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PM2.5: How going after utilities is misinformed

US carbon emissions likely to remain flat through 2050

New source performance standard - 2019

'We’re Wasting Time!'

The future of gas turbines. Is there one?

Grid-scale UPS system

EIA Annual Energy Outlook- January 2018

Grid stabilization or enabling renewables?

Why a 4.5°C raise by 2050 is an optimistic forecast

The 2017 EIA Annual Energy Outlook –“5°C or 6°C?”

Reconciling coal use with climate change

A case for carbon capture on gas too

Conference for whom? Technology developers or users?

The EIA just said that Clean Power Plan is not good enough!

We are heading toward 4°C increase in temperature

“Mission Accomplished?”

CO2 from gas turbines is the same as CO2 from coal plants

Why Clean Power Plan 2015 will not deliver 2ºC goal

Has switching to gas helped in reducing CO2 emissions?

No wonder gas turbines are selling at record levels

The CO2 Budget – Let’s talk numbers

CO2 waste disposal fee

EPA’s Clean Power Plan is only a 'start'

EPA proposes new source performance standards

Concepts NREC and Torquemeters recently launched the VAROC Air Dynamometer V85—an updated version of the variable-geometry radial outflow compressor typically used by the U.S. Military for testing turboshaft engines. The new testing tool offers a speed range up to 26,500 RPM, a power range up to 5,500 HP, and can traverse from low PP to maximum HP rating in 1 second or less.

With Concepts NREC’s in-house engineering, design, and manufacturing capabilities, the updated portable air brake now includes angle testing, a compact footprint, and lower cost. The new VAROC Air Dynamometer V85 is applicable for testing GE Aerospace’s T700 and T901 engines.

The U.S. Military, including the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines, have used the VAROC to test overhauled gas turbine engines for over 40 years, assessing safety and reliability on-base and in the field across all climates. This model is customizable for government, private, and commercial organizations that require the same portable quality and performance standards listed by the U.S. Military and the Swedish Navy.

In early July 2024, AFWERX, a technology program of the U.S. Air Force, 

granted Concepts NREC a Direct-to-Phase II contract

 valued at $1,244,301. The company will develop an integrated cooling and secondary flow design system to address challenges within the Department of the Air Force.

To support U.S. National Security goals, Concepts NREC will introduce methods for the design, layout, and analysis of turbomachinery secondary flows under the guidance of aero-engine OEMs. Critical secondary flow systems will be designed and optimized to a maturity level similar to available primary flow paths. Concepts NREC will use its CAE turbomachinery design software as the basis for development and full integration. The end-product will be applicable to all turbomachinery classes and industries—both defense and non-defense.

AFWERX and the Air Force Research Laboratory are streamlining the Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer by establishing faster proposal-to-award timelines. This expands the pool of potential applicants to include small businesses and removes bureaucratic overhead through continuous process improvements in contract execution.

Concepts NREC and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology

 collaborated to implement turbomachinery design, engineering, and analysis software tools into a new course titled “Advanced Manufacturing for Aerospace Engineers”, scheduled to debut fall 2024. The course is designed and will be taught by Dr. Zachary Cordero and Dr. Zoltán Spakovsky—it is a project-based subject that requires students to design, build, and test an electric turbopump for a notional rocket engine.

The Agile Engineering Design System and Advanced Rotating Machine Dynamics software tools will be used by instructors and students to design and develop components of a single-spool dual-impeller turbopump for assembly into a fully functional device. Through the labs’ iterative approach, students will apply concepts, principles, and processes with Concepts NREC’s software modeling tools, developing a complex, high-quality design with increased performance and precise modeling.

The tool has been re-engineered to have a smaller footprint, a better price-point, and testing on angle.

Concepts NREC Re-Engineers VAROC Air Dynamometer with New Capabilities

In an effort to reduce air pollution and carbon emissions, facilities such as the Egyptian Wood Technology Co.’s (WOTECH) plant, Africa's first medium-density fiberboard production facility, have been established. Rolls-Royce 

supplied 10 mtu Series 4000 L64 FNER gensets

 to electrify the plant that uses rice straw to produce fiberboard for buildings and furniture. Commissioned in 2024, the gensets, each rated at 2,500 kW for a 25-MW total capacity, allow the plant to operate without access to Egypt’s national grid.

