Ammonia Requires a Knowledge Boost

Ammonia is a strong candidate to become one of the future's maritime fuels. However, there are also certain risks associated with the chemical. A new pre-study from Lighthouse and the Swedish Transport Administration emphasizes the importance of education and knowledge to ensure the safe and effective implementation of ammonia as fuel.

Today, almost all ammonia, which itself contains no carbon, is produced from hydrocarbons, which offers no climate benefits. The idea, however, is that future marine fuel will be made from so-called green ammonia, which is produced from green (renewable) electricity. However, a major problem that is being discussed a lot today and needs to be addressed is that the availability of green electricity will be limited worldwide for a long time to come.

Another, perhaps slightly smaller problem, concerns the risks. Ammonia is toxic and corrosive, and can cause serious injuries to humans, such as skin or eye contact, while inhalation of ammonia gas can cause permanent damage to, for example, the lungs and other mucous membranes.

So, how is this problem managed? The preliminary study project "Safety of Ammonia Onboard" (SAMM) has aimed to deepen the understanding of ammonia's potential as a marine fuel from a safety perspective. So far, there is not much to go on – the design of ships that will run on ammonia is still in its infancy, but the issue has been raised in workshops and some reports worldwide, says Anna Karlsson at RISE, who led the one-year project conducted within the framework of the Swedish Transport Administration's industry program Hållbar sjöfart (Sustainable Shipping), managed by Lighthouse.

"Many highlight that there is a lot of experience in safety, risks, and education in other industries that maritime shipping can benefit from, for example, agriculture, fishing, or other industries where ammonia is used as a refrigerant. The industry can also explore and learn from the differences and similarities between transporting ammonia, which is already done in shipping today, and using it as fuel. We can see that platforms for knowledge exchange are still in demand and many experiences have not yet been transferred to the maritime industry."

The pre-study was conducted in two steps. First, a background study was carried out, including literature studies, interviews with industry professionals, and a site visit to the Energy Port in Gothenburg.

"All interviewees mentioned education and knowledge as the most important aspects to overcome to safely implement ammonia as a marine fuel. Some compared it to the time when LNG was to be introduced when ignorance was also great, and new skills were needed. We need to find out what bunkering personnel, crews, dock workers, those working with permits, and others in the industry need to learn."

In the second step, a one-day physical workshop was conducted, where participants had expertise in ship operations, port operations, emergency preparedness, insurance, regulations, and guidelines. The results from the workshop were in line with previous interviews and reference literature. The following safety-related activities topped the list of barriers to achieving ammonia bunkering in the Port of Gothenburg (without internal prioritization):

• Creation of international bunkering standards
• Bunkering station equipment and layout onboard
• Risk assessment (including HAZID and HAZOP)
• Public communication plan
• Personnel competence, experience, and training (including emergency plans)
• Sharing knowledge about accidents/incidents

The report "Safety of Ammonia Onboard" was authored by: Anna Karlsson, Oskar Grönlund, Julia Burgén, Joanne Ellis, Chen Huang, Tobias Olsson and  Stina Andersson RISE at Research Institutes of Sweden AB