Periodic Reporting for period 1 - Ammonia2-4 (Demonstrating a 2-stroke and 4-stroke large scale ammonia marine engine)
Berichtszeitraum: 2022-05-01 bis 2023-10-31
Maritime transport is responsible for almost 90% of the EU’s external freight trade and one third of intra-EU exchanges in terms of ton-kilometres. In this context deep sea shipping has always been an important contributor. The projected growth of the global fleet in the years to come will constitute a great opportunity and at the same time a big challenge for deep sea shipping. Despite the clear direct economic benefits, risks for indirect effects on environment might be at place. According to 2020 IMO data, by 2050 global GHG emissions from shipping may increase by up to 50% as compared to 2018, in case nothing changes. In addition, the European Union has even more ambitious goal of cutting all transport emissions by 90% by 2050, as stipulated
in the Green Deal.
The average age of a vessel today is 21 years according to the EU Waterborne Transport Technology Platform. It becomes then clear that a large part of the global shipping fleet will be replaced by newbuilds before 2030. This is the chance the industry needs to take for “deep decarbonization” solutions.
There is growing agreement among researchers, industry stakeholders and policymakers that internal combustion engines (ICE) running on ammonia can be an important enabler in reaching the 2050 goals. The latest calculations published as part of DNV’s Maritime Forecast to 2050 suggest that ammonia ICEs could constitute as much as 30-80% of the total energy use by shipping in 2050. However, in order to make a real-world impact, these solutions need to be developed now and enter the market in the next 7-10 years. This is precisely what the Ammonia2-4 project is aiming at.
The overall aim of the Ammonia2-4 project is to demonstrate at full scale two types of dual fuel marine engines running on ammonia as main fuel: a) a 4-stroke newbuild engine, demonstrated in lab conditions closely mimicking real-life operations in ambient conditions; b) a 2-stroke medium-pressure ammonia fuel injection platform, for retrofitting on existing 2-stroke marine engines; this solution will be demonstrated in two stages: a lab demonstration followed by retrofitting onto a real vessel of the alpha customer MSC.
Both engine innovations are expected to result in at least 80% less GHG emissions (including nitrous oxide emissions), NOx emissions below IMO Tier III regulations and a negligible ammonia slip below 10ppm (Euro 6 compliant).
The expected end result is the commercial exploitation within the next ten years of the demonstrated solutions towards more than 90% of the maritime intercontinental transport in terms of gross tonnage, including retrofits and newbuilds, together with an annual reduction of CO2 emitted by deep sea vessels calling at EU ports by 2.3 million tons and reduce the emissions of harmful pollutants such as SOx by 15 tons annually.
The partners believe it is crucial to develop both engine types in parallel (as opposed to consecutive development), since both engine types serve different segments of the market.
The driving force behind the project is a Pan-European consortium consisting of the leading marine equipment manufacturer Wärtsilä, the largest classification society worldwide, DNV, one of the world’s top three container shipowners, MSC, the award-winning naval architecture SME C-Job, and the largest research institute in Italy, CNR. The consortium will work towards closing the current technological, commercial and regulatory gap between insights on the feasibility of burning ammonia in small engines and the actual proof that a large oceangoing vessel can be powered by ammonia as the main fuel in a safe, operationally efficient and economical way.
in the Green Deal.
The average age of a vessel today is 21 years according to the EU Waterborne Transport Technology Platform. It becomes then clear that a large part of the global shipping fleet will be replaced by newbuilds before 2030. This is the chance the industry needs to take for “deep decarbonization” solutions.
There is growing agreement among researchers, industry stakeholders and policymakers that internal combustion engines (ICE) running on ammonia can be an important enabler in reaching the 2050 goals. The latest calculations published as part of DNV’s Maritime Forecast to 2050 suggest that ammonia ICEs could constitute as much as 30-80% of the total energy use by shipping in 2050. However, in order to make a real-world impact, these solutions need to be developed now and enter the market in the next 7-10 years. This is precisely what the Ammonia2-4 project is aiming at.
