Site items in: Ammonia Engine

Ammonia vessel updates: the Castor Initiative, MS Green Ammonia & post-Panamax bulkers
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Five ammonia vessel updates this week:

1. An ammonia/liquefied CO2 carrier concept design from Mitsui O.S.K. Lines & Mitsubishi Heavy Industries.

2. Approval in Principle for an ammonia-fueled car carrier designed by China State Shipbuilding.

3. Approval in Principle for the MS Green Ammonia.

4. An MoU between three members of the Castor Initiative to design & construct two Very Large Crude Carriers.

5. A concept design for up to four types of ammonia-ready, LNG-fueled vessels (ARLFV) from NYK Line.

Ammonia-ready, ammonia-fueled and on-water ammonia production
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Following last month’s shipbuilding news from China, this week we explore three ammonia-related announcements from Norway-based players:

1. Breeze Ship Design’s ammonia-fueled oil tanker design, with a demonstration vessel to be eventually chartered to Equinor.

2. An order for six ammonia-ready, robotic offshore vessels from VARD.

3. And the P2XFloater, a new vessel concept from H2Carrier for the world’s first floating, industrial-scale ammonia production plant.

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

Approval in Principle from Korean Register for two ammonia-fueled vessels
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Korean Register has granted AiP for two more ammonia-fueled vessel designs: a 60,000 m3 carrier and a 38,000 m3 ammonia transport/bunkering vessel. Both designs were developed by Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering, with assistance from Hyundai Heavy Industries. Importantly, the new AiPs mark the first milestone achievement for the 'Green Ammonia Shipping/Bunkering Consortium', which was launched in May 2021 with the explicit purpose of developing ammonia-fueled ship designs for approval by Korean Register.

Fortescue's ammonia locomotive one step closer
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R&D for ammonia-powered locomotives is full steam ahead in Perth, as Fortescue Future Industries moves onto converting two four-stroke, diesel locomotives to run on ammonia fuel. Deployment of an ammonia-powered demonstration locomotive within their current rail operations is planned for later this year. In other FFI news this week, a technical feasibility study has given the thumbs up for FFI to convert Incitec Pivot's existing Gibson Island ammonia production plant to a green ammonia facility, and a new agreement between Australian energy giant AGL and FFI will see the pair turn the current Liddell and Bayswater coal power stations into a huge green hydrogen hub near Newcastle, NSW.

Ammonia combustion analysis: powertrains, turbines & power generation
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This week we explore four updates in ammonia combustion R&D:

1. A team from the University of Cambridge has shown merchant vessels are the strongest candidates for conversion to run on ammonia powertrains, with cargo capacity losses of 4-9% able to be feasibly offset by operators.

2. Researchers at the University of Minnesota have successfully tested a thermochemical recuperation (TCR) reactor to improve the efficiency of a dual-fuel, diesel-ammonia compression ignition engine by minimising ammonia slip.

3. A global team led by Cardiff University researchers has revealed some of the inner workings of ammonia combustion in gas turbine flames.

4. A global team has produced a cradle-to-gate environmental assessment for ammonia production and ammonia-based electricity generation, suggesting that renewable and nuclear ammonia have a significant role to play in decarbonising the power sector.

WinGD to develop ammonia maritime engines by 2025
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Swiss-based engine developer WinGD has announced that its current portfolio of low-speed maritime engines will be ready to operate on methanol and ammonia by 2024 and 2025 respectively. Although WinGD's diesel-fueled X Engine series will require retrofits, the X-DF Engine series is already designed to run on biogas and will not require major modifications to run on methanol or ammonia.

Kawasaki Heavy's LPG/ammonia carrier in demand
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Kawasaki Heavy Industry's 86,700 m3, LPG and "liquefied ammonia gas" (LAG) carrier has been ordered for the fifth time in 2021. K Line, Eneos (two vessels) and now NYK (also two vessels) will take delivery of the VLGCs from KHI's Sakaide shipyards in 2023 (K Line and Eneos), and 2024 (NYK). The flexibility of the dual-purpose LPG/ammonia carrier is key to its newfound popularity.