“When supporting a project such as the WOTECH facility, where there is no access to the grid utility, the dependability of our mtu gas-powered gensets is paramount,” said Tobias Ostermaier, President of Stationary Power Solutions at Rolls-Royce.

Aslan Karaismailoglu, Regional Sales Manager at Rolls-Royce Solutions Augsburg, said that although this Egyptian installation is nothing unique, “it helps the customer be independent of national grid supply and avoid power interruptions, which means it safeguards production. Further, by using the heat generated from the cooling system of the gas genset and fewer power losses due to short busbar distances between the gas genset and customer consumers, the customer gets a very efficient power supply.”

Karaismailoglu said mtu gas gensets have a fuel-driven internal combustion engine, and in the case of WOTECH, “the fuel is gaseous natural gas from the local pipeline. The engine is coupled to an alternator that is turned through a shaft. This process generates electricity that is fed to the customer’s busbar, where all consumers are connected.”

The mtu Series 4000 L64 FNER genset within combined heat-and-power applications has a 44% electrical efficiency and a total efficiency of up to 90%. Compared to other power generation technologies, this natural gas-driven engine has a high potential to reduce CO

“From all fossil fuels, natural gas has the lowest CO

 emission factor,” said Michael Stipa, Head of Business Development, Rolls-Royce Power Generation. “Furthermore, biomethane and biogas, which may be considered as CO

 neutral, can be used in our gas engines. Air pollution, such as NOx and CO, are very low on lean-burn engines and can be reduced by more than 90% when using exhaust after-treatment systems.”

Stipa said these gensets also exhibit extensive time before overhaul (TBO)—84,000 hours—during continuous operation mode. In order to achieve such TBO, maintenance intervals must be followed as directed or customers can enter long-term service agreements with Rolls-Royce. From here, the company will ensure timely, specified maintenance.

Stipa said Rolls-Royce’s mtu solutions are supporting further infrastructure developments in Africa. “For example, in Tanzania, Rolls-Royce is partnering with Karimjee Group to drive power solutions. This is not limited to remote facilities with no grid connection but will enable quick economic development and thus increase wealth.”

Stipa said he’s seeing two trends emerging in remote power/areas without access to the grid:

“Small, remote locations without grid connections typically receive power via renewable installation and integration, i.e., photovoltaics (PV). Battery energy storage solutions typically support PV or, if availability is an important factor, Rolls-Royce will add a diesel genset.”

And second: Economic growth is the basis for the development of wealth. “In many areas, the build-up of energy infrastructure must match the pace of economic growth. In many areas, building up energy infrastructure is not meeting the pace of economic growth. Therefore, power and grid supply become a bottleneck, even if the grid is available in general. For these cases, additional power generation demand from industrial parks can be supplied via smaller, decentralized power solutions.”

For example, Rolls-Royce partnered with Mikano International to develop an industrial park in Lagos, Nigeria, for Eko Atlantic’s IPP Project.

Michael Stipa and Aslan Karaismailoglu of Rolls-Royce share how mtu gas-fired gensets help customers operate independently from the national grid.

Rolls-Royce Gensets: Low-Carbon Power in Remote Locations

Over the past few years, several trends have emerged in the turbomachinery industry. Decarbonization has been a big driver, challenging the limits of technology and spurring innovation. Supply and demand are two other industry drivers as is the case with LNG and modular and mobile solutions. 2024 further magnified these trends, as industry experts weighed in on the fate of gas turbines, the struggles with energy transport and storage, the booming LNG market, and the rise in carbon capture. This year was also host to many product launches supporting net-zero momentum.

Check out the 2024 macro and micro trends.

In a world increasingly integrating renewable energies like solar and wind, the role of gas turbines in the short- and long-term has been in question. But, as many industry experts have pointed out over the past year, gas turbines are here to stay and offer a hybrid solution to the uptick in renewable-based power.

“Gas turbines enable flexibility,” said 

Giuseppe Tilocca, Scientific Officer at ETN Global

. “In decentralized energy systems, clean and dispatchable solutions such as gas turbines enable the energy transition—in fact, there is no energy transition without dispatchable solutions. … To maintain electricity and meet demand in Europe, we’ll need more than double the current flexibility by 2030 and five times more by 2050. There are not many available, affordable, and scalable alternatives for gas turbines’ long-term flexibility.”

