Project Summary

Maritime shipping is required to cut greenhouse gas emissions by adopting green fuels like ammonia, which have near-zero carbon emissions but storage challenges. The AMMO project, led by Monoclinic in collaboration with University College London and Natural Environment Research Council, is developing advanced technology to enable safer, more efficient ammonia storage under near-ambient conditions. This innovation supports the industry’s transition to decarbonisation, aligning with global and UK environmental targets while offering economic growth opportunities.

Project Achievements

We used advanced simulations to model how ammonia molecules pack into MOF materials, validating our models against experimental data to ensure accuracy. Crucially, we developed important structure-property relationships linking the microscopic physical properties of the material to its fuel-holding capability which are critical for the design of practical MOF tanks for ammonia storage with optimum gravimetric and volumetric capacity. This analysis allowed us to pinpoint the specific MOF properties required to store fuel efficiently without the need for high pressures and low temperatures.

Conclusions

Our research demonstrates that MOFs can offer a safer, workable fuel capacity (approx. 400 g/L), delivering up to 80% of the energy of liquid ammonia but at significantly lower risk. This innovation could allow for low-pressure ammonia storage i.e. near ambient conditions, lighter, safer, and more stable fuel tanks for the next generation of green shipping.

Next Steps

Our immediate focus is advancing from TRL 3 to TRL 5. We plan to build a physical adsorption rig to transition from computational screening to physical validation of the ammonia adsorption rig, specifically testing MOF chemical stability and ammonia uptake at scale.