World's First Ammonia Powered 'Big Rig'

https://www.ozy.com/the-new-and-the-next/hes-creating-a-new-fuel-out-of-thin-air-for-85-cents-per-gallon/92686/

https://fuelpositive.com/fuelpositive-enters-final-phase-for-first-farm-ready-system/

..." Take for example, 1 ton of ammonia. If utilized as fuel, 2% of the ammonia would be used for the operation of the SCR and the remaining 98% would produce 16,530 MJ of energy. This same 1 ton of ammonia would produce 0.18 tons of hydrogen which is equivalent to 19,205 MJ of energy. However, approximately 15% of this energy is required for the cracking/processing operation for a net energy production of 16,626 MJ."...

https://bv.com/perspectives/ammonia-fuel-vs-hydrogen-carrier#:~:text=This%20same%201%20ton%20of,to%2019%2C205%20MJ%20of%20energy.

One ton of ammonia is equal to about 400 gallons....

400 Gasoline Gallon Equivalent
= 48520 Megajoules

48,520/16,626 = 2.92

..."In fact, a fuel cell coupled with an electric motor is two to three times more efficient than an internal combustion engine running on gasoline. "...

Diesel current cost per gallon $4.61

Gasoline current avg cost per gal. = $3.78

..."By CF’s estimates, green ammonia will cost about $500 per metric ton to make, about three times as much as conventional ammonia. But the company estimates that it could fetch $2,200 per metric ton in the alternative energy marketplace, about eight times as much as conventional."...

https://cen.acs.org/business/petrochemicals/ammonia-fuel-future/99/i8

So ammonia costs about $170 per metric ton to produce...or 388 gallons...~$0.44 per gal

I realize that you put these threads up to start discussions, but can you or another member shed a little bit of light on this for me?

From the article:

Liquid ammonia has an energy density that is approximately three times greater than compressed hydrogen and it requires significantly less energy, making it cost-effective to store and transport,” Amogy said in a news release."

“...significantly less energy.” Than what?

“...requires significantly less energy.” To do what?

“...significantly less energy.” Than what?

It(ammonia) requires significantly less energy than compressed hydrogen to produce, contain, and transport...

Annual global ammonia production is about 175 million tonne. About 70% of this is currently used to produce fertilizer.

Ammonia production is energy-intensive, accounting for 1% to 2% of global energy consumption, 3% of global carbon emissions, and 3 to 5% of natural gas consumption.

Numbers from our good friends at Wikipedia: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ammonia

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0360319908016583

https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.iecr.1c00843

Another thing that interests me about this cracker-fuel cell combination is that the cracker is an endothermic reaction and the fuel cell is an exothermic reaction, these could be used to cancel each other out or for heating or cooling the cab interior as needed...and fully adjustable for climate conditions...

..."This first prototype under the partnership has now been delivered with very promising results. This breakthrough could allow the shipping industry to use ammonia as a hydrogen storage medium within the global shipping market, providing the industry with a long-sought zero-emission propulsion technology."...

..."Pherousa has received exclusively licensed rights to market the ammonia-to-hydrogen cracker in the maritime sector worldwide and rights to the required Helbio intellectual property for the ammonia cracking technology for use in the same (maritime) sector worldwide. Metacon holds rights to serve as the core reactor (cracking) modules supplier to Pherousa. Metacon also retains exclusive rights to this technology for hydrogen production from ammonia in all other applications outside the maritime market, including on-land hydrogen storage."...

https://www.h2bulletin.com/metacon-supplies-ammonia-cracker-prototype-to-pherousa-green-technologies/

..."A building site for a major infrastructure project in the U.K. has started to use a zero-emission hydrogen fuel cell for heat and power, removing the need for diesel generators.

The news comes as low- or zero-emission kit on construction sites around the world starts to become more commonplace as technologies develop and attitudes shift."...

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/09/03/construction-site-uses-hydrogen-fuel-cell-tech-to-power-operations.html

https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Third-Generation-AES-ammonia-cracking-unit-developed-at-the-Technical-University-Graz_fig2_46439202

https://christophepocharienergietechnik.com/2019/09/20/micro-ammonia-cracker-for-on-demand-mobile-hydrogen/

If this is as great as the claims, it will succeed,but it will not be sold any cheaper than the current fossil fuels so don't expect fossil fuel prices to go down for a long long time.

