In essence, they would create an environmentally friendly alternative to the current fossil fuels, especially for maritime transport and aviation. This solution could be even better than hydrogen alone, but there are still some question marks.
The newly announced ammonia engine from the British company Reaction Engines, which uses the intellectual property of several companies, is based on a system designed for the company’s Skylon spacecraft. The Synergetic Air-Breathing Rocket Engine (SABRE) engine was originally designed for hypersonic and space flight, but when combined with ammonia catalysts from the UK government-backed Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), the result is a solution that could work in otherwise difficult-to-off-grid sectors such as shipping, aviation and off-grid power generation.
As the above-mentioned press release states, aviation and shipping together currently account for 5 percent of global carbon emissions, and emissions from both sectors are only set to increase in the future. Reaction Engines’ lightweight and compact reactors would therefore make it possible to reduce emissions in these sectors. The basic idea is that the device would harness the heat generated by the engine to produce an ammonia-hydrogen mixture from pure ammonia, which could largely replace current aviation fuels. As the New Atlas article says, ammonia has several advantages over hydrogen: it is easier and cheaper to store and transport, but it has only 20 percent of the energy of hydrogen in terms of mass. But volume is another issue: in this respect, ammonia has 70 percent more energy than liquid hydrogen.
It is precisely because of the mass aspect that ammonia is not usually considered as a fuel for aviation. At the same time, because of the high volume requirements of hydrogen, it is not an ideal solution in this area either – more volume means bigger tanks, which means that if the current aircraft are fitted with this system, they will have less space for seats. The current solution is therefore an option that allows an airline operator to choose between weight and volume based on his own criteria.
The question is, of course, how “green” this particular option is. Reaction Engines stresses that emissions from these sectors can be reduced, which is true, but New Atlas adds that the combustion product of such a fuel will be nitrogen oxide compounds (NOx), which do not include CO2, but they are still a problem, and a big one. Nitrous oxides are “important in the formation of photochemical smog”, but they are also responsible for acid rain and are harmful to human health. It is not clear from the press release, so one can only hope that the company has come up with a solution to this problem.
New Atlas also mentions that ammonia production is not the greenest process and that green ammonia is currently in short supply and expensive. The latter requires green hydrogen, because if ammonia is produced in the way it is currently produced, i.e. by producing methane, then although the aircraft will not emit CO2, the methane produced in the production of the fuel used will be more of a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide. The press release also mentions ‘green’ ammonia, but this would be expensive and not available in significant quantities.
Source: newatlas.com
Recent article
EVTOL & VTOL News & Articles
The flying ambulance arrives at lightning speed
Drones News & Articles
Wing and Walmart Join Forces: Ushering a New Era of Drone Deliveries
EVTOL & VTOL News & Articles
The electric car revolution could continue in the air
Flying Cars News & Articles
What Economic Challenges and Opportunities Might Arise from a World Where Flying Cars Are Commonplace ?
News & Articles Points of interest
NASA’s new passenger craft will make ocean crossings shorter than the time it takes to watch a movie
Electric airplane News & Articles
Pyka’s Game-changing Pelican: Setting New Aerial Agricultural Standards
EVTOL & VTOL News & Articles
Unmanned aerial taxis flew in a unique formation
Electric airplane News & Articles
NASA’s Innovations: Soaring into an Electrified Flight Future
Drones News & Articles
Redefining Drone Warfare: From Expendable Units to Affordable Mass
EVTOL & VTOL News & Articles
Could eVTOLs and Air Taxis Replace Public Transport ?
