Ricardo completes feasibility study on ammonia as a future marine fuel
Ricardo has completed a feasibility study into the use of ammonia as a future fuel for the maritime sector, as part of the FASTMOVE project. Delivering a concept combustion system design and validated injection data that will shape the next phase of ammonia engine development.
The FASTMOVE project, which explores the Feasibility of Bmmonia 4-STroke Marine engines in Offshore VEssels, has been delivered in partnership with Brunel University of London and the Port of Cromarty Firth. The consortium set out to understand how ammonia could support decarbonisation across the marine sector and to inform the design of a next-generation ammonia combustion engine, positioning the UK at the forefront of low-emission marine propulsion.
The project forms part of UK SHORE, the Department for Transport programme driving the UK's transition to a cleaner maritime sector. Since 2022, UK SHORE has allocated more than £230 million to over 247 projects and leveraged in excess of £107 million in private investment, supporting 500 organisations from Belfast and Orkney to Cornwall and Portsmouth. Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation, serves as the principal delivery partner.
Drawing on Ricardo's extensive experience in combustion engineering and the maritime sector, the team developed the initial combustion concepts for FASTMOVE. This work included capturing high-pressure ammonia injection experimental data at 200 bar, developing and validating ammonia spray modelling using CFD simulations, producing high-pressure dual-fuel (HPDF) combustion models, and generating a concept engine combustion system design. Safety ran as a parallel workstream, covering in-port and on-board ammonia storage for offshore support vessels, as well as bunkering operations.
Three HPDF combustion system concepts were developed during the study, with the most viable taken forward for deeper analysis to optimise injection and combustion conditions and refine emissions predictions. The team also mapped safety considerations against current regulatory and environmental risk frameworks, alongside the storage technologies required at the Port of Cromarty Firth, on-board vessels, and across the bunkering process.
Richard Osborne, Ricardo's Global Technical Expert in Sustainable Engines, said: "We're delighted to have led on this project, which will act as a case study to help determine whether ammonia offers a more sustainable solution for the maritime sector. The outcomes will be used to understand the feasibility of developing a single cylinder engine (SCE) to further verify combustion processes. We will also consider potential commercialisation of this technology and the use of ammonia in the future, subject to further studies being undertaken."
