Can this magic fuel clean up the shipping industry?
Ammonia could be an alternative to marine diesel. It burns carbon-free and is cheaper than methanol. But building a specialized engine is extremely difficult – and there's pretty much no green ammonia production today. Can it really fix shipping?
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00This engine is a huge chance for the shipping industry to clean up its act.
00:08It runs on ammonia and that means it can propel a ship without emitting any carbon, in theory.
00:14If produced with renewable energy, ammonia's emissions are close to zero.
00:18And the shipping industry really needs a silver bullet.
00:21It's now responsible for 3% of global emissions, but this might grow to 10% because basically everyone is shipping goods around the world.
00:29But this engine has the potential to reduce those drastically.
00:34Is this really the solution?
00:40But a few pieces of the puzzle are still missing. A very big one, the engine.
00:45Well, that's one massive engine.
00:48As of now, ammonia engines for large container ships have yet to go into commercial production.
00:54I'm really curious how this is actually going to save any fuel.
00:59As you can see, there are four cylinders.
01:03Most people don't realise it's actually a cylinder because they are so enormous.
01:09Each of them is 50 centimetres wide. This is the research facility of engine designer MAN.
01:16Some might know them for their trucks, but they also develop really big engines for really, really big ships.
01:23They were the only company that would let us film an ammonia engine in development.
01:27It packs 6,700 horsepower, and when it's finished, it's going to be as big as a family home.
01:34And this is the guy showing me around today, Rasmus Holm-Bitstro.
01:39How is this engine different from a normal diesel engine?
01:43First and foremost, we need to apply an additional set of components on the engine.
01:49And this is essentially the components you see right here.
01:52So, first of all, you have the yellow piping right here.
01:57These pipes deliver the ammonia into the cylinder to combust, but they are not the only vital parts.
02:03So, one of the most essential components on our ammonia engine is actually the ammonia fuel injectors.
02:09Ammonia doesn't have a very, very high calorific value.
02:14So, what is calorific value?
02:16It is essentially the energy it can contain within a certain volume.
02:21So, for ammonia, we need to have very, very big fuel injectors compared to existing fuel oil engine injectors.
02:30And that is, of course, a design challenge.
02:33This also makes it difficult to store enough ammonia on ships.
02:37But let's stick with the engine first.
02:40Once ammonia enters the cylinder and is supposed to ignite, that's when it becomes really challenging.
02:46Chemically speaking, ammonia is difficult to satellite, as we can see here inside the cylinder.
02:52It only self-ignites at around 650 degrees Celsius, and it burns about 12 times slower than fossil marine fuels.
03:00That's because the chemical bonds within the ammonia molecule are relatively strong.
03:05And therefore, we simply need to inject a small amount of pallet oil to initiate and stabilize the combustion.
03:12You basically help the ammonia to ignite with what's called a pilot fuel.
03:16So, a fuel that ignites easier than ammonia. Diesel, for example.
03:20This combustion also produces water and nitrogen.
03:24These don't burn and slow down the combustion.
03:26And a slow combustion can lead to byproducts, and they are a big issue.
03:31Their names almost sound the same.
03:34Nitrogen oxides and nitrous oxide.
03:38Nitrous oxide is 273 times more potent at heating the planet than CO2.
03:44Nitrogen oxides on the other side are poisonous.
03:49MAN has been testing their engines since July 2023.
03:53And with over 30 sensors, they have been measuring all kinds of emissions coming out of it.
03:58The good news? They are between 85 and 90% lower than those of a heavy fuel oil engine.
04:05The major challenge still is getting rid of both nitrous oxide and nitrogen oxides emissions.
04:11So, one big concern are also nitrous oxide emissions with these engines.
04:16How do you get rid of them?
04:18Well, we have a lot of opportunities when it comes to controlling the combustion pressure,
04:23the combustion timings, and thereby also the temperatures.
04:27And those handles alone allow us to avoid the formation of nitrous oxide.
04:33As a rule of thumb, higher combustion temperatures lead to less nitrous oxide emissions.
04:38But how much oxygen you put in also plays a role.
04:41Tweaking these parameters can reduce the emissions.
04:45So, nitrous oxide emissions can be dealt with according to MAN.
04:49But they are still the poisonous nitrogen oxides emissions.
04:53And those require a catalytic reduction reactor.
04:57Similar to a car, the engine's exhaust travels through honeycomb-like filters.
05:02In cars, ammonia needs to be added, as it's essential for the process to work.
05:06But in an ammonia engine, you already have some ammonia leftovers in the exhaust gas.
05:12Nitrogen oxides and ammonia enter, travel through the layers,
05:16and out comes nitrogen, water vapor, and a small amount of nitrogen oxides compliant with emission regulations.
05:24This works great when the engine is running at full power.
05:28But when it's not, the temperature in the engine decreases.
05:31This can lead to more nitrogen oxides emissions, which a reactor would need to deal with.
05:37But you don't really release what your current findings are on the level of emissions.
05:41This is an ongoing R&D process.
05:43And once we scale it up, once we get clarity and transparency,
05:48of course, those details will be communicated to the market.
05:52You're being a critical journalist now.
05:55It's like we are not marketing people.
06:03Why would you say that the public should believe, okay, these engines are fine now?
06:09Well, it's a fair point.
06:12So when it comes to ammonia engines in the future, of course,
06:15we will have to provide clarity and transparency in the industry,
06:19thereby also committing to certain guaranteed levels of greenhouse gas emissions.
06:24I mean, if we replace CO2 emissions with certain levels of interior emissions,
06:30we will not do anything good for the environment.
06:32More importantly, we will not have a commercial relevant product.
06:36MAN says they currently plan to deliver the first commercial design of the engine in 2024.
06:42The first ship fitted with one is due to set sail in 2026.
06:47But for that to happen, even more things need to fall into place.
06:50For example, ships need to be redesigned,
06:52because ammonia has a lower energy density than your regular marine diesel.
06:57So the tanks need to be bigger to pack the same amount of energy.
07:01That and additional safety measures, because ammonia is extremely toxic.
07:05If you're exposed to it for too long, you can die.
07:08So you need...
07:16.