Transhydrogen Alliance

Ammonia – the ideal hydrogen carrier

Why Ammonia

Seven reasons why we are supporters of ammonia:

  1. Sustainable energy can be stored in the form of ammonia as a hydrogen carrier.
  2. Ammonia has a relative high energy density in general but as a carbon free component one of the highest.
  3. Ammonia contains in fact more hydrogen per molecule than the product hydrogen and that has advantages in storage and logistics (108 kg H2/m3 NH3warm or 121 kg H2/m3 NH3cold).
  4. Ammonia is liquid at -33ºC at atmospheric pressure, vs -253ºC for liquid hydrogen.
  5. Ammonia can be easily stored and transported with excellent track record by pipeline, truck, rail or ship.
  6. Ammonia has a slower flame speed and a higher auto-ignition temperature than hydrogen, making it less prone to explosions
  7. Ammonia is toxic in case of releases, but not lower than 50ppm. It can be smelled from a concentration as low as 5ppm.
Source: Siemens presentation, 1st European NH3 Conference, 19/05/2017

How easy can you transport ammonia?

Quite easy:

  1. Ammonia is liquid at -33ºC or 8bar
  2. 200 ammonia terminals and 170 ships handle ammonia today
  3. Excellent transportation track record by pipeline, truck, rail or ship

How safe is ammonia?

Ammonia is quite safe:

  1. Low laminar flame speed of 7cm/s (vs 3m/s for hydrogen)
  2. Narrow flammability range between 15-28%
  3. Octane ratio higher than gasoline or LPG
  4. Toxic at 50ppm, but smellable at 5ppm