Singapore tests ammonia as bunker fuel in landmark moment for shipping
Fortescue has successfully used ammonia as bunker fuel to power one of its vessels in a major milestone for the shipping industry’s green dreams.
PHOTO: Fortescue vessel, the Fortescue Green Pioneer, trials ammonia as bunker fuel in the Singapore Port. Fortescue
Australian mining company Fortescue successfully bunkered one of its vessels, Fortescue Green Pioneer, with ammonia in the Port of Singapore as part of a seven-day trial.
The vessel was bunkered with 3 mt of liquid ammonia, which was supplied by Vopak using its existing infrastructure on Jurong Island. There are four engines on the Fortescue Green Pioneer, two of which are retrofitted dual-fuel engines that can run on both ammonia and conventional fuels.
Diesel was used as a pilot fuel, though the consortium has not revealed the ammonia-to-diesel ratio.
The retrofitted engines are serving “as proxy for the commercialisation of ammonia-fuelled marine engines under development globally,” according to the MPA. Remaining two are capable of running on conventional fuels.
The trial included “rigorous testing of the Fortescue Green Pioneer’s ammonia storage systems, associated piping, gas fuel delivery system, retrofitted engines, and seaworthiness,” Singapore Maritime and Port Authority (MPA) said in a joint statement. The trial also included safety and risk assessment related to ammonia bunkering, it added.
The vessel will now be bunkered with another 3 mt of liquid ammonia for further tests over the next few weeks.
Unlocking ammonia’s zero-emission potential
Green ammonia has virtually zero well-to-tank emissions when it is produced from green hydrogen and nitrogen with electricity sourced from renewable energy as an input.
It does not, however, have zero tank-to-wake emissions. In part, this is because burning ammonia as a fuel emits nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions.
NOx has a shorter atmospheric lifetime compared to carbon dioxide (CO2), but it is a more potent GHG with significant environmental impacts. Nitrous oxide, a major component of NOx emissions, has a global warming potential (GWP) approximately 264 times greater than CO2 over a 20-year period, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's (IPCC) Fifth Assessment Report. NOx released into the atmosphere contributes to the formation of smog and acid rain and affects the tropospheric ozone layer.
The NOx emissions in this trial were within local air quality standards, the Singapore MPA said.
Another reason is that ammonia as a fuel needs pilot fuel for ignition since ammonia's high auto-ignition temperature makes it difficult to burn readily or sustain combustion. Two-stroke ammonia ICEs need around 5-20% pilot fuel, while four-stroke engines may require as much as 30%.
The consortium’s work to "reduce the pilot fuel for combustion ignition and nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions post-combustion will continue as more ammonia-fuelled marine engines and ammonia sources with lower greenhouse gas emissions become available,” MPA said.
Addressing bunkering constraints
One of the key constraints impeding the use of ammonia as bunker fuel is the limited bunkering infrastructure at ports around the world.
The use of Vopak's existing terminal to bunker ammonia “reaffirms the potential for using existing and similar ammonia infrastructure cost-effectively by terminals around the world," the MPA said. This can help commercialise and scale-up the use of ammonia as a bunker fuel, it added.
Ports around the world need to move forward with “setting fair, safe and stringent fuel standards for green ammonia and not shy away from their responsibilities simply because of a lack of character,” Fortescue’s chairman, Andrew Forrest AO said.
“We must push to see global emitters paying fair carbon prices for heavy fuels used in traditional shipping. These prices must provide clear investment signals to drive green investment,” he asserted.
By Konica Bhatt
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