Ships that run on ammonia could replace the diesel engines powering the world's largest cargo vessels. Battery power works for cars and vans, but long-haul ships need a fuel that can match diesel's range and payload without requiring a complete fleet replacement. Ammonia burns without producing carbon dioxide, yet engineers do not yet know how to burn it cleanly and efficiently inside a marine engine—the fuel can produce toxic nitrogen oxides, and its combustion chemistry at scale remains poorly understood. This programme tackles those unknowns by designing disruptive ammonia engine concepts that aim for high thermal efficiency while keeping NOx emissions ultra low. If the research succeeds, the global shipping fleet—bulk carriers, tankers, and container ships that together account for a major share of transport greenhouse gases—could be retrofitted or built new with a fuel that is already produced at industrial scale. The work also addresses the social and economic barriers that would block adoption, so that the resulting technologies and policies are ready for real-world deployment from the start.
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Battery electrified power is predicted to become the dominant mode of propulsion in future light duty transport. For sustainable heavy duty applications challenges remain around practical range, payload and total cost. Currently there is no economically viable single solution. For commercial marine vessels the problem is compounded by long service lives, with bulk carriers, tankers and container ships the main contributors to greenhouse gases. Ammonia (NH3) has excellent potential to play a significant role as a sustainable future fuel in both retrofitted and advanced engines. However, significant uncertainties remain around safe and effective end use, with these unknowns spanning across fundamental understanding, effective application and acceptance. This multi-disciplinary programme seeks to overcome the key related technical, economic and social unknowns through flexible, multidisciplinary research set around disruptive NH3 engine concepts capable of high thermal efficiency and ultra low NOx. The goal is to accelerate understanding, technologies and ultimately policies which are appropriately scaled and "right first time".
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