The third-party project “NH₃-Stat” focuses on the partial substitution of diesel with ammonia in stationary compression ignition (CI) engines, which are of great importance in power generation, among other things. However, fossil fuels such as diesel or gasoline inherently have a negative impact on the environment, causing greenhouse gases such as CO₂. Moreover, conventional CI engines produce significant amounts of soot and nitrogen oxides (NO_x). Even if the emission of soot and NO_x has been reduced in recent years through modern technologies, a negative influence occurring from CI engines running with diesel remains. For this reason, the focus of recent research has been shifted to alternative carbon-free fuels such as ammonia. As a renewable, carbon-free hydrogen carrier, ammonia combines many advantages, such as a well-established infrastructure, 30% more volumetric energy compared to hydrogen, and that it can be easily stored in the liquid phase. Nevertheless, ammonia brings some challenges when using it as a fuel in CI engines. For example, it has a high ignition energy and temperature, a low flame speed, and a low adiabatic flame temperature. The lower heating value (LHV) of ammonia is 60% lower than that of diesel fuel. Additionally, there is a gap in knowledge regarding the composition of the exhaust, especially particulate matter, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and nitrogen-containing PAHs (NPAHs). The “NH₃-Stat” project deals with the critical pollutant emission, the greenhouse gas impact, health effects, and the exhaust gas treatment based on the ammonia combustion in stationary CI engines.

As part of the “NH3-Stat” project, REMPI-TOF MS is used to analyze PAHs/NPAHs from a test bench with a single-cylinder, four-stroke diesel engine, after the ionization energies of some pure PAHs/NPAHs were investigated in laboratory experiments. Moreover, the particulate phase of the exhaust coming from the model motor is analyzed with different online and offline methods such as GC-MS or SMPS. In addition to the investigations on the test bench, gas-phase experiments are carried out on a flat flame burner under low pressure. The vacuum is used to increase the spatial resolution of the flame. The burner setup uses a modified McKenna-Burner, which is often used as standard equipment for calibration of combustion research.

Project Partners:      

• FVTR GmbH
• Photonion GmbH
• University of Rostock
• Department of Analytical Chemistry
• Department of Piston Machinery and Internal Combustion Engines

University of Rostock
Institute of Chemistry
Division of Analytical Chemistry
Fabian Carl
Albert-Einstein-Straße 27
18059 Rostock

Office room 110

Tel.: +49 (0) 381 498 - 6531
fabian.carl2uni-rostockde