Ammonia co-firing for industrial boilers in Japan

Miura Industries and Chubu Electric Power have reached an agreement to jointly research the development of a “small, once-through” ammonia and city gas co-fired boiler. City gas refers to gaseous fuel made from coal – a historic precursor to LNG that is still used in some applications.

Ammonia co-firing presents an opportunity in factories, which currently rely on heavy oil or gas to produce power. The availability of an existing supply chain, including transport and storage technologies, make ammonia an attractive alternative fuel for this application.

The parties will also seek to address the existing challenges for ammonia including the difficulty to burn stably at high temperatures, and NOX emissions from its combustion.

The partners plan to develop the mixed combustion burner and run combustion tests at Chubu Electric Power’s Technology Development Headquarters located in Nagoya City, Aichi Prefecture. Further, with aims to benefit from an early mover advantage, the three companies, including Chubu Electric Power Mirize, plan to conduct market research on ammonia co-fired boilers and consider product specifications.

We have seen increasing activity driving towards the industrial adoption of ammonia-powered boilers. Highlights include:

• Cardiff University and Flogas Britain’s joint project (funded by the Department of Energy and Net Zero) to develop a new ammonia-powered boiler for UK industrial heating applications.
• Mitsubishi Heavy Industries’ (MHI) successful operational tests of its ammonia single-fuel burner, which has potential applications for industrial use in Japan.
• And JERA and IHI, who announced the start of tests for their 20% ammonia co-firing demonstration, including its impact on the performance of boilers and other equipment.