The overall aim of the Ammonia2-4 project is to demonstrate at full scale two types of dual fuel marine engines running on ammonia as main fuel: a) a 4-stroke newbuild engine, demonstrated in lab conditions closely mimicking real-life operations in ambient conditions; b) a 2-stroke medium-pressure ammonia fuel injection platform, for retrofitting on existing 2-stroke marine engines; this solution will be demonstrated in two stages: a lab demonstration followed by retrofitting onto a real vessel of the alpha customer MSC.
Both engine innovations are expected to result in at least 80% less GHG emissions (including nitrous oxide emissions), NOx emissions below IMO Tier III regulations and a negligible ammonia slip below 10ppm (Euro 6 compliant).
The expected end result is the commercial exploitation within the next ten years of the demonstrated solutions towards more than 90% of the maritime intercontinental transport in terms of gross tonnage, including retrofits and newbuilds, together with an annual reduction of CO2 emitted by deep sea vessels calling at EU ports by 2.3 million tons and reduce the emissions of harmful pollutants such as SOx by 15 tons annually.
The partners believe it is crucial to develop both engine types in parallel (as opposed to consecutive development), since both engine types serve different segments of the market.
The driving force behind the project is a Pan-European consortium consisting of the leading marine equipment manufacturer Wärtsilä, the largest classification society worldwide, DNV, one of the world’s top three container shipowners, MSC, the award-winning naval architecture SME C-Job, and the largest research institute in Italy, CNR. The consortium will work towards closing the current technological, commercial and regulatory gap between insights on the feasibility of burning ammonia in small engines and the actual proof that a large oceangoing vessel can be powered by ammonia as the main fuel in a safe, operationally efficient and economical way.
Work Package 1 – Specification (M01-M15):
• Completion first revision of early design report CHEK Kamsarmax bulker
• Completion first revision of early design report MSC demo vessel
• Baselining of reference vessels
• Increased knowledge regarding ammonia combustion
• Specification of both 2- and 4-stroke engine and control system
Work Package 2 – Engine control software and hardware (M04-M46):
• Definition of control software architecture
• Definition and implementation of laboratory safety best practices
• Conceptual development of fuel injection systems
Work Package 3 – Fuel supply system (M04-M20, requested extension to M28):
• Feasibility study of Ammonia plant in WAR IT Trieste Product Validation Laboratory
Work Package 4 – Design and integration of all subsystems (M14-M36):
• Completion of concept redesign of MSC demo vessel
• Development of basic/intermediate design of MSC demo vessel (Naval Basic Design; Mechanical Basic Design; Structural Basic Design)
Work Package 6 – Pathways towards deployment, including exploitation (M01-M48):
• Completion of Framework for assessing the risks and health & safety aspects of ammonia (3 versions)
• Completion of Foresight report of future availability of green/blue ammonia in 2030, 2040 and 2050
Work Package 7 – Dissemination and communication (M01-M48):
• Communication Strategy in place
• Exploitation and Dissemination Pan in place and revised after 12 months
• Ammonia2-4 website online
• Social Media channels (LinkedIn and Twitter) activated
• Ammonia2-4 project added on the ZEWT website
• Standard presentation package for dissemination events created and distributed to partners
• Ammonia2-4 project and related public deliverables presented at 5 International conferences
• 2 Public Deliverables published for open access on Zenodo
Work Package 8 – Project management and coordination (M01-M48):
• Kick-off meeting held in June 2022
• MS Teams collaboration tool in place
• Consortium Agreement signed
• Pre-Financing distributed
• Periodic Steering Committees in place
• 2 General Assemblies held and next one planned
• Project Management Handbook delivered and distributed to Partners
• Data Management Plan in place
• Completion first revision of early design report CHEK Kamsarmax bulker
• Completion first revision of early design report MSC demo vessel
• Baselining of reference vessels
• Increased knowledge regarding ammonia combustion