More training will be required for first responders,because this is a entirely new atmosphere to deal with.I have been exposed to the vapor in a very diluted form,and it is very dangerous and explosive above 25% concentration.Of course,anyone exposed to NH3 will be long gone before the vapor reaches that level of concentration.Household ammonia is only 5% so you can only image what 25% can do.It is a very caustic chemical,like lye,and it will seek out moisture anywhere on the body: lungs,armpits,eyes,crotch,etc.It can even outrun the wind in the hygroscopic process.

Ammonia is in common use in large freezer/refrigeration units,and the first responders in the local areas are usually well versed on the hazards,but this is not true nationwide.

Farmers also use large amounts of anhydrous ammonia on their crops,injecting it below the soil as fertilizer.

I hope this technology succeeds for the sake of the planet,it is the only home we have.

While I agree that this novel concept has promise, I realized [based on Research I once did] that storage and handling issues might be only slightly less than those of liquid Hydrogen. Liquid NH3 is used to provide Nitrogen for crop growth. I believe USX had/has a patent on it and there are issues with transport containers (or used to be).

..."Large quantities of anhydrous ammonia are typically transported in a variety of conveyances. On land, ammonia is usually transported as a pressurized liquefied gas by railway in tank cars, by highway in tanker trucks, in agricultural areas in nurse tanks, and also via pipelines traversing through populated areas."Jun 17, 2021

https://www.dhs.gov/science-and-technology/news/2021/06/17/feature-article-securing-transportation-ammonia#:~:text=Large%20quantities%20of%20anhydrous%20ammonia,pipelines%20traversing%20through%20populated%20areas.

..."Moreover, NH₃ is safe and easy to store and transport because of its low vapor pressure and high boiling point."Nov 15, 2021

..."Annual global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions reached 34.2 gigatonnes (Gt) in 2019 as a result of extensive and unrestricted use of fossil fuels to fulfill ∼80% of society’s energy needs at the current level of ∼585 exajoules (EJ)/year. (1,2)

Transportation that provides mobility to passengers and freight is responsible for approximately 25% of the overall CO2 emission. (3,4) Considering the current rate of population growth and associated increases in energy consumption, it has been projected that the corresponding global energy demand will be increased by at least 50% before 2050. (1,2,5) To meet such needs while minimizing the environmental impacts by curtailing anthropogenic CO2 emissions, large-scale deployment of low-carbon renewable energy (RE) is necessary. (6−8)

Despite a moderate increase in the overall share of RE in the current energy landscape, recent studies indeed indicated that a full transition to 100% RE is attainable within the next 3 decades or so with a cost-efficient vision of deep electrification of heat and transportation sectors around the globe. (9−11) Thus, this energy transition is no longer a matter of technical feasibility or economic viability, but political will. (12)

One of the most critical enabling factors for the RE future is a means of storing and transporting RE at a multi-EJ scale to manage the energy system by peak shaving and valley filling, to overcome the issues of intermittency of solar and wind energies, etc., and to serve regions where RE is difficult to produce due to economic and environmental constraints. (13)

The choice of the storage system is highly application dependent, based on the type (stationary or mobile), scale, time, cost, safety, etc. Storing RE in the form of chemical fuels has been considered logical for both short- and long-term storage, particularly for use in the transportation sector. (14,15)

In this regard, hydrogen (H2) is a promising energy vector for its efficient utilization in fuel cells (FCs). (16−18)

Although liquid H2 (LH2) offers advantages for easy conversion into gaseous H2, the liquefaction step consumes almost 30–40% of the energy content of H2 in addition to boil-off losses during transportation. (19,20)

The necessary storage and shipping infrastructures for long distances are yet to be developed. (18) To circumvent the inherent issues with LH2 storage and transport, several other carbon-based fuels such as methanol (CH3OH), methylcyclohexane (MCH), etc. as well as ammonia (NH3) have been recommended as more technically viable options, certainly because of their desired properties (Table 1). (21,22)

Compared to LH2, NH3 can be easily liquefied either by increasing the pressure to ∼10 bar at room temperature or by cooling down to −33 °C under 1 atm. Moreover, NH3 is safe and easy to store and transport because of its low vapor pressure and high boiling point.

