Discuss the issues related to use of Ammonia as Fuel on board ship?

There is a large variety of other alternative fuels that can be used in shipping, such as
Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG), methanol, Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), biofuels, electricity,
liquified biogas (LBG), hydrogen and nuclear power. These alternative fuels can reduce local
emissions to a varying extent, and most of them contribute to reduced GHG emissions.
However, few can reach the 70% target in emission intensity on a well-to-wake perspective
as targeted by IMO. In general, the GHG emission from alternative fuels is dependent on
how they are produced and transported.

Another possible energy carrier is ammonia. Ammonia has the key benefit of being easier to
store than hydrogen, i.e., nearly identical to propane (LPG) at low pressure under ambient
conditions. Hence, the cost of storage per energy unit is significantly cheaper than either
hydrogen, electricity in batteries or LNG. Furthermore, ammonia does not contain carbon and
processes for producing it from renewable energy are known, even though it is produced
from natural gas for industrial purposes. Therefore, it is possible to regard ammonia as an
energy carrier that is more convenient than hydrogen and CO2 emission free under the right
circumstances. CO2 emission-free ammonia from renewable electricity is labelled as green
ammonia, whereas ammonia from fossil sources like natural gas and coal is labelled as
brown ammonia. Ammonia from fossil sources with carbon capture and storage (CCS) is
labelled as blue ammonia.

There are drawbacks with ammonia such as toxicity, limited experience as a fuel in
combustion engines and low energy utilization rate etc.

Issues related to use of Ammonia as marine fuel

1. Lower heating value and volumetric density: Ammonia (NH3) is a colourless gas
under ambient conditions with a lower density than air. The boiling point is -33.3°C
and hence by applying a moderate pressure it can be handled as a liquid at room
temperature. At pressures above 8.6 bar at 20°C, ammonia is a liquid with a density
of 0.61 t/m3. At the boiling point, the density is 0.68 t/m3. The heating value for
ammonia on a lower heating value basis is 18.6 MJ/kg. Thus, compared to MGO the
energy content is less than half on a mass basis and about 30% on a volume basis
in liquid state. Thus, to store same amount of energy ammonia tanks will occupy 3
times larger space compared to MGO.
2. Toxicity and corrosivity: Ammonia is a basic compound with a distinctly pungent,
suffocating odour. The typical detection limit by humans varies considerably from 0.04
to 53 ppm with a mean of 17 ppm. Hence the detection limit may be above
concentration that is considered dangerous for long term exposure, and detectors
should be used where there are risks for exposure to ammonia. The recommended
exposure limit varies by jurisdiction and over time. The US Occupation Safety and
Health Administration (OSHA) has set an 8-hour exposure limit of ammonia to 25 ppm
and a 15-minute exposure limit to 35 ppm. Exposure to very high concentrations of
gaseous ammonia can result in lung damage and death.
Being extremely soluble in water, ammonia is absorbed by body fluids (sweat, tears,
saliva) and may cause severe chemical burns. Safety of personnel onboard in case
of ammonia spill and emergency equipment for work in gas filled space shall be
particularly addressed in the maritime industry.

Ammonia is corrosive to some materials like copper, copper alloys and zinc, and care
must be taken in the selection of materials. Ammonia is known to cause stress
corrosion in carbon manganese and nickel steels. Furthermore, dissolved oxygen in
liquid ammonia increases stress corrosion risk. Care must be taken to purge air from
the ammonia systems prior to filling them with ammonia; new tanks must be
thoroughly purged to eliminate air contamination. Ammonia is also reactive with CO2
that may be contained in inert gas.

3. Production volumes and availability: The global production of ammonia was 170
million tonnes in 2018. Global production capacity is expected to increase by 6% by
2021. 97% of the planned capacity increase is based on natural gas as the feedstock,
and mainly in countries with cheap natural gas.
For comparison, the fuel consumption of all ships was estimated to be 300 million
tonnes in 2012, which corresponds to 650 million tonnes of ammonia on an energy
basis. Since shipping fuel demand is also expected to increase further, the current
production of ammonia can only cover a moderate fraction of the demand for marine
fuels. Furthermore, since the largest use of ammonia is for fertilizers, other uses of
ammonia may compete with food production, with serious socio-economic
ramifications.
For ammonia to become attractive as a carbon free marine fuel, emissions from
production will need to be lower than current best available technology, which uses
natural gas as feedstock. This would require expanded production capacity either of
renewable ammonia, i.e., electrolysis based on renewable electricity, or ammonia
production from natural gas in combination with CCS.

4. Regulatory barrier: The ship transportation of ammonia is covered by the

International Code for the Construction and Equipment of Ships Carrying Liquefied
Gases in Bulk (IGC Code). If an ammonia carrier is to be powered by ammonia, then
that ship type would be covered by the IGC Code without having to comply with the
IGF Code. A challenge with this, is that the IGC Code chapter 16 does not allow for
the use of toxic cargo as a fuel, which thus excludes ammonia cargo as fuel. This is
a regulatory barrier that can be overcome when a flag state acts in conjunction with
the IMO. For other ships, the use of ammonia as fuel must be covered through
alternative compliance with the IGF Code.

5. High pricing: Ammonia prices vary significantly over time and are not the same in all
geographies. The natural gas cost contributes 70 to 85% of the production cost for
brown ammonia. Renewable ammonia, produced from renewable energy, will be
more expensive than natural gas feedstock. This will depend heavily on the cost of
electricity, but also on advances in capex. The cost has been estimated at 2 200 to 3
500 $ per tonne, depending on the scaling of the equipment.
6. Currently available technology: Ammonia has been considered as a fuel in solid
oxide fuel cells (SOFC). Internal combustion engines are considered a better option
than fuel cells because of cost, power density, load response and robustness.
For two-stroke engines, MAN ES has developed the dual fuel engines series ME-GI
and ME-LGI that have been developed to address several new fuels including LNG,
methanol, LPG, and ethane. Ammonia is considered to be a more challenging fuel,
and it is expected that pilot fuel like diesel would be required and possibly a larger
amount than for LPG. MAN ES has started to develop two-stroke engines for
ammonia, which likely will be based on the ME-LGI engine used for LPG, and are
expected to be able to be delivered within five years.
A challenge for internal combustion engines is the possibility of unburned ammonia
in the exhaust, that is toxic and highly pungent even in small amounts. If this occurs
during normal running operation, it might require an ammonia catch system, like a
water curtain.

7. Emission to air: The use of ammonia has a benefit related to less pollutant
emissions. It virtually eliminates sulphur emissions and can be used as a means of
compliance with low sulphur local and global regulations. The use of ammonia as a
fuel will eliminate particulate matter and black carbon emissions.
There will however be NOX emissions, which will depend on the engine technology
used. More experiments need to be carried out to determine the amount of NOX
emissions, but it has been assumed that the NOX will be at approximately the same
level as for MGO. Furthermore, the N2O release, which has a high global warming
potential of 265, is not known yet and needs to be further investigated.