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Ammonia Energy Conference 2024: Ammonia for Maritime Propulsion is full speed ahead!
Article

During the recent 2024 Ammonia Energy Conference, we explored all the latest developments in ammonia-powered maritime propulsion. Engine makers reported strong progress ahead of deployment in 2026, the same year that large-scale vessels will hit the water. The panel explored early operations for the ammonia-powered A-Tug in Japan, as well as ancillary technology systems required for maritime ammonia engines, catalyst after-treatment systems for emission mitigation, and the potential for fuel additives to boost ammonia engine performance.

How to give a chemical push to ammonia in a compression ignition engine?
Presentation

The initial work on direct additivation to ammonia in a Rapid Compression machine showed promising results and radical ignition delays and temperature reduction. From these tests on, tests conducted on a research mono-cylinder engine, with the help of the Prisme laboratory at the University of Orléans, demonstrated that the additive used in pilot fuels allowed for better controlled ignition than the pilot fuel alone, better and eased cycle to cycle stabilization and better power output. It also quite dramatically reduced the amount of pilot fuel needed. It seems that the additive helps to keep ammonia in the combustion event even…

R&D recap: the <i>Journal of Ammonia Energy</i> – volume II
Article

Ahead of the international Symposium on Ammonia Energy event next month, we recap R&D presented in the second edition of the Journal on Ammonia Energy:

  • An integrated, indirect ammonia solid-oxide cell featuring a heat exchanger and ammonia cracker was modelled, built and tested by the UK’s Science and Technologies Council (STFC).
  • The techno-economics of the transportation of energy from Orkney, Scotland to Milford Haven, Wales using ammonia as an energy carrier transported by ship may be the most cost-effective option.
  • N2O and NOX conversion in ammonia engine exhausts is limited by the presence of oxygen and water, presenting an optimisation challenge for technology developers.
  • And an academic-industry joint session on ammonia safety highlighted multiple projects currently underway to tackle the risks associated with the use of ammonia in new commercial sectors.

R&D recap: the <i>Journal of Ammonia Energy</i>
Article

Ahead of the 3rd Symposium on Ammonia Energy in Shanghai next month, we take the opportunity to highlight select papers and key results from the first two editions, starting with the 2022 Cardiff event:

  • In an ammonia-diesel blending study, Orleans University and WinGD found that minimising the diesel fraction actually led to increased N2O emissions.
  • In a bid to produce an optimal ammonia-hydrogen fuel blend, a University of Birmingham team characterised the ammonia cracking mechanism of a new, transition metal-promoted lithium amide catalyst.
  • A KAUST study of swirl intensity of an ammonia-methane blended fuel finds that increasing the swirl number leads to a more compact flame, reducing NOX emissions.
  • A team from the University of Minnesota found that combustion durations comparable to gasoline were obtained for ammonia-hydrogen fuel blends.
  • And, as part of a joint academic-industry session on safety, it was recommended that a careful, proactive approach is taken towards new ammonia users, likely exposure risk points and deploying maritime ammonia fuel.