Tony Brough, President of Dora Partners and Company

, reassures that “gas turbines are not going away; the renewable offset/peaking market continues to have long-term potential,” he said. “Ten years from now, the gas turbine market will still be going strong.”

Renewables should account for 30 - 40% of a large grid, according to 

Mark Axford of Axford Turbine Consultants

, “But gas turbines are an essential part of creating a reliable, affordable, and sustainable grid.”

Brough predicts that $22.3 billion will be spent on aeroderivatives between 2024 and 2033—GE/Baker Hughes will gain almost $20 billion of that share. The aeroderivative aftermarket will generate $31.5 billion over the next decade; $23 billion of that will be spent on GE/Baker Hughes machines.

Hybrid systems that combine gas turbines with renewable energy play to the strengths of both technologies, “providing reliable baseload power from gas turbines and intermittent clean energy from renewable sources,” said 

Carter Palmer, an Industrial & Marine Turbine Analyst at Forecast International.

 “Hybrid systems enhance grid stability, optimize energy efficiency, and reduce fossil fuel reliance.”

So, what does this mean for gas turbines? Palmer said they have the potential to gain even more popularity.

Alternative forms of energy, like hydrogen and ammonia, are garnering increased attention as turbomachinery seeks to decarbonize on an international scale, but there are several challenges associated with transporting and storing them.

“Unfortunately, hydrogen itself has a lot of nasty characteristics,” 

said Klaus Brun, Director of R&D at Ebara Elliott Energy and Rainer Kurz, Principal at RKSBenergy.

 “It's hard to compress, highly flammable, as a gas it’s not easy to deal with, etc. From a transportation and storage perspective, it leaks, has many safety issues, causes hydrogen embrittlement, etc., making it difficult to transport."

“Another option for transporting and storing gaseous hydrogen is lowering the temperature of hydrogen to form a liquid, like what is currently done with LNG for transport by tanker or ship, seems attractive,” the duo said. “The downside of liquefaction is the amount of energy needed to reach the necessary low temperature that has to be maintained during any transport process. This means the energy required for the refrigeration process to liquefy hydrogen is equivalent to 30 - 40% of the energy content of the hydrogen itself.”

Creating hydrogen-containing compounds, such as gaseous methane or liquid organic carriers, is another option. But right now, the hot transport vehicle of choice for hydrogen is ammonia. “It can be transported as a liquid, which makes the transport process efficient,” 

. “Certainly, making ammonia is well understood, as it is a key ingredient in fertilizer manufacturing. Having hydrogen available in fertilizer production avoids several production steps that ultimately lead to making ammonia, such as in the well-known Haber Bosch process.”

From a handling perspective: “Ammonia is a very toxic gas. If you touch it in liquid form, it causes skin burns rapidly. In vapor form, even at less than 100 PPMs, it’s very irritating, so it creates a lot of issues from the handling perspective,” 

. Transporting ammonia is difficult because ammonia is toxic and when combined with water becomes caustic: At ambient conditions, ammonia forms a toxic gas. In liquid form, under pressure, risks of exposure increase because large quantities have the potential to rapidly release into the air.

“A pipeline infrastructure is needed for the hydrogen supply of larger power plants,” said 

Peter Kutne, Head of the Department Gas Turbine at the Institute of Combustion Technology of the German Aerospace Center (DLR).

Hydrogen storage solutions are critical to buffer mismatches between production and consumption. But in terms of cost, “storage systems based on pressure vessels or multi-tube arrangements are only suitable for small- to mid-sized peak-load gas turbine power plants. Underground salt caverns offer the most promising option for large-scale hydrogen storage for mid-merit and large gas turbines,” Kutne said.

Carbon capture and storage (CCS) increased significantly during 2024. 

According to the Global CCS Institute’s 

, there was a 102% increase in CCS facilities in the pipeline compared to 2022: As of April 2024, there are 564 commercial CCS facilities in the project pipeline. North America is leading the way: The United States leads in deployment with 73 new CCS facilities entering the pipeline in 2023. Top applications in the United States are ethanol, ammonia, hydrogen, fertilizer production, power generation, and heat.

