization.
Market range 8760 (non-leap year); 8784 (leap year).
Converts tonnes to kilograms for hydrogen pricing.
Market range Exact.
Converts annual energy to a per-tonne GJ cross-check.
Market range Exact.
Sets the hydrogen feed required per tonne of ammonia.
Market range 0.178 (stoichiometric) to 0.18 (typical).
Hydrogen intensity for the electrified Haber-Bosch configuration.
Hydrogen intensity for the integrated configuration (near-stoichiometric).
Market range 0.178 (stoichiometric).
Sets the nitrogen feed required per tonne of ammonia.
Nitrogen intensity for the electrified configuration.
Nitrogen intensity for the integrated configuration.
Market range 0.822 (stoichiometric).
Synthesis-island electricity (compression+ASU+synthesis) per tonne NH3.
Market range ~3.5-4.5 GJ/t (0.97-1.25 MWh/t).
Synthesis-island electricity for the electrified configuration.
Synthesis-island electricity for the integrated configuration.
Electrolysis electricity per kg H2 for the total-energy cross-check.
Reference total energy intensity for the cross-check output.
Market range ~36-40 GJ/t.
Best-available-technology energy intensity reference.
Market range ~34-36 GJ/t (BAT).
IRENA headline total energy intensity (context).
Market range ~10 MWh/t (36 GJ/t).
Reference synthesis-island specific CAPEX (excl. power).
Reference specific CAPEX for the electrified configuration.
Reference specific CAPEX for the integrated configuration.
Reference plant size for the CAPEX scale curve.
Economies of scale for the synthesis island.
Prevents unrealistically low specific CAPEX at very large scale.
Prevents unrealistically high specific CAPEX at very small scale.
Synthesis loop (reactor, recycle, refrigeration) share of synthesis-island CAPEX.
Air separation unit share of synthesis-island CAPEX.
Balance-of-plant share of synthesis-island CAPEX.
Fixed O&M as a fraction of synthesis-island CAPEX.
Reference CRF for the IRENA nominal case (cross-check).
Market range 0.0944 at 7%/20y.
Additional nitrogen purification cost per tonne NH3.
Default delivered green hydrogen price.
Default delivered nitrogen price from the ASU.
Default electricity price for synthesis-island loads.
Default annual utilization of the plant.
Default real discount rate for CRF.
Default economic lifetime for levelized cost.
Screening part-load penalty coefficient (off by default).
Prevents the penalty from improving performance below the reference intensity.
Market range 1 (by definition).
Avoids unrealistically large penalties at low capacity factors.
Required because the DSL has no strings.
Market range Not applicable.
Required because the DSL has no strings.
Market range Not applicable.
Validates the selector domain.
Validates the selector domain.
Avoids inline literals in DSL expressions per spec.
Market range Exact.
Avoids inline literals in the validation guard.
Market range Exact.
Primary reference
IRENA (2022) Innovation Outlook: Renewable Ammonia; C-THRU Ammonia Technical Brief (2022)
