PI: Will Northrop, Mechanical Engineering
Daniel Thomas, PhD student, Mechanical Engineering
Seamus Kane, PhD student, Mechanical Engineering
This research seeks to overcome technical hurdles to efficient combustion of
renewable ammonia in on-farm equipment. Two areas where ammonia fuel could replace
petroleum are in grain drying and for on-site power generation. In the project,
ammonia will be invested as the primary fuel in a grain drying equipment. The work also seeks
to investigate a thermally integrated decomposition reactor for improving ammonia combustion in
spark-ignited internal combustion engines.
Previous work sponsored by the LCCMR at the University of Minnesota has realized an ammonia decomposition reactor thermally integrated with the exhaust of a dual-fuel diesel engine. The reactor uses exhaust waste heat to convert ammonia to a mixture of hydrogen, ammonia, and nitrogen; a gaseous fuel that has higher flame speed than ammonia alone. It also increases the thermal efficiency of the engine through thermochemical recuperation. This project uses similar reactor technology for constant pressure burners used in
grain drying equipment and spark-ignition engines.
Experiments will be conducted to evaluate prototype reactors at the UMN TE Murphy Engine Research Laboratory (MERL) and at the University of Minnesota Duluth (UMD). A field demonstration of the burner design will be conducted at the University of Minnesota’s West Central Outreach Center (WCROC). The primary goal of the work is to allow the operation of conventional grain drying equipment on 100% ammonia. In concert with decentralized wind-powered ammonia system in operation at the WCROC, this project has the overall objective to allow renewable ammonia to be used as a clean energy system for farms.