Ammonia fuel: the key to hydrogen-based transportation

Abstract

Ammonia (NH{sub 3}) is a high octane fuel (110) that can replace CO{sub 2} producing fuels in automobile transportation. It shares with hydrogen the virtue of yielding only water and nitrogen as combustion products when burned in internal combustion engines but avoids the packaging, safety and logistic problems of using hydrogen fuels in motor vehicles. Ammonia can be stored under moderate pressure at ambient temperatures. (Its physical properties are closely similar to those of liquid propane.) It can be packaged in a volume compatible with present automobiles. It is used as a fertilizer in quantities of over 100 million tons per year so that facilitates for its storage, safe handling, transportation and distribution are available worldwide. It could be an economical replacement for gasoline if the foreseen costs of air pollution and global warming caused by fossil fuels are included in the economic evaluation.