New carbon‑free fuels for ships in global shipping are essential to achieving the IMO goals for GHG emission reduction. Possible alternative fuels are limited, however ammonia as fuel is an alternative. Green and blue ammonia are promising fuels for zero-emission ocean transport. At the same time, ammonia is a toxic gas that raises new challenges concerning storage and safe operation in the value chain and onboard the vessel. It is technologically feasible, and there is comprehensive industry experience in handling and transporting ammonia at sea both as cargo and as refrigerant, covered in existing regulations. In addition, a safety handbook and class rules are available for effective design and approval.
Engine manufactures have also started developing and testing of combustion engines with ammonia. GSP wishes to draw on short-sea experience with alternative fuels to initiate a pilot meant for deep-sea – with all key players in the value chain involved. Equinor is the pilot owner and will be the overseeing partner and lead the work forward. Additional partners are listed on the right-hand side.
Note: Ammonia is manufactured through a chemical process with hydrogen. The ammonia is defined as “green” if the hydrogen is produced with renewable energy. Alternatively, ammonia can be produced from natural gas with subsequent capture and storage of CO₂, known as “blue ammonia”.
Goal of pilot project
The main goals of the pilot is to:
- Investigate the technical and economical applicability of implementing ammonia-eligible engines, fuel- and bunkering systems on a large generic tank ship design.
- Understand operational safety aspects and competence requirements.
- De-risking key elements of the design and identifying barriers.
Ultimate project goal
- The ultimate goal of the pilot is an Equinor-charted tanker powered by ammonia.
Status
The pilot started in January 2022.
An Aframax tanker was chosen as the basis for the study. During the pilot, the work focused on a total of six work packages. These included studies of the current status of the technology, safety, costs and regulations, LCA and fuel costs, onboard implementation, bunkering risks, and more.
In autumn 2022, a well‑to‑wake CO₂ analysis of blue and green ammonia was carried out. Throughout the pilot, it was equally important to examine how much green energy can realistically be used for producing green ammonia, as well as the achievable carbon‑capture rate for blue hydrogen.
Regarding onboard implementation, the pilot believes that the first vessels could enter operation around 2026.
Wärtsilä was a partner and based its work on its existing technology for LPG. For bunkering, the idea was to compare ammonia with LNG and to study how cargo operations involving ammonia are currently handled.
The pilot owner, Equinor, wishes to highlight the partners for their good cooperation and valuable input.
The pilot was completed in spring 2023. Its results were presented in a dedicated mini‑seminar on 29 March. The slides used by Tomas Ryberg, Equinor, are available here: Ammonia Powered tanker GSP miniseminar. The report presenting the results from the pilot is available here: