Scalable ammonia/hydrogen marine internal combustion engine architecture

The green shipping revolution is recognised to be a necessary and seismic change to the marine industry. This drive to make fundamental changes to the traditional methods of marine power has rightly been focussed on reduction in emissions and increases in efficiency. However, two centuries of fossil fuel-based marine power has made huge steps in safety, reliability and infrastructure and these must be translated into the world of green power.

The project will conduct a feasibility study to provide the grounding for a fast-paced physical demonstration of partial cracking of ammonia into an (1.0MW) Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) in 2024, with a seagoing prototype by 2025\. This system will be compact enough for integration in a ship, and GHG emissions will be optimised to near zero. Whilst this project seeks to make the necessary technological leap to zero emissions, it will also balance this with the safety, robustness and reliability deserved by mariners, and the realities of mass production, supply chains and limited natural resources.

Ammonia is a natural zero-carbon energy source for displacing current fossil fuels: it naturally eliminates carbon and sulphur emissions at point of use and overcomes the serious physical density limitations of hydrogen. With nearly 20MT of ammonia routinely handled in ports around the world annually, its familiarity as a bulk commodity allows for adaptation and rapid scale-up and deployment of bunkering infrastructure that is safe to operate and maintain.

However, ammonia is not straightforward to use as a fuel: its long ignition time and slow flame speed make it challenging to burn in ICEs. Early solutions involving fossil-fuel pilot fuels show promise, but still emit CO2, and therefore are not going far enough toward net zero. A truly zero-carbon solution is to partially crack the ammonia into a blend of ammonia and hydrogen, but currently available cracking solutions are too cumbersome for ships, and the hydrogen created is not pure enough for fuel cells. Integration with an ICE system can create further synergies with the cracking system, giving more system efficiency.

The project brings together the proven world-class power systems capabilities of Cummins, the cutting-edge cracking reactor research, design and demonstration abilities of Sunborne Systems with the platform provided by the Ocean Infinity ARMADA fleet which are designed and built with capacity for ammonia power from day one. The first vessel is already in the water and will begin sea trials in late 2022\.