Can this magic fuel clean up the shipping industry?

Summary

氨作为航运业的清洁能源备受瞩目，理论上可实现零碳排放。尽管氨燃料发动机尚未商业化，但有望在2050年占据35%至60%的市场份额。然而，氨燃料发动机面临诸多挑战，包括难以点燃、存储和安全问题，以及如何减少一氧化二氮和氮氧化物的排放。尽管如此，MAN公司计划在2024年推出商业设计，并在2026年首次航行。氨燃料的可持续生产和成本效益也是关键因素，需要大量投资和市场信心。

Takeaways

• 🚢 氨作为船用燃料具有巨大潜力，因为它在理论上可以零碳排放推动船只。
• 🌿 如果使用可再生能源生产，氨的排放几乎为零，这使得它成为清洁能源的候选者。
• 📈 航运业目前占全球排放量的3%，但随着全球货物运输的增加，这一比例可能会增长到10%。
• 🔍 氨由于不含碳原子，因此在燃烧时不会产生碳排放，这使其成为一种清洁的燃料选择。
• 💰 与其他碳中性燃料如甲醇相比，氨的成本更低，因为它不需要昂贵的碳捕获过程。
• 📊 预计到2050年，氨将在船用燃料市场中占据35%到60%的份额。
• 🚧 目前，大型集装箱船的氨发动机尚未进入商业生产阶段，这表明技术仍在开发中。
• 🔧 氨发动机的设计面临挑战，例如需要更大的燃料喷射器和额外的组件来适应氨的特性。
• 🔥 氨的自燃点较高，且燃烧速度慢于化石燃料，这要求使用少量的辅助燃料来帮助点燃。
• 💧 氨燃烧产生的副产品包括水和氮气，但同时也可能产生对环境有害的氮氧化物。
• 🛠️ MAN公司正在测试其氨发动机，并已测量出比传统重油发动机低85%至90%的排放。
• 🌐 氨发动机的商业化需要解决多个问题，包括船舶的重新设计、更大的储罐需求以及安全措施。
• 💡 绿色氨的生产需要大量的可再生能源，目前全球还没有大规模生产，且需要巨额投资。
• 🌍 绿色氨的全球需求预计将大幅增长，但目前全球电解器的产能远远不能满足这一需求。

Q & A

氨作为船用燃料的主要优势是什么？

氨作为船用燃料的主要优势在于它在燃烧过程中不产生碳排放，理论上可以实现零排放。如果使用可再生能源生产氨，其排放几乎为零，这为航运业提供了一种清洁能源的选择。

为什么氨发动机对于航运业来说是一个巨大的机遇？

氨发动机为航运业提供了一种减少碳排放的可能，这对于应对全球气候变化至关重要。航运业目前占全球排放的3%，并且有增长到10%的趋势，因此迫切需要清洁能源来减少其环境影响。

氨与甲醇相比，在成本上有何优势？

氨的成本优势在于它不需要像甲醇那样进行碳捕获。甲醇要实现碳中和，必须捕获其燃烧时排放的碳，这增加了成本。而氨在生产和燃烧过程中自然就没有碳排放，因此成本更低。

氨发动机在设计上面临哪些挑战？

氨发动机在设计上面临的挑战包括需要更大的燃料喷射器来补偿氨较低的热值，以及氨分子内化学键较强，导致其自燃温度高且燃烧速度慢，这增加了点燃和稳定燃烧的难度。

氨发动机在实际应用中会产生哪些副产品？

氨发动机燃烧产生的副产品主要是水和氮气，但同时也可能产生氮氧化物和一氧化二氮。一氧化二氮是一种强效温室气体，而氮氧化物则具有毒性。

MAN公司在氨发动机的研发上有哪些进展？

MAN公司正在研发的氨发动机已经具备6700马力，并且正在进行测试以测量各种排放。他们已经能够将排放降低到重油发动机的85%到90%，但仍在努力解决氮氧化物和一氧化二氮的排放问题。

