Two updates from AFC Energy:
1. The “Power Tower”, a 10kW, ammonia-fueled, off-grid power was launched last month, with Keltbray and Acciona to deploy modular units on construction sites mid-year.
2. The launch of Extreme-H off road racing, with green methanol and ammonia likely to act as hydrogen carriers for the hydrogen-fueled racing championship.
In order to demonstrated ammonia-fueled solutions in a variety of applications, Stuttgart-based organisation Ammonigy has developed two patented technologies: a modular cracking unit that provides hydrogen to act as an “igniter” for the ammonia fuel, and an exhaust treatment system to minimise NOx emissions from the engine. But, while the principles behind Ammonigy’s technology solutions are very familiar to our readers, using them to convert a speedboat to run on ammonia fuel is certainly new! This week we explore results from testing on the GREEN AMY: the world’s first ammonia-powered speedboat.
Four "catalytic" projects will provide momentum for the new roadmap, driving the rollout of at least 15 GW of electrolysis capacity between them by 2040. Ammonia is a feature of all these kick-off projects, and the government sees ammonia's primary role in the transition as decarbonising energy-intensive industries in South Africa.
A $10 million, five-year NASA University Leadership Initiative grant will allow an academic-industry team to develop new ammonia-fed jet engines. Researchers at the University of Central Florida will lead a team including collaborators from Georgia Tech, Purdue University, GE and Boeing. The proposed design uses liquid ammonia fuel, which is cracked to release hydrogen, which will be burned by the engine. The team is using the Boeing 737-8 aircraft as a baseline for the design.
H2 Green will develop a renewable energy hub at the Port of Shoreham in West Sussex. The initial focus will be the electrification and use of hydrogen fuel in the Port's vehicle fleet (heavy forklifts and trucks), before expanding to accommodate the ~800 heavy goods vehicles that enter the port daily. The second phase will be an ammonia import facility to meet growing demands for hydrogen fuel in the surrounds. In Australia, the Geelong Hydrogen Hub will be developed by CAC-H2, a developer who is also planning two carbon-negative, waste-to-ammonia projects in Australia. The Geelong Hub includes multiple, new-build infrastructure elements including import/export & cracking facilities. Similar to Shoreham, import of green ammonia to meet growing demand for hydrogen fuel is the second phase of the project.
bp announced it is planning a new, world-scale green hydrogen production facility near Hartlepool in northeast England. HyGreen Teesside will be developed in phases, with an initial phase of some 60MWe of installed hydrogen production capacity and a full capacity of up to 500 MWe. Taken together with the blue H2Teesside project, bp would operate 1.5 GW of hydrogen production capacity in northeast England by 2030.
Topsøe and newcomer Green Fuel will join forces to identify efficient and scalable technologies to produce green ammonia in Iceland. A coalition of organisations is also working on a new green energy park in the town of Reyðarfjörður on Iceland's east coast, with e-fuels production and use of the electrolysis by-product oxygen a major part of the plan.
Reaction Engines, IP Group, and the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) launched a new joint venture this week at COP26 in Glasgow. The group will design and commercialise lightweight, modular ammonia cracking reactors to enable the use of ammonia in hard-to-decarbonise sectors, particularly aviation, shipping and off-grid power generation applications. The design will feature Reaction Engines’ heat exchanger technology developed for its SABRE™ air-breathing rocket engine. In this setup, exhaust heat is utilised to partially crack ammonia back into a fuel blend that "mimics" jet fuel. STFC will lead development of the cracking catalyst, with funding to be provided by IP Group.
