LATEST UPDATE: Amogy inc. Startup Shows Off Their New Prototype of Ammonia-Powered Tractors

Amogy, Inc., a Brooklyn, New York-based start up company, unveiled a zero-emission tractor at the end of May 2022. For the demonstration, Amogy installed their ammonia-to-power technology inside a typical mid-size John Deere tractor, giving it a 100 kW output.

Amogy indicated in a press release that their focus for the next year will be on manufacturing and presenting an ammonia-powered Class 8 truck, a compact, 1 MW ammonia-to-power system, and a shipping vessel.

The method makes use of liquid storage tanks, hybrid fuel cell systems, and ammonia-breaking modules. Throughout the presentation, the ammonia-powered tractor was started and refueled several times. At New York's Stony Brook University, the demonstration took place.

Ammonia is broken down in Amogy's compact, high-efficiency reactor, and the hydrogen it produces is used to power a fuel cell. The system takes advantage of liquid ammonia's superior physical properties to transport hydrogen's performance advantages far from the supply source, and it does so at lower operating temperatures and with greater efficiency than competing designs.

Though ammonia right now is more expensive than other fuel resources like gasoline and diesel, it is still cheaper than fuel resources like hydrogen. By 2035, the cost of ammonia will get closer to diesel. 

Why use ammonia as a fuel?

Ammonia is gaining popularity as a tool for reducing emissions in challenging transportation industries like long-haul haulage, locomotives, aviation, and shipping. Since more than a century ago, many businesses have used ammonia, which is created by fusing hydrogen with atmospheric nitrogen, largely as a chemical precursor to nitrogen fertilizers. However, compared to hydrogen and current battery chemistries, ammonia also has a relatively high volumetric energy density, which makes it a desirable energy transporter.

Future Plans

They plan on deploying a commercial Amogy product in around 2024 or 2025 intending to use this technology in the maritime industry. However, working together with other suppliers helps speed up the commercialization process.

Recent technological developments have opened up new possibilities for ammonia use in the transportation industry. These include propulsion systems designed specifically for the use of ammonia; more effective ways of breaking ammonia to produce hydrogen for use in fuel cells or combustion engines; or combination approaches that may involve mixing ammonia or hydrogen with conventional fuels.

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