Flying Cars News & Articles
The Dawn of Flying Cars: A Glimpse into the Future of Urban Mobility
Drones News & Articles
Harnessing Nature’s Flight: The Bird-Inspired Drone
EVTOL & VTOL News & Articles
Navigating the Skies of Tomorrow: Electric Air Taxis Eye the Paris Olympics
Flying Cars News & Articles
Soaring Above: Alef Automotive’s Revolutionary Flying Car Earns FAA Approval
Points of interest
Navigating the Skies: Korea’s PIBOT Set to Outdo Human Pilots
Drones
The Vanguard of Autonomous Flight: XQ-58A Valkyrie
News & Articles Points of interest
China’s JF-22 Hypersonic Wind Tunnel: The Future of Hypersonic Innovation
Drones News & Articles
A New Flight Formation: German Pilots and Drone Swarms
Drones
A New Dawn for Drone Technology: The Hypersonic Revolution
Additional aircraft News & Articles
The Morphobot: An Innovation in Multimodal Robotics
Additional aircraft News & Articles
Blazing Trails in Hypersonic Aviation: Europe’s Destinus Soars to New Heights
News & Articles Points of interest
The Dawn of AI Air Travel: Airbus and its Vision for Autonomy
EVTOL & VTOL News & Articles
Technological advances in air taxis and flying vehicles are needed to transform public transport
Air taxi News & Articles
Volocopter’s High-Flying Ambitions for the Olympics
News & Articles Propulsion-Fuel
The Horizon of Aviation: Airbus’ Vision for 2035 and Beyond
EVTOL & VTOL News & Articles
A Shift in Aviation Licensing and Training
Drones News & Articles
Russia’s Path to Drone Supremacy
Additional aircraft News & Articles
Spectacular Flight of Man-Made Saucers: Unveiling New Horizons of Sky-High Commute
Air taxi News & Articles
Israel’s Pioneering Venture into Drone Transport
Air taxi News & Articles
More efficient air taxis in the future
Air taxi News & Articles
The Coming Electric Air Taxi Revolution: Competing with Train Tickets ?
News & Articles Propulsion-Fuel
Unveiling the Whisper of Innovation: CycloTech’s Exploration into CycloRotor Noise Levels
Points of interest
Sailing the Skies in Style: Airbus’s Novel Vision for Air Travel
Drones News & Articles
Boosting Agriculture: A Drone Revolution Awaits in Budapest
News & Articles Propulsion-Fuel
Embracing the Future with Rolls-Royce’s Revolutionary UltraFan Engine
Air taxi News & Articles
Testing of perhaps the most promising air taxi begins
Additional aircraft News & Articles
Navigating the Future: Autonomous Helicopters Soar High
EVTOL & VTOL News & Articles
Embracing the Future: Seoul’s Leap into Urban Air Mobility
Flying Cars
Toyota takes to the skies: we form an alliance
Drones News & Articles
Toyota Takes to the Skies: Investing in Revolutionary Drone Technology
More articles you may be interested in...
Drones
The Vanguard of Autonomous Flight: XQ-58A Valkyrie
News & Articles Points of interest
China’s JF-22 Hypersonic Wind Tunnel: The Future of Hypersonic Innovation
Drones News & Articles
A New Flight Formation: German Pilots and Drone Swarms
Drones
A New Dawn for Drone Technology: The Hypersonic Revolution
Air taxi News & Articles
The Coming Electric Air Taxi Revolution: Competing with Train Tickets ?
The Dutch company, Electron Aviation, is making a bold promise that is set to disrupt.......... READ MORE
News & Articles Propulsion-Fuel
Unveiling the Whisper of Innovation: CycloTech’s Exploration into CycloRotor Noise Levels
In the fast-paced realm of aeronautical engineering, the introduction of CycloRotors has heralded a paradigm.......... READ MORE
Points of interest
Sailing the Skies in Style: Airbus’s Novel Vision for Air Travel
Navigating the dawn of a fresh chapter in aviation, Airbus recently shared its audacious plans.......... READ MORE
Drones News & Articles
Boosting Agriculture: A Drone Revolution Awaits in Budapest
The stage is set in Hungary, as it stands on the brink of an exciting.......... READ MORE
News & Articles Propulsion-Fuel
Embracing the Future with Rolls-Royce’s Revolutionary UltraFan Engine
Just when you thought the apex of innovation had been reached, Rolls-Royce challenges the notion.......... READ MORE
Air taxi News & Articles
Testing of perhaps the most promising air taxi begins
For some of us, the very idea of an air taxi evokes scenes straight out.......... READ MORE
Additional aircraft News & Articles
Navigating the Future: Autonomous Helicopters Soar High
Unmanned helicopters are no longer a concept in some futuristic Sci-Fi novel. They're here, revolutionizing.......... READ MORE
EVTOL & VTOL News & Articles
Embracing the Future: Seoul’s Leap into Urban Air Mobility
In an audacious move to revolutionize its transport system, Seoul - the bustling South Korean.......... READ MORE