Site items in: China

New benchmark for coal co-firing reported in China
Article

The South China Morning Post reports that China Energy Investment Corporation has successfully demonstrated co-firing 35% ammonia with coal at a power generation unit in Shandong Province. Further technical details emerged from additional Chinese media outlets, including that the pilot test occurred in a 40 MW coal boiler at the Huaneng Yantai coal power plant, and that NOx emissions were reportedly lower than burning pure coal fuel.

Ammonia-ready vessels: new contracts & deliveries in China
Article

This week we explore a trio of announcements out of China:

1. The ammonia-ready vessel Kriti Future has been delivered to owners Avin International.

2. Höegh Autoliners has contracted China Merchants Heavy Industry to build at least four of their new ammonia-ready vessel design: the Aurora-class car carrier. The new builds will meet requirements for DNV GL's methanol and ammonia-ready notation guides.

3. And Swiss-based shipping giant MSC has placed an order for six ammonia-ready container ships from Dalian Shipbuilding in China. The vessels will be powered by WinGD dual-fuel engines, for which retrofits will be available by 2024/5 to run on methanol and ammonia.

New ammonia-powered vessels: Newcastlemax & Panamax class
Article

Rio Tinto and AngloEastern have announced they will develop Newcastlemax class, ammonia-powered bulk carriers. The dry cargo vessels will be the maximum size allowed to dock in the Port of Newcastle, Australia: an important coal & iron ore port in global maritime trade. Both AngloEastern and Rio Tinto are members of an Itochu-led maritime fuel study investigating the use of ammonia. In Japan, a "greener ships" consortium has produced its first-ever ammonia-powered design: a Panamax-class bulk carrier. And the China State Shipbuilding Corporation will develop two 93,000 m3 ammonia-powered ammonia carrier vessels, with Bureau Veritas granting AiP for the vessel design.

3rd generation ammonia synthesis: new catalysts & production pathways
Article

We look at four new developments this week:

1. A team from DTU Energy and the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics have uncovered a new class of alternative catalysts for mild condition ammonia synthesis. The ternary ruthenium complex hydrides Li4RuH6 and Ba2RuH6 avoid the energy-intensive pathway of nitrogen dissociation in a "synergistic" manner.

2. A team from the Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials reported a highly selective (95%) plasma ammonia synthesis method.

3. A team from Delft University of Technology has presented an present an "unconventional electrochemical design" that physically separates hydrogen and dinitrogen activation sites.

4. A team at the Max Planck Institute for Coal Research has demonstrated a new mechanochemical ammonia synthesis system that operates at room temperature and pressures as low as 1 bar.