MAN ES: work continues on an ammonia-powered, four-stroke engine

From December 2020, MAN Energy Solutions led a consortium targeting the design and testing of a four-stroke, ammonia-powered internal combustion engine. AmmoniaMot, as the project was officially called, was concluded in August this year, with positive preliminary findings.

Along with its industrial partners, and with the financial support of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK), MAN has now announced the launch of AmmoniaMot2. This follow up project, expected to run for three and a half years, will build on AmmoniaMot and develop an ammonia-powered four-stroke, medium-speed, dual-fuel test engine.

Partners in the project include WTZ (which will develop the combustion concept and test the injection components), Woodward L’Orange (which will develop the injector prototype), and the University of Munich (which will carry out 3D-CFD combustion simulations). The project will feature a high-pressure fuel supply module for ammonia, a demonstrator of which will be designed by Neptun and constructed by GenSys.

To ensure safe ammonia handling, the project will feature a double-walled fuel system which will be developed by MNR. Lastly, the University of Rostock will experimentally assess the injection technology, exhaust-gas after-treatment and lubrication. It will then develop simulations based on the obtained data.

MAN envisions four-stroke ammonia engines as deployable in non-passenger vessels such as cargo carriers, and in the powering of auxiliary services in large ammonia-powered two-stroke vessels. MAN expects to begin gaining operational experience in 2026 from its newly-developed ammonia-powered two-stroke engine, when the first vessels are due to hit the water in Asia,

For MAN Energy Solutions, this project is the next logical step after the previous AmmoniaMot project. It perfectly supports our own strategy to develop sustainable technologies and we very much appreciate the opportunity to work with our distinguished partners. For us, the path to decarbonising the maritime industry starts with decarbonising fuels and, in this context, ammonia is an excellent candidate as it is carbon-free and thus avoids CO2-emissions when used as a fuel in our engines.

Alexander Knafl, Head of Engineering R&D Four-Stroke, MAN Energy Solutions, in his organisation’s official press release, 22 October 2024

In the original AmmoniaMot project, we laid a strong foundation with our excellent partners and proved that ammonia is a suitable fuel for medium-speed applications with the potential to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions by 90-95% while complying with existing emission regulations. I am more than excited to take the next step with our partners in AmmoniaMot 2. There is no doubt that ammonia will become an important carbon-free fuel and thus not just contribute to the decarbonisation of the maritime sector.

Christian Kunkel, Head of Combustion Development, Four-Stroke R&D, MAN Energy Solutions, in his organisation’s official press release, 22 October 2024