Ammonia as a marine fuel

The ground-breaking research uses a new concept design, an ammonia carrier fuelled by its own cargo, to study the concept of using ammonia as a marine fuel and achieve a significant reduction in greenhouse gas emissions in shipping. It shows ammonia can be used as marine fuel if a number of safety measures are included in the design.

Niels de Vries, Lead Naval Architect at C-Job Naval Architects and research lead, said: “Reviewing all ammonia power generation options, the Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC) is clearly the most efficient. However, it does have practical challenges as the power density and load response capability are not on an acceptable level yet. “Therefore, in the short term applying the internal combustion engine is the way to go.”

C-Job joined the Ammonia Energy Association last year to intensify collaboration with other industries on this subject to realise its ambition. Together with Proton Ventures and Enviu, C-Job established a consortium in 2017 to further investigate ammonia as marine fuel. With the completion of this theoretical research, C-Job has provided a significant contribution to the first phase of the consortium project which will now move towards the next phases, which includes lab testing, pilot and evaluation.