氨发动机在不同负载下的表现如何？

氨发动机在全功率运行时，排放控制表现良好。但在低负载下，由于发动机温度降低，催化还原反应器的效率可能会下降，这可能导致氮氧化物排放增加。

为什么氨作为绿色燃料的可持续生产是一个挑战？

绿色氨的生产需要大量的可再生能源，目前全球的电解器产能远远不能满足需求。此外，生产绿色氨需要在阳光充足的地方进行，而这些地方的可再生能源产能有限，可能会与当地电网的脱碳需求竞争。

氨燃料船舶与传统船舶相比，在设计上需要做哪些改变？

由于氨的能量密度较低，船舶需要更大的储罐来储存相同能量的氨，这可能会占用更多的空间，减少集装箱的装载能力。此外，还需要增加额外的安全措施，因为氨是极其有毒的。

氨燃料船舶的经济效益如何？

虽然使用氨作为燃料的成本预计是化石燃料的3到3.5倍，但与其他可再生船用燃料如甲醇相比，氨仍然更便宜。然而，绿色氨的生产成本高度依赖于可再生能源的产生地，这可能会影响其价格。

氨燃料船舶的未来发展需要哪些条件？

氨燃料船舶的未来发展需要包括技术成熟、规模生产绿色氨的能力、船舶设计的改进、安全措施的加强以及市场条件的成熟等多方面的条件。MAN公司计划在2024年提供首个商业设计，并预计在2026年首次航行。

Outlines

00:00

🚢 氨动力船舶引擎的革命性潜力

本段介绍了氨作为船舶燃料的革命性潜力，强调了氨引擎在不排放碳的情况下推动船舶的能力，理论上可以实现零排放。氨的主要成分是氮和氢，不含碳，因此燃烧时不会产生碳排放。此外，氨的成本优势在于其生产过程中不需要碳捕捉技术，相比甲醇等其他碳中和燃料更为经济。预计到2050年，氨将在船用燃料市场中占据35%至60%的份额。然而，氨引擎的研发和商业化生产仍面临挑战，包括引擎设计、存储和安全问题。MAN公司的氨引擎研发进展，以及氨燃料注入器和点火难度等技术细节也在本段中进行了讨论。

05:01

🔍 氨引擎的环境效益与技术挑战

第二段深入探讨了氨引擎的环境效益及其面临的技术挑战。MAN公司的测试显示，氨引擎的排放比传统重油引擎低85%至90%，但仍需解决一氧化二氮和氮氧化物的排放问题。通过调整燃烧压力、时机和温度，可以减少一氧化二氮的生成。而氮氧化物的排放则需要通过催化还原反应器来处理。然而，在非全功率运行时，引擎温度降低，可能导致氮氧化物排放增加，同时反应器效率也会下降。此外，氨燃料的存储和船舶设计也需要进行相应的调整，以适应氨的低能量密度和高毒性特性。

10:04

🌐 绿色氨的生产与航运业的可持续未来

第三段讨论了绿色氨的生产问题及其对航运业可持续发展的影响。目前，绿色氨的生产尚未规模化，大多数氨是通过化石燃料生产的'灰色氨'。为了实现绿色氨的可持续生产，需要大量的可再生能源，这在当前许多国家的可再生能源产能有限的情况下，面临着技术和经济上的挑战。此外，全球对氨的需求预计将大幅增长，需要巨额投资和技术创新来满足这一需求。尽管氨作为航运燃料在成本上可能高于化石燃料，但与甲醇等其他可再生燃料相比，氨仍然具有成本优势。最后，视频呼吁公众对氨引擎技术保持关注，并期待其在未来能够大幅降低航运业的碳排放。

Keywords

💡氨

氨是一种由一个氮原子和三个氢原子组成的化合物，不含碳，因此在燃烧过程中不会产生碳排放。在视频中，氨被视为一种潜在的清洁能源，用于航运业的发动机，以减少温室气体排放。