The H2 content in NH3 (17.65%) is higher than those of methanol (MeOH, 12.5%) and methylcyclohexane (MCH, 6.1%) (Table 1), and its volumetric energy density (12.92–14.4 MJ/L) is comparable to that of MeOH (11.88 MJ/L) but significantly higher than those of MCH (5.66 MJ/L) and lithium-ion batteries (0.9–2.63 MJ/L) when the lower heating value (LHV) of H2 is considered.

With the mature NH3 production, storage, and transportation infrastructures, NH3 has been recognized as a sustainable H2 and energy carrier for the future for both mobile and stationary applications."...

https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acsenergylett.1c02189

..."Imperial researchers have developed a hydrogen fuel cell that uses iron instead of rare and costly platinum, enabling greater use of the technology."...

"Currently, around 60% of the cost of a single fuel cell is the platinum for the catalyst."

"Now, a European team led by Imperial College London researchers has created a catalyst using only iron, carbon, and nitrogen -- materials that are cheap and readily available -- and shown that it can be used to operate a fuel cell at high power. Their results are published today in Nature Catalysis."

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/04/220425121110.htm

https://www.nature.com/natcatal/

.."Natural gas is the primary raw material used to produce ammonia. Approximately 33 million British thermal units (mm Btu) of natural gas are needed to produce 1 ton of ammonia...

one-million British Thermal Unit to cubic feet of natural gas = 1,000.00 cu ft N.G.

33 one-million British Thermal Units (mmBTU of energy)
Equals : 33 000.00 cubic feet of natural gas (cu ft N.G. / energy)= 1 ton of ammonia...

1 cu meter = 35.3147 cu ft 33,000 cu ft = 935 cu meters

How many gallons in a ton of ammonia? 388.5 gal./ton Vapor Pressure @ 75°F................................. 125 P.S.I.

...so 1000 cubic meters of gas is ~= 1 ton of ammonia...

https://www.ers.usda.gov/webdocs/outlooks/40459/11717_wrs0702_1_.pdf?v=389

https://www.traditionaloven.com/tutorials/energy/convert-mmbtu-million-british-thermal-units-to-cubic-foot-natural-gas.html

..."He said that the current lithium battery of an electric minibus weighs about one to two tons, but 22.7 kg(about 10 gallons) of ammonia can drive a minibus to travel 110 kilometers(68.4 miles) at a speed of 60 kilometers per hour(37.3 mph).

Depending on the ammonia required, together with the decomposition furnace, batteries and other equipment, the total weight is only about 100 kilograms, which is one-tenth of the lithium battery."

https://newsrnd.com/news/2021-08-18-electric-vehicles-%7C-polyu-develops-the-world-s-first-ammonia-powered-battery-powered-vehicle--which-will-launch-an-ammonia-powered-minibus-in-october-next-year.ryzSMVcxK.html

https://www.polyu.edu.hk/publications/excelximpact/issue/202112/research-innovation/world-s-first-ammonia-powered-electric-vehicle-created-at-polyu

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1385894722048690

Farm animals produce a lot of ammonia in their waste,as well as well as a lot of methane.Some large farms use the methane for power generation,but I have not seen where they also use the ammonia as fuel.
Perhaps this is an unexploited resource.

Also,high temperature superconductors are used to transport large amounts of electricity to some areas,like islands,etc.It is more efficient than conventional power lines,even considering the cost of cooling,which require liquid helium.Why not try to combine the two technologies and use the Ammonia to help cool the helium?I know it cannot achieve the final low temp alone,but perhaps can improve efficiency of the coolers that are used.This could also be used to transport ammonia simultaneously.

I think you mean liquid nitrogen....but you could just run an ammonia pipeline to the island and install some cracker/fuel cell combinations, and generate your own electricity...or have it shipped in by barge...that way you could produce fuel for the cars and other vehicles and heat for homes as well....even the barge could be ammonia powered...

https://professionalmariner.com/new-jones-act-ammonia-carrier-delivers-for-fertilizer-giant/

https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/amogy-and-ballard-sign-contract-to-integrate-maritime-fuel-cell-engines-in-zero-emission-ammonia-to-power-platform-301698260.html