Truck & Off-Highway Engineering - June 2022 - 4

TECHNICAL
INNOVATIONS
ALTERNATIVE FUELS
Ammonia a promising alternative for marine sector
Some alternative fuels already are gaining
mainstream attention - and increasing expectations
for their adoption. Renewable electricity
and hydrogen are under pressure to scale rapidly,
while hydrogen capacity needs to dramatically
increase to address quickly expanding strategies
for its use in many transportation applications.
Scrutiny on shipping
MAN's Mayer indicated that the marine-propulsion
sector is intent on decarbonization. Some
of the company's most widely-known marine
engines - many are 2-stroke designs of low
speeds and massive size (stroke dimensions of
upwards of 4 m [13.1 feet]) - can burn up to 10
tons of fuel per hour. Mayer said that 80-90% of
all global freight is at some point transported by
sea and that the shipping industry is responsible
for around 3% of all global CO2
emissions. Since
50% of the industry is served by MAN engines,
around 1.5% of global CO2
is generated by its
The shipping industry is looking to alternative fuels
to reduce its carbon footprint. Shown is a massive
diesel-fueled marine engine from MAN, one of the chief
builders of marine engines of all types.
Although the auto industry is rushing to electrify,
batteries, in their current state of development,
aren't the answer for many modes of transportation,
or even many use cases in the auto and
commercial-vehicle sectors. This leaves the cleanup
demanded by tightening global emissions
regulations to better internal-combustion engines
- or better fuels to burn in those engines.
As efficiency gains for IC engines and their
exhaust-aftertreatment systems reach the
point of diminishing returns, " What you can do
is change the fuel, " said Stefan Mayer, manager,
diesel and turbo at MAN Energy
Solutions, at the " Current and Future State of
Transportation Fuels " expert panel discussion
at SAE International's annual WCX conference
in Detroit. With increasing attention on climate
change and " decarbonization " measures in
every industry, Mayer and other speakers outlined
a variety of efforts to expand the application
of alternative fuels to provide potential
big reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.
4 June 2022
powerplants. With current thermal efficiencies
running around 50%, MAN's marine engines are
effectively optimized for the unique duty cycle
of large-vessel shipping and have reached a certain
state of the art. To make serious GHG reductions,
he said, attention must shift to fuels.
" It is not engine technology that is the barrier
for decarbonization of shipping, " Mayer
said, " it is and will be the production capacity
of renewable fuels. "
One such effort, he said, is the company's
Project AEngine, a full-scale testing and demonstration
of a " zero-carbon marine engine " fueled
by ammonia. The burning of ammonia, he said,
generates no CO2
emissions because ammonia
contains no carbon. The AEngine project is
studying the unique demands of engine process,
onboard fuel handling and safety and regulation.
The company's Copenhagen research center
is conducting the program with a target of a
" commercial design " by 2024, he added.
The company in 2021 initiated the
" AmmoniaMot " (Ammonia Engine in German)
collaboration with partners from industry and
research institutes to develop a " dual-fuel,
medium-speed engine capable of running on
diesel-fuel and ammonia, " Man Energy
Solutions said in a release.
MAN already has alternative-fueled marine
engines in service, Mayer asserted, which operate
on liquified natural gas (LNG), methanol,
SAE INTERNATIONAL
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Srinivasa (Sri) Srinath, Ph.D
President
Jeff Hemphill
2021 President
Todd Zarfos
2023 President Elect
Susan Ying, Ph.D
Vice President - Aerospace
Daniel Nicholson
Vice President - Automotive
Michael Weinert
Vice President -
Commercial Vehicle
Andrew Jeffers
Treasurer
David L. Schutt, Ph.D
Chief Executive Officer
Gregory L. Bradley, Esq.
Secretary
Judy Curran
Rhonda Walthall
Joan Wills
SAE International Sections
SAE International Sections are local
units comprised of 100 or more SAE
International Members in a defined
technical or geographic area. The purpose
of local Sections is to meet the technical,
developmental, and personal needs of the
SAE Members in a given area. For more
information, please visit sae.org/sections
or contact SAE Member Relations Specialist
Abby Hartman at abby.hartman@sae.org.
SAE International
Collegiate Chapters
Collegiate Chapters are a way for SAE
International Student Members to get
together on their campus and develop
skills in a student-run and -elected
environment. Student Members are vital
to the continued success and future of
SAE. While your course work teaches
you the engineering knowledge you
need, participation in your SAE Collegiate
Chapter can develop or enhance other
important skills, including leadership,
time management, project management,
communications, organization, planning,
delegation, budgeting, and finance. For
more information, please visit students.
sae.org/chapters/collegiate/ or contact
SAE Member Relations Specialist Abby
Hartman at abby.hartman@sae.org.
TRUCK & OFF-HIGHWAY ENGINEERING
MAN
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Truck & Off-Highway Engineering - June 2022

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