Amogy and Mitsubishi Shipbuilding complete feasibility study of ammonia supply system
01 July 2024
Amogy, a provider of mature, scalable, and efficient ammonia-to-power solutions, and Mitsubishi Shipbuilding Co., Ltd. (MSB), a part of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) Group, have completed the feasibility study of collaboration concept designs of onboard hydrogen production and utilization with Amogy’s ammonia-cracking technology and Mitsubishi Ammonia Supply and Safety System (MAmmoSS).
MammoS comprises several subsystems in addition to the Ammonia Gas Abatement System (AGAS), including a high-pressure/low-pressure ammonia fuel supply system (AFSS) and an ammonia fuel tank system. A key feature of MAmmoSS is that each of these subsystems can be modularized, allowing Mitsubishi Shipbuilding to provide the optimal modular configuration in a package for onboard plants consisting of multiple engines and boilers.
Amogy and MSB concluded a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to undertake feasibility studies on an ammonia fuel supply system, with the aim of contributing to a new target set by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) of net zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the maritime industry by or around 2050.
The studies were conducted by the two companies to confirm the feasibility of two collaboration concept designs—a power train combining ammonia cracking and hydrogen fuel cell for ships and a hydrogen supply facility for supplying hydrogen as pilot fuel to an ammonia-fueled engine.
Because ammonia is carbon-free, it has attracted attention as a fuel with the potential to contribute significantly to reducing GHG emissions in the maritime industry, and it is expected to be utilized in the future as a source of stable, clean energy.
To unlock the potential of ammonia, Amogy has developed an innovative ammonia-to-electrical power system that cracks liquid ammonia into its base elements of hydrogen and nitrogen, which then funnels the hydrogen into a fuel cell, generating high-performance power.
MSB says it will promote the decarbonization of the maritime industry, realize a carbon-neutral society, and contribute to the reduction of environmental impacts on a global scale by continuing to develop marine ammonia handling systems, such as fuel supply systems for a wide range of ammonia fuel consumers include this collaboration for onboard hydrogen production and utilization.
I believe that we (the planet Earth) would be better off using whatever "green ammonia" that we can make for fertilizer.
What I would suggest is not a simple solution but I believe that new small modular nuclear reactors may be the most practical clean solution for large ships other than wind driven vessels which would not be fast enough or reliable enough for modern shipping.
Posted by: sd | 01 July 2024 at 01:01 PM
@sd,
Great idea, if and when small modular thorium nuclear reactor is perfected, it can generate high temperature steam to power steam turbines for general shipping. The potential for nuclear weapon proliferation from thorium reactor is very low, and the fuel can be used at very high efficiency.
However, cost may be much higher than conventional diesel engine due to the stringent safety involved in case of failure with potential leakage of nuclear materials into the environment...unlike military ships that are much less cost-sensitive than commercial ships.
Carbon-neutral fuels like biomethanol and biomethane from waste biomass with additional yield from green H2 incorporation can be cost-competitive with fossil fuel in the near future, and these burn very cleanly and can be used in existing 2-stroke diesel engines with some modification, much cleaner than the very dirty bunker fuel used in commercial ships nowadays., so would minimize additional investment required in comparison to a complete changeover to nuclear or fuel cell.
Posted by: Roger Pham | 02 July 2024 at 09:46 PM