I’ve talked about ammonia possibly being a feedstock for fuel cell vehicles and H2 ICE vehicles a few times in the past. New breakthrough technology bodes well for ammonia in the future.
According to The Engineer, “British scientists have proposed a way of making it easier and cheaper to run hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles by filling them with ammonia. The researchers have developed a way to cut the costs of making hydrogen from ammonia, which can be transported and stored much more easily than hydrogen in tanks similar to those already used by filling stations for liquid petroleum gas (LPG).
“This method of cracking ammonia using relatively cheap sodium rather than an expensive catalyst could pave the way for fuel-cell vehicles to make their own hydrogen from a widely available chemical, rather than carrying a tank of very high-pressure hydrogen and requiring expensive new infrastructure.
“Alternatively, combining a small amount of hydrogen with the rest of the ammonia would enable it to be burned in an optimised but conventional internal combustion engine (ICE), the researchers from the ISIS Neutron Source facility in Oxfordshire claim.”
So, the advantages of using ammonia is that it is easily and cheaply mass produced and is widely used today. It is also transported easily in liquid form. One disadvantage, however, is that ammonia is caustic to the touch, so great care in refueling a vehicle with high grade ammonia will need to be taken.
Now, in related news, would you like to read about pee-powered fuel cell vehicles? Urine Luck. Read on.
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