💡氨发动机

氨发动机是一种利用氨作为燃料的内燃机，与传统的柴油发动机相比，它在理论上可以不排放任何碳。视频中提到，氨发动机的研发正在进行中，但尚未实现商业化生产。

💡航运业

航运业是指使用船舶进行货物运输的行业。视频中提到，航运业目前占全球排放的3%，但随着全球贸易的增长，这一比例可能会增长到10%。因此，寻求清洁能源解决方案对于该行业至关重要。

💡可再生能源

可再生能源是指风能、太阳能等可以不断更新的能源。视频中提到，如果氨是通过可再生能源生产的，那么其排放几乎为零，这强调了可再生能源在生产绿色氨中的重要性。

💡氮氧化物

氮氧化物是氨燃烧时可能产生的副产品，包括氮氧化物和一氧化二氮。视频中指出，一氧化二氮是一种强效温室气体，其加热地球的能力是二氧化碳的273倍，而氮氧化物是有毒的。

💡催化还原反应器

催化还原反应器是一种用于减少有害排放的设备，它通过化学反应将氮氧化物转化为氮气和水蒸气。视频中提到，氨发动机使用催化还原反应器来处理排放的氮氧化物。

💡能量密度

能量密度是指单位体积或单位质量的燃料所能提供的能量。视频中提到，氨的能量密度低于常规的船用柴油，这意味着为了获得相同的能量，需要更大的存储空间来装载氨。

💡绿色氨

绿色氨是通过使用可再生能源进行电解水和氮气分离来生产的氨，这一过程不会产生碳排放。视频中强调了绿色氨的生产对于实现航运业的脱碳至关重要。

💡哈伯-博世过程

哈伯-博世过程是一种工业上用于合成氨的化学过程，它通过将氮气和氢气在高温和铁催化剂的作用下反应生成氨。视频中提到，这一过程需要大量的能源，因此使用可再生能源进行这一过程对于生产绿色氨至关重要。

💡电解

电解是一种使用电流将水分解成氢气和氧气的化学过程。在生产绿色氨的过程中，电解是关键步骤之一，因为它提供了所需的氢气。视频中提到，为了满足航运业对氨的需求，需要大规模的电解设施。

💡市场条件

市场条件指的是影响商品和服务供需和价格的各种因素。视频中提到，为了鼓励对绿色氨生产的投资，需要有利的市场条件，如长期合同或市场对清洁燃料的需求。

Highlights

氨作为船舶燃料的潜力，理论上可以实现零碳排放。

氨的排放接近零，如果使用可再生能源生产。

航运业需要一种“银弹”技术来大幅减少其全球3%的碳排放。

氨发动机有潜力大幅降低航运业的碳排放。

氨不含碳原子，因此燃烧时不会产生碳排放。

氨比其他燃料选项如甲醇更便宜，因为它不需要昂贵的碳捕获过程。

预计到2050年，氨将占据船用燃料市场的35%到60%。

大型集装箱船的氨发动机尚未进入商业生产。

氨发动机的设计挑战，包括需要更大的燃料喷射器和额外的组件。

氨自燃温度高，燃烧速度慢，需要使用少量辅助油来帮助点燃。

氨燃烧产生的水和氮气不会燃烧，可能会减慢燃烧过程。

氨发动机的排放物包括氮氧化物和一氧化二氮，后者对气候的影响比二氧化碳大得多。

MAN公司自2023年7月以来一直在测试他们的氨发动机，排放比传统重油发动机低85%到90%。

控制燃烧压力和温度可以减少一氧化二氮的排放。

氨发动机的尾气通过催化还原反应器处理，以减少氮氧化物排放。

氨发动机在非全功率运行时，氮氧化物排放可能会增加，同时催化反应器的效率会降低。

氨发动机的商业设计预计将在2024年交付，首艘装备该发动机的船计划在2026年启航。

氨的低能量密度意味着需要更大的储罐和额外的安全措施。

绿色氨的生产需要大量的可再生能源，目前全球电解器的产能远远不能满足需求。

绿色氨的生产和使用需要数百亿美元的投资，这是一个资本密集型的过程。

尽管氨作为船用燃料在理论上具有许多优势，但在实际应用中仍面临许多技术和市场挑战。

Transcripts

"This engine is a huge chance for the shipping industry

to clean up its act."

