Ammonia: A Sustainable Fuel Option For Shipping

[rcjordan]

^{Well, leak detection would be easier.}

https://www.forbes.com/sites/nilsrokke/2021/10/05/ammonia-a-sustainable-fuel-option-for-shipping/

[ergophobe]

Interesting (and a bit scary). I was recently reading about this being explored as aviation fuel, which is a bit scarier still (flying ammonia over cities)

[rcjordan]

You're going to hear a lot of wailing & gnashing of teeth as the climate crisis mandates the banning of the current (3rd) generation of HFC refrigerants.  Unless we can come up with some new whiz-bang tech, you're going to see a lot more ammonia-based consumer hvac equipment in a few years.

"Ammonia refrigeration has been the backbone of the cold storage and food processing industries since the early 1900s. Ammonia refrigeration is the most cost effective and energy efficient method of processing and storing frozen and unfrozen foods. It is the workhorse for the post-harvest cooling of fruits and vegetables, the cooling of meat, poultry, and fish, refrigeration in the beverage industry, particularly for beer and wine, refrigeration of milk and cheese, and the freezing of ice cream. Practically all fruits, vegetables, produce and meats, as well as many beverages and juices, pass through at least one facility that uses an ammonia refrigeration system before reaching our homes. Ammonia refrigeration is also used in the chemical industry."

The History of Ammonia Refrigeration
https://www.iiar.org/iiar/about_ammonia_refrigeration/the_history_of_ammonia_refrgeration.aspx

[rcjordan]

+

As a refrigerant, ammonia has four major advantages over CFCs and HCFCs:

An ammonia-based refrigeration system costs 10-20% less to build than one that uses CFCs because narrower-diameter piping can be used.
Ammonia is a 3-10% more efficient refrigerant than CFCs, so an ammonia-based system requires less electricity, resulting in lower operating costs.
Ammonia is safe for the environment, with an Ozone Depletion Potential (ODP) rating of 0 and a Global Warming Potential (GWP) rating of 0.
Ammonia is substantially less expensive than CFCs or HCFCs
There are two key disadvantages to using ammonia as a refrigerant:

It is not compatible with copper, so it cannot be used in any system with copper pipes.
Ammonia is poisonous in high concentrations. Two factors, however, mitigate this risk: ammonia's distinctive smell is detectable at concentrations well below those considered to be dangerous, and ammonia is lighter than air, so if any does leak, it will rise and dissipate in the atmosphere.


https://www.goodway.com/hvac-blog/2009/08/ammonia-as-a-refrigerant-pros-and-cons/

[Brad]

I had no idea ammonia could be used as a fuel or even as a refrigerant.  Thanks for this.

[ergophobe]

Ditto. I had no idea about any of this. Fascinating. Thanks

[rcjordan]

Because of my dad's do-everything, mega-contractor days and some old cylinders of ammonia in the shop, I knew about its use (and brine) as a refrigerant in the past, but did not know it was a current commercial hvac tech.  I assumed it had been replaced by hfcs due to efficiencies.  So that was good news.  I had never heard about possibly using it as a fuel.

[Drastic]

My only question is wtf didn't we go with ammonia when we fazed out r22.

[rcjordan]

>r22
>>It is not compatible with copper, so it cannot be used in any system with copper pipes.

I'm guessing it was because copper coils are the all I've seen in indoor & outdoor US hvac units.

[rcjordan]

+

Tube Materials: Aluminum, Stainless steel (304L, 316L, AL6XN), Hot dip galvanized steel

Industrial Refrigeration Ammonia Evaporator Coils for Food Processing - Colmac Coil Manufacturing, Inc.
http://www.colmaccoil.com/products/heating-cooling-coils/food-processing.aspx

[rcjordan]

++

Since we're on the subject of refrigerants;

Six reasons to use propane as refrigerant
https://www.carel.com/blog/-/blogs/six-reasons-to-use-propane-as-refrigerant

[Drastic]

>I'm guessing it was because copper coils are the all I've seen in indoor & outdoor US hvac units.

True but systems had to be redesigned and built for r34. That would have been the time to go ammonia imo.

[Brad]

It sounds like ammonia is about to become the next thing in consumer refrigeration.

[rcjordan]

>ammonia is about to become the next thing in consumer refrigeration

Yeah, I should have started this thread in Economics & Investing.

[DrCool]

When we were shopping for some commercial freezers I saw a few that were ammonia based and thought "wow, that is some ancient tech". Guess it is the other way around.