Amogy, Southern Devall to deploy ammonia-powered barge on the Mississippi River
By on November 11, 2022
Amogy’s ammonia-to-power system will be retrofitted onto a tank barge operated by Southern Devall, marking the first maritime commercial deployment of Amogy’s technology. Southern Devall is Louisiana-based, and specializes in bulk chemical and fertiliser transport throughout the Mississippi River and Gulf Intracoastal Waterway System. Southern Devall already serves a “significant portion” of the ammonia production market in the US, and has extensive experience transporting “cryogenic anhydrous ammonia” shipments along inland waterways. The retrofit is due to be completed by the end of 2023. Following successful demonstration, the pair will pursue retrofits of additional barges & tugs in Southern Devall’s fleet.
The pair have already commenced work on the first barge retrofit. To ensure pressure in the ammonia fuel tank is kept low, an Amogy “powerpack” will also be installed to provide power for liquefaction and cooling over the duration of the journey, replacing a diesel genset. In September, Lloyd’s Register granted AiP for the safe use of Amogy’s ammonia-to-power technology system in maritime applications, paving the way for the new partnership.
Amogy has built an impressive platform that our team believes is an ideal solution for introducing cost-efficient, zero-carbon bunkering and powering operations to the inland barge industry. Adopting their solution at scale in our fleet has both environmental and economic benefits through increased delivery volume.
Southern Devall VP of Engineering Sam Lewis in Amogy’s official press release, 1 Nov 2022
In June, Amogy announced a successful demonstration of its ammonia-to-power system in a tractor. At that stage, the next demonstration targets were a shipping vessel (tick), and a Class 8 truck for heavy road transport. In July, we explored the possible use of ammonia-powered vessels on inland American waterways in an episode of Maritime Ammonia Insights (featuring NETSCo and ABB).
More from Amogy in 2022
It’s been a busy year for Amogy. In addition to the new announcement with Southern Devall and the ammonia-powered tractor demonstration:
- in late September, Amogy announced they were launching operations in Norway, with a focus on the maritime fuel market.
- earlier this September, Amogy and Trafigura announced they will explore the feasibility of large-scale ammonia cracking, with an eye on the growing export market into Europe.
- and in news just announced, Yara Clean Ammonia will consider Amogy’s ammonia-to-power technology in future shipping projects.