"It runs on ammonia.

And that means it can propel a ship

without emitting any carbon –

in theory."

If produced with renewable energy,

ammonia's emissions are close to zero.

"And the shipping industry really needs a silver bullet."

It's now responsible for 3% of global emissions,

but this might grow to 10%

because basically EVERYONE

is shipping goods around the world.

"But this engine has the potential to reduce those drastically."

Is this really the solution?

"Quick chemistry lesson before we get to the engine:

Ammonia..."

which even your body produces in your sweat or your pee

consists of one nitrogen atom and three hydrogen atoms.

What's not in there: Carbon.

That's why there aren't any carbon emissions.

In the real world it looks a bit different,

but more on that later.

"Another advantage of the missing carbon atom

is that it makes ammonia cheaper

compared to other fuel options like methanol."

That's because for methanol to be carbon-neutral,

you must capture the carbon it emits when burnt.

And that's quite expensive to do.

With ammonia, there's no need for this.

So, projections are that ammonia

will dominate the ship fuel market

with a share of 35 to 60% in 2050.

But a few pieces of the puzzle are still missing.

A very big one: The engine.

"Well, that's one massive engine!"

As of now, ammonia engines for large container ships

have yet to go into commercial production.

"I am really curious how this is actually

going to save any fuel!"

"As you can see, there are four cylinders."

"Most people don't realize it's actually a cylinder,

because they are so enormous."

Each of them is 50 centimeters wide.

This is the research facility of engine designer MAN.

Some might know them for their trucks,

but they also develop really big engines

for really, really big ships.

They were the only company

that let us film an ammonia engine in development.

It packs 6700 horsepower and when it's finished

it's going to be as big as a family home.

And this is the guy showing me around today:

Rasmus Holm Bidstrup.

"How is this engine different from a normal diesel engine?"

"First and foremost, we need to apply an additional set

of components on the engine.

And this is essentially the components you see right here.

So first of all, you have the yellow piping right here."

These pipes deliver the ammonia

into the cylinder to combust.

But they're not the only vital parts.

"So, one of the most essential components

on our ammonia engine is actually the ammonia fuel injectors.

Ammonia doesn't have a very, very high calorific value.

So, what is calorific value?

It is essentially the energy it can contain

within a certain volume.

So for ammonia, we need to have very, very big fuel injectors

compared to existing fuel oil engine injectors.

And that is, of course, a design challenge."

This also makes it difficult to store enough ammonia on ships,

but let's stick with the engine first.

Once ammonia enters the cylinder and is supposed to ignite –

that's when it becomes really challenging.

Chemically-speaking ammonia is difficult to set alight

as we can see here inside the cylinder.

It only self-ignites at around 650 degrees Celsius

and it burns about 12 times slower than fossil marine fuels.

That's because the chemical bonds

within the ammonia molecule are relatively strong.

"And therefore we simply need to inject a small amount

of pilot oil to initiate and stabilize the combustion."

You basically help the ammonia to ignite

with what's called a pilot fuel,

so a fuel that ignites easier than ammonia.

Diesel for example.

"This is so huge!"

"I mean..."

"Just look at these massive cylinders.

It's just insane how big they actually are."

This combustion also produces water and nitrogen.

These don't burn and slow down the combustion.

And a slow combustion...

"...can lead to byproducts and they are a BIG ISSUE.

Their names almost sound the same:

nitrogen oxides and nitrous oxide.

Nitrous oxide is 273x more potent at heating the planet

than CO2.

