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Ignition Delay Times of Diluted Mixtures of Ammonia/Methane at Elevated Pressures

The present worldwide concern with global warming has stimulated the development of carbon-neutral energy technologies in order to mitigate the need of fossil fuels and the emission of greenhouse gases. In this sense, ammonia (NH3) is regarded as one of the most viable alternatives to produce carbon-free energy, presenting high energy density and ease of storage and handling [1]. Furthermore, due to the long-lasting use of ammonia in the fertilizer and refrigerant industries, its possible implementation as a fuel presents an unmatched economic feasibility, when compared to other carbon-free alternatives [2]. However, ammonia has proven to be more resilient to…

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Green Ammonia Consortium Comes to the Fore in Japan

On December 8, the Nikkei Sangyo Shimbun ran a story about the future of coal-fired electricity generation in Japan.  The story touched on topics ranging from the plumbing in a Chugoku Electric generating station to the Trump administration’s idiosyncratic approach to environmental diplomacy.  And it contained this sentence: “Ammonia can become a ‘savior’ of coal-fired power.” Clearly an explanation is in order.

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SIP “Energy Carriers” video: ammonia turbines, industrial furnaces, fuel cells

To demonstrate the progress of the SIP "Energy Carriers" program, the Japan Science and Technology Agency last week released a video, embedded below, that shows three of its ammonia fuel research and development projects in operation. R&D is often an abstract idea: this video shows what it looks like to generate power from ammonia. As it turns out, fuel cells aren't hugely photogenic. Nonetheless, if a picture is worth a thousand words, this will be a long article.

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Power to Ammonia: the Eemshaven case

The Institute for Sustainable Process Technology recently published a feasibility study, Power to Ammonia, looking at the possibility of producing and using ammonia in the renewable power sector. This project is based in The Netherlands and is led by a powerful industrial consortium. I wrote about the feasibility study last month, but it deserves closer attention because it examines three entirely separate business cases for integrating ammonia into a renewable energy economy, centered on three site-specific participants in the study: Nuon at Eemshaven, Stedin at Goeree-Overflakkee, and OCI Nitrogen at Geleen. Over the next few years, the group intends to build pilot projects to develop and demonstrate the necessary technologies. Next month, however, these projects will be an important part of the Power-to-Ammonia Conference, in Rotterdam on May 18-19. This article is the first in a series of three that aims to introduce each business case.

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Industrial demonstrations of ammonia fuel in Japan

Most of the ammonia energy projects I write about are in the research and development phase but, as I've said before, technology transfer from the academic lab to commercial deployment is moving swiftly - especially in Japan. Last week, Nikkei Asian Review published two articles outlining plans by major engineering and power firms to build utility-scale demonstrations using ammonia as a fuel for electricity generation. Both projects aim to reduce the carbon intensity of the Japanese electrical grid, incrementally but significantly, by displacing a portion of the fossil fuels with ammonia. The first project will generate power using an ammonia-coal mix, while the second will combine ammonia with natural gas.

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Sturman Industries’ Dual-Fuel Ammonia Engine

Eddie Sturman, noted inventor and co-founder of Sturman Industries, has been developing ammonia internal-combustion-engine (ICE) technology for several years – "at least six, maybe more." At the 2016 NH3 Fuel Conference, he provided the most in-depth look so far at the results of Sturman Industries' R&D program. Specifically, his talk featured a dual-fuel compression ignition engine powered by a combination of diesel fuel and ammonia.

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Ammonia Turbine Power Generation with Reduced NOx

A common concern with ammonia fuel is that NOx emissions will be too high to control. However, in new research from Turkey, USA, and Japan, presented at this year's NH3 Fuel Conference in September 2016, two things became clear. First, NOx emissions can be reduced to less than 10ppm by employing good engineering design and exploiting the chemical properties of ammonia, which plays a dual role as both the fuel and the emissions-cleanup agent. Second, the deployment of ammonia-fueled turbines for power generation is not only feasible, but actively being developed, with demonstration units running today and improved demonstration projects currently in development.

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Power Generation and Flame Visualization of Micro Gas Turbine Firing Ammonia or Ammonia-Methane Mixture

A demonstration test with the aim to show the potential of ammonia-fired power plant is planned using a micro gas turbine. 50kW class turbine system firing kerosene is selected as a base model. A standard combustor is replaced to a prototype combustor which enables a bi-fuel supply of kerosene and ammonia gas. Diffusion combustion is employed to the prototype combustor due to its flame stability. 44kW power generation was achieved by 100% heat from ammonia gas. Although NOx concentration in the exhaust gas of ammonia combustion exceeded 500ppm, NOx removal equipment reduced NOx concentration below 10ppm. Over 30kW power generation…

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Study on Reduced Chemical Mechanisms of Ammonia / Methane Combustion under Gas Turbine Conditions

On September 1st, academic journal Energy & Fuels published a new paper that features research coming out of the UK's Cardiff University and Ireland's University of Limerick. This study demonstrates a "reduced mechanism" for simulating the "robust numerical analyses with detailed chemistry" necessary for the "industrial implementation" of ammonia in gas turbine combustion for "future power generation." Here's the abstract: