In the race to get an alternative to the electric car, engines with ammonia are already being tested. It doesn’t look good

Gasoline engines. Diesel engines. Gas engines (liquefied, compressed and liquefied petroleum). Biofuel engines. Hydrogen engines. Engines with ethanol. Methanol engines. Engines with synthetic fuels. engines with ammonia. Engines. In short, engines with “things”. With many, and unexpected, “things”.

Alternatives to the use of electrical energy are not lacking and tests that are sold as “the great salvation of combustion engines” do not stop developing. The last fuel to appear: ammonia. A fuel that is already used in ships but whose implementation in land mobility seems really complicated.

There are those who are interested

Yes, there are those who are doing tests on trucks and ensure that it works. The company Amogy has presented the first truck modified to be used with ammonia. He ensures that by filling his ammonia tanks, his truck has a capacity to store electrical energy worth 900 kWh. And it develops 300 kW (402 hp) of power. Although there are no official data, it is the same electrical capacity of a Tesla Semi.

We are talking about electrical energy because, in this truck, the ammonia has to go through two phases. First of all, this fuel has to be converted to hydrogen inside the truck itself, which is later used with fuel cell technology to obtain electricity and its engines use this to drive the vehicle.

A complicated process but one that Amogy advertises as a alternative to heavy transport powered by diesel. What Amogy does not specify is the efficiency of the system or the volume of emissions produced during the process, a key issue when presenting ammonia as a serious and real alternative to electricity.

why ammonia

Confidence in ammonia is supported by its defenders, due to its high energy value and the facilities for transportation. It is possible to move it in a liquid state and, obviously, the costs of this transfer they are much smaller than those of hydrogen, one of the main advantages of this fuel.

It is the main reason why ammonia is being sold as an interesting alternative. The problem is that during the ammonia production process, a considerable amount of CO2. As with hydrogen, companies like Yara in Australia are doing research to get green ammonia, no carbon emissions.

The point is that ammonia also generates nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions. Particles that are very harmful to human health and against which the European Union is actively fighting. But, in addition, when using ammonia as fuel, it also can expel nitrous oxide (N2O)a gas whose greenhouse effect is 283 times more harmful than CO2.

And, in addition, it must be taken into account that ammonia is highly corrosive to the skin, eyes and lungs, even in low concentrations in the air, so that a leak or an accident during transport can really be dangerous.

It is pushed for use on boats

As hydrogen has been proposed for heavy land transport, with large hydrogen supply poles to reduce the costs and risks of transporting this gas, ammonia has also been proposed as an interesting alternative in maritime transport.

It is not the first time that we have heard of a ship powered by ammonia. In these cases, they consider improving the use of this fuel to guarantee that it is not expelled nitrogen oxides (this only happens in a specific window of pressure and temperature) and the ships are transports that equip systems to reduce your footprint in nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions.

Its use in land transport seems much more complicated. As we said, it is a very dangerous gas for humans and it would be necessary to study how to make safe handling feasible when filling vehicle tanks. An engine to directly burn this gas has even been thought of, but the complexity of engine development is high and very expensive.

Without forgetting that I would present the same problems which already features the use of synthetic fuels. The EU obligation to make them neutral in emissions seriously jeopardizes their development and the fuel would have to convince the brands that they have to produce and develop these propellants. manufacturers that are already going electric.

Photo | Amogy