Nitrogen oxides, on the other side, are poisonous."

MAN has been testing their engine since July 2023.

And with over 30 sensors they have been measuring

all kinds of emissions coming out of it.

The good news:

They are between 85 and 90% lower

than those of a heavy fuel oil engine.

The major challenge still is:

Getting rid of both nitrous oxide and nitrogen oxides emissions.

"So, one big concern are also

nitrous oxide emissions with these engines.

How do you get rid of them?"

"Well, we have a lot of opportunities

when it comes to controlling the combustion pressure,

the combustion timings, and thereby also the temperatures.

And those handles alone

allow us to avoid the formation of nitrous oxide."

As a rule of thumb, higher combustion temperatures

lead to less nitrous oxide emissions.

But how much oxygen you put in also plays a role.

Tweaking these parameters can reduce the emissions.

So, nitrous oxide emissions can be dealt with,

according to MAN.

But there are still the poisonous nitrogen oxides emissions.

"This is the catalyst!"

And those require a catalytic reduction reactor.

Similar to a car, the engine's exhaust

travels through honeycomb-like filters.

In cars, ammonia needs to be added

as it's essential for the process to work.

But in an ammonia engine,

you already have some ammonia leftovers in the exhaust gas.

Nitrogen oxides and ammonia enter,

travel through the layers

and out comes nitrogen, water vapor and

a small amount of nitrogen oxides

compliant with emission regulations.

This works great when the engine is running at full power.

But when it's not, the temperature in the engine decreases.

Depending on how your engine is set up,

this can lead to more nitrogen oxides emissions

which a reactor would need to deal with.

At the same time, the reactor's effectiveness

decreases due to the lower temperatures.

"It is an ongoing R&D project and we will scale it up

from one cylinder to four cylinders.

And during that process we will gain a lot of valid insights

when it comes to important details,

such as how the load depends

when it comes to the emissions."

"So right now you don't really know

when such an engine would run at a lower load

what the emissions are going to be?"

"That is correct."

"But you don't really release

what your current findings are on the level of emissions?"

"This is an ongoing R&D process and once we scale it up,

once we get clarity and transparency,

of course those details will be communicated to the market."

"You're being a critical journalis now."

"We're not marketing people."

"And these kinds of emissions

have been underestimated before.

For example, in the case of methane for ships

that run on LNG-engines.

A gas that is 28x more potent at heating the planet

compared to CO2.

In 2015, the wording was:

'Methane slip has now been practically eliminated

in some engine concepts and minimized in others.'

And:

'The DNV GL study assumed the methane slip for

four-stroke engines at 1.5% of the fuel'."

Today, we know it's more like 6-8%.

Thanks to scientists who literally flew over LNG ships

with a helicopter and measured those emissions!

Of course, this cancels out

some of the assumed climate benefits of those ships.

"Why would you say that the public should believe:

Okay, these engines are fine now?"

"Well, it's a fair point.

When it comes to ammonia engines, in the future,

of course we will have to provide clarity and transparency

in the industry,

thereby also committing to certain guaranteed levels

of greenhouse gas emissions.

I mean, if we replace CO2 emissions

with certain levels of N2O emissions,

we will not do anything good for the environment.

More importantly,

we will not have a commercially relevant product."

MAN says they currently plan to deliver

the first commercial design of the engine in 2024.

The first ship fitted with one is due to set sail in 2026.

"But for that to happen even more things need to fall into place.

For example, ships need to be redesigned.

Because ammonia has a lower energy density

than your regular marine diesel.

So, the tanks need to be bigger

to pack the same amount of energy.

That and additional safety measures

because ammonia is extremely toxic.

If you're exposed to it for too long, you can die.

So you need..."

...extra service tanks,

systems to capture and recirculate the ammonia,

plus good ventilation.

And of course, these extra layers of security cost money

and take up valuable cargo capacity.

