Ammonia, the fuel of the future: a refrain

 A couple of years back I did a post here about a post I had done at Foresight about a decade or so back.

Ammonia (NH3)

The basic idea is that ammonia is a close to ideal fuel for a near-nanotech chemical technology, in that it carries hydrogen which can be oxidized in a fuel cell (producing nothing but water), and the rest is merely nitrogen, which is already the majority component of air.

One of the key reasons for revisiting something like this is to check up on your prowess as a technological forecaster. My recent post here was to point out some recent advance that seemed to bring us closer to the ability to use ammonia as envisioned. So when I saw another reference in the technical literature, I thought to look around and see how far the efforts had got. 

Imagine my surprise when I discovered a substantial literature, conferences, and companies at the point of viable commercialization. Rather than talk about that myself, I will refer you to the Ammonia Energy Association's review of ammonia for fuel cells. Rummage around the site for much more information.

A little brief background: the hydrogen from the ammonia molecule is what fuels the cell and generates electricity. In the most common standard type of fuel cell, the PEM (proton exchange membrane), ammonia itself poisons the chemistry and has to be separated into nitrogen and hydrogen ahead of time. There has been substantial progress in separation devices. 

But even more important, at a best guess, is the fact that there are other kinds of fuel cell than the (acid-chemistry) PEM, but which are not poisoned by ammonia and can be fed it directly, without a separate separation phase. These include alkaline-chemistry fuel cells, and solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs). These have come a long way in the past decade. The state of the art is that SOFCs are efficient enough for small stationary power units (1-10 kW range) but still too heavy for transportation, although approaching something that might be usable on a ship or locomotive fairly soon.

Your flying car, not so soon. But we're probably only talking another decade.

For a futurist, this is close enough to qualify as a win. In my previous post, I pointed out that "Ammonia, the Fuel of the Future" scanned with a classic American tune, "Columbia, the Gem of the Ocean." To celebrate, I sat down and penned out a couple of full verses. You may now sing them with your friends in full glee:

Ammonia, the fuel of the future!
your vector of useful energy
for your house, for your car, your computer,
for airplanes; even for the ships at sea.
It's a liquid you pour into a fuel tank,
Yet ammonia's entirely carbon free;
From the good old days of Bosch and Haber,
We understand the right chemistry.

Understand the right chemistry!
Understand the right chemistry!
From the good old days of Bosch and Haber,
We understand the right chemistry.

Ammonia, the fuel of the future!
With power for you and for me;
'Tis silent and couldn't be smoother;
when piped into an SOFC.
Do not thermalize your potential;
We know how to handle NH3 --
No need for Carnot and his limits
to generate electricity!

Generating electricity!
Generating electricity!
Ammonia, the fuel of the future,
generating electricity!

... and there you have it!