• Specification of both 2- and 4-stroke engine and control system
Work Package 2 – Engine control software and hardware (M04-M46):
• Definition of control software architecture
• Definition and implementation of laboratory safety best practices
• Conceptual development of fuel injection systems
Work Package 3 – Fuel supply system (M04-M20, requested extension to M28):
• Feasibility study of Ammonia plant in WAR IT Trieste Product Validation Laboratory
Work Package 4 – Design and integration of all subsystems (M14-M36):
• Completion of concept redesign of MSC demo vessel
• Development of basic/intermediate design of MSC demo vessel (Naval Basic Design; Mechanical Basic Design; Structural Basic Design)
Work Package 6 – Pathways towards deployment, including exploitation (M01-M48):
• Completion of Framework for assessing the risks and health & safety aspects of ammonia (3 versions)
• Completion of Foresight report of future availability of green/blue ammonia in 2030, 2040 and 2050
Work Package 7 – Dissemination and communication (M01-M48):
• Communication Strategy in place
• Exploitation and Dissemination Pan in place and revised after 12 months
• Ammonia2-4 website online
• Social Media channels (LinkedIn and Twitter) activated
• Ammonia2-4 project added on the ZEWT website
• Standard presentation package for dissemination events created and distributed to partners
• Ammonia2-4 project and related public deliverables presented at 5 International conferences
• 2 Public Deliverables published for open access on Zenodo
Work Package 8 – Project management and coordination (M01-M48):
• Kick-off meeting held in June 2022
• MS Teams collaboration tool in place
• Consortium Agreement signed
• Pre-Financing distributed
• Periodic Steering Committees in place
• 2 General Assemblies held and next one planned
• Project Management Handbook delivered and distributed to Partners
• Data Management Plan in place
The Ammonia2-4 project will develop and demonstrate the feasibility of large-scale ammonia marine engines covering both, the two-stroke and the four-stroke market segment.
For the two-stroke market segment, the proposed innovation is a first-of-a-kind medium-pressure ammonia fuel injection platform that can be retrofitted into practically any two-stroke engine in the market today, irrespectively of the original equipment manufacturer.
For the four-stroke market segment, the proposed innovation is a newbuilt ammonia engine to be installed in newbuilt vessels or retrofitted into existing vessels (either as main engine or auxiliary engine).
Both innovations will reduce the total tank-to-wake GHG emissions (including nitrous oxide emissions) as compared to baseline vessels run on marine gas oil (MGO) by at least 80%, keep NOx emissions below IMO Tier III requirements and be characterised by a negligible ammonia slip below 10ppm (Euro 6 compliant). Patent search conducted by the partners at proposal writing stage confirmed that no “freedom to operate” issues are expected.
A number of non-technical aspects crucial for a successful uptake of ammonia as marine fuel will be investigated:
o health & safety
o ammonia supply infrastructure
o crew training & acceptance
o novel standardisation pathways for regulating emissions from ammonia marine engines.
For the two-stroke market segment, the proposed innovation is a first-of-a-kind medium-pressure ammonia fuel injection platform that can be retrofitted into practically any two-stroke engine in the market today, irrespectively of the original equipment manufacturer.
For the four-stroke market segment, the proposed innovation is a newbuilt ammonia engine to be installed in newbuilt vessels or retrofitted into existing vessels (either as main engine or auxiliary engine).
Both innovations will reduce the total tank-to-wake GHG emissions (including nitrous oxide emissions) as compared to baseline vessels run on marine gas oil (MGO) by at least 80%, keep NOx emissions below IMO Tier III requirements and be characterised by a negligible ammonia slip below 10ppm (Euro 6 compliant). Patent search conducted by the partners at proposal writing stage confirmed that no “freedom to operate” issues are expected.
A number of non-technical aspects crucial for a successful uptake of ammonia as marine fuel will be investigated:
o health & safety
o ammonia supply infrastructure
o crew training & acceptance
o novel standardisation pathways for regulating emissions from ammonia marine engines.