And because of ammonia's smaller energy density

it would need a lot more storage space

than fossil marine oil.

But how much exactly?

"We have done a study on a 15,000 TEU container vessel,

a rather large container vessel

that goes typically between Singapore and Europe."

This is Claus Graugaard, who researches

how to reduce shipping emissions at an industry think tank.

"If you look at what is the traditional storage capacity

in fuel oil,

it would maybe be about 8000 cubic meters worth of fuel oil.

But in equivalence of ammonia,

you would need about 20,000 cubic meters worth of ammonia.

So the space that that tank,

if it was a one-to-one comparison of the calorific value

you want to carry on board

of course has a huge impact. And you would risk

taking out several hundred bays of container carrying capacity.

But if you build it in smartly,

from the very first day of your new building design,

you can actually very smartly integrate it

and have a relatively limited impact."

According to their calculations,

up to 1,100 fewer containers if you want the same range.

So ammonia comes with a higher overall price tag

compared to fossil fuel.

Studies reviewed by the European Maritime Safety Agency

assume using ammonia

is about 3 to 3.5 times more expensive.

Yet, compared to other renewable shipping fuels like methanol,

ammonia is still calculated to be cheaper.

"And the price of the green ammonia from this tank

heavily depends on

where you generate the renewable energy used to produce it.

And that's where another challenge starts."

There is no green ammonia production at scale today.

Most of the ammonia produced to date is 'grey ammonia'

made from fossil fuels,

according to the International Energy Agency.

While burning it is clean,

lots of carbon gets released before that.

The total emissions are even higher

than those of conventional marine fuels.

For the production of green ammonia

you use renewable electricity

to split water into hydrogen and oxygen

using a process called electrolysis.

In a separate process you isolate nitrogen from the air.

Then – very simply speaking –

you put nitrogen and hydrogen together,

heat them up,

put them through an iron catalyst

in a process called Haber-Bosch

and at the end of this process you get NH3, so ammonia.

"This process uses a lot of energy.

And for the ammonia to be sustainable,

you need a lot of renewable energy.

So, you do it in places where there is a lot of sun, for example.

Countries like Spain, Chile, Morocco, Namibia,

Egypt for example.

Many of these countries

have limited renewable energy capacity installed today

and this export of green ammonia

could compete with decarbonizing the local grid.

"If the global shipping demand stays as it is now

and if we don't have significant energy efficiency improvements

between now and 2050,

global shipping will require about 600 million tons of ammonia

to fully decarbonize."

This is Faïg Abbasov.

The sustainable maritime transport lead

for the think tank Transport and Environment.

"But some projections show that shipping industry's demand

could increase by 50% between now and then.

And that would mean that

we'd need to have up to 900 million tonnes of green ammonia,

assuming that green ammonia is the only single fuel

the shipping industry eventually relies on."

Just to give you an idea of how big of a leap forward is needed:

Remember the electrolysis?

You need massive electrolysers for this at an industry scale.

Currently, the global capacity of these electrolysers is 0.2 GW.

213 GW have been announced to be built,

according to the European Maritime Safety Agency.

But the capacity required to meet demand for ammonia

would be 2,000 GW.

"Reducing ammonia

requires hundreds of billions in investments.

This is a very capital-intensive process.

And for project developers to cross that bridge.

And to make that investment

they need to either sell the fuel in advance,

find some sort of long-term contracts

or there need to be market conditions

that gives them the confidence

that even without the offtake agreements

there will be the market for them to

be able to market those fuels."

But where does this leave us

when looking at ammonia as a shipping fuel?

"Like with every new tech it looks great on paper.

No or a very small amount of emissions,

engines can be retrofitted and it's scalable.

Everything is perfect.

But then companies won't release their data.

Currently, they are testing it on one cylinder,

they need to do four.

Then they need to build an actual commercial-sized engine

and test that for a longer amount of time to get more data.

So, this technology needs to complete a long list

before it can bring down shipping's emissions by 90%.

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