{
  "abstract": "This study assesses the environmental performance of plasma-based nitric acid (HNO₃) production powered by renewable electricity using process modelling and comparative life cycle assessment. Two plasma technologies, a gliding arc plasmatron (GAP) and a rotating gliding arc (RGA), were evaluated under air-fed (N₂ : O₂ 4 : 1) and oxygen-enriched (N₂ : O₂ 1 : 1) configurations using experimental reactor data and real photovoltaic (PV) generation profiles, and were benchmarked against the conventional steam methane reforming-Haber-Bosch-Ostwald process. At atmospheric pressure and an annual electricity mix of 41.5% solar, plasma-based routes show global warming impacts of 1.82-2.25 kg CO₂ eq. per kg HNO₃, while the conventional route emits 1.93 kg CO₂ eq. per kg HNO₃ at the factory gate. When the solar share is over 60%, all plasma plant configurations emit lower carbon than the benchmark, reaching emissions as low as 0.99 kg CO₂ eq. per kg HNO₃ for the air-fed GAP reactor when the plant is powered 100% by solar PV. The results were also highly sensitive to future improvements in plasma electricity demand: a scenario reducing demand by 20% decreased climate change impacts by approximately 11-18%, with all four plasma configurations achieving lower impacts than the benchmark. Similar benefits were observed for ozone formation and terrestrial acidification. Seasonal variation in solar/grid share (18-64%) changed global warming impacts by approximately 43%. Plasma routes also showed higher toxicity and land use impacts, mainly due to electrical infrastructure and PV systems. Oxygen enrichment improved NO x yields but required additional energy for O₂ production; it became environmentally favourable only below approximately 0.5 kWh kg⁻¹ O₂. Elevated-pressure RGA operation at 4 bar substantially improved performance, reducing total plant energy cost by 43% and 27% for the 4 : 1 and 1 : 1 configurations, respectively, and lowering global warming impacts to 1.19 and 1.10 kg CO₂ eq. per kg HNO₃. Overall, plasma-based HNO₃ production shows strong low-carbon potential, particularly under elevated-pressure operation.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "School of Engineering, University of Warwick UK jose.osorio-tejada@warwick.ac.uk.",
    "Research Group Energy and CO2, Department of Mechanical Engineering Universidad de Zaragoza Spain.",
    "Research group PLASMANT and PLASMA Center of Excellence, Department of Chemistry, University of Antwerp Belgium annemie.bogaerts@uantwerpen.be.",
    "Electrification Institute, University of Antwerp Belgium.",
    "School of Chemical Engineering, Adelaide University Australia."
  ],
  "article_type": "research article",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 5,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        1
      ],
      "name": "Jose Osorio-Tejada",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-9416-7391"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        2,
        3
      ],
      "name": "Yury Gorbanev",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-8059-4464"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        4
      ],
      "name": "Vikram Kenjle"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        2,
        3
      ],
      "name": "Annemie Bogaerts",
      "orcid": "0000-0001-9875-6460"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        4
      ],
      "name": "Volker Hessel",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-9494-1519"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/a8keq1mj05q14.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.1039/d6gc04056j",
  "fulltext_url": "https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC13681104",
  "id": "a8keq1mj05q14",
  "issns": [
    "1463-9262"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42903292",
  "language": "eng",
  "licence": "CC-BY",
  "licence_label": "CC BY",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "openalex",
      "2741|Plasma Applications and Diagnostics"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7223033141",
  "pdf_url": null,
  "pmcid": "PMC13681104",
  "pmid": "42903292",
  "published": "2026-10-20",
  "publisher": null,
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/a8keq1mj05q14.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:19:53Z",
      "native_id": "MED:42903292",
      "source": "europepmc",
      "url": "https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42903292"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "medicine",
      "origin": "openalex:2741|Plasma Applications and Diagnostics",
      "subfield": "imaging"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Environmental analysis of plasma-based nitrogen fixation powered by renewable energy.",
  "title_text": "Environmental analysis of plasma-based nitrogen fixation powered by renewable energy.",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:19:53Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/a8keq1mj05q14",
  "venue": "Green chemistry : an international journal and green chemistry resource : GC",
  "versions": []
}