November and December filled our news feed with global carbon-capture project announcements. A few examples include:

 at the Brevik cement facility in Norway;

 partnered with an Australian company to develop and deploy post-combustion capture technology.

Spencer Schecht, Senior Business Development Lead, Honor Iosif, Public Affairs Manager, and Joey Minervini, Public Affairs Manager at the Global CCS Institute, said: “The Institute is seeing accelerating momentum for CCS in industries beyond the lower-cost applications of gas processing, ethanol, and ammonia production. CCS is being integrated into industries such as cement, steel, chemical plants, power plants, and even carbon-removal technologies, such as direct air capture, bioenergy with CCS, and waste-to-energy plants.”

Danny Rice, CEO of NET Power, spoke at this year’s 

 about his company’s work in CCS. Baker Hughes is partnering with NET Power to develop sCO

 turboexpanders and other pumping and compression technology to reach near-zero-emissions utility-scale power using natural gas. “We need to reduce carbon in a way that assures the energy supply,” said Rice. “The incentives within the Inflation Reduction Act make it attractive to create CCS projects at low cost.”

One of the challenges of integrating CCS is cost, so companies are exploring ways to reduce operational and capital costs. GE Vernova conducted a FEED study to reduce CCS costs and its overall footprint through its 

 (EGR) system, which increases the concentration of CO

The study findings, released by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management, found integrating GE Vernova’s EGR system, capable of capturing up to 95% of CO

could reduce more than 6% of the total cost of the carbon-capture facility compared to installing carbon capture without the EGR system

could reduce total carbon-capture operational costs per year (total costs include reductions to capital and operating costs)

The industry has been adapting technologies to support net-zero goals, and throughout 2024, several exciting turbomachinery advancements were announced.

 will operate on 100% renewable hydrogen with commissioning slated for early 2026.

“The new design … overcomes the challenges of hydrogen’s higher flame speed through precise design enhancements to the fuel nozzle, optimized water injection schedules, and advanced control modifications,” said Midhat Mirabi, Managing Director at GE Vernova’s Gas Power Aeroderivatives New Units. The unit is equipped with safety features, such as nitrogen purge systems and hydrogen fire detection systems.

, Palmer said, “While existing turbines can be retrofitted with hydrogen-compatible burners, the combustion characteristics of hydrogen differ significantly from natural gas, necessitating modifications to ensure efficient and stable operation.”

GE Vernova and IHI are developing a two-stage combustion system with a rich dome to resolve the ammonia-NOx problem, building on IHI’s 2-MW gas turbine using 100% liquid ammonia.

“GE Vernova’s technology either runs at or near stoichiometric—i.e., fuel and air in perfect chemical balance—or on the lean side, but the rich side of the stoichiometric dome—fuel-rich and oxygen lean—provides less air for the nitrogen to turn into NOx when using ammonia,” explained 

Dr. Jeffrey Goldmeer, Global Hydrogen Value Chain Leader at GE Vernova

 to accelerate the energy transition and close technological gaps. The three technologies are in the early stages of commercialization: an advanced rotor hydrogen compressor, a Turbo Heater, and a rotating olefins cracker (ROC).

The STC-SVm single-shaft turbocompressorutilizes a multi-stage rotor that permits circumferential speeds at the impeller outer diameter of up to 600 m/s without exceeding material stress limits, allowing a reduced footprint by up to 50% compared to a conventional turbocompressor solution in low-mole-weight gas applications.

The Turbo Heater employs high-speed gas dynamics to directly heat gas through a shock wave train. The machine is driven by an electric motor and does not require the direct burning of fossil fuels or a heat exchanger.

The ROC is driven by an electric motor or a hydrogen-fired gas turbine. Kinetic energy produced via rotation is converted to heat through a controlled shock wave, creating a temperature rise in the gas to initiate pyrolysis reactions without heat transfer from heat exchanger surfaces.

 experienced significant shake-ups in 2024, with the Russia-Ukraine conflict and the Department of Energy’s LNG export pause disrupting production, imports, and exports. Despite these and other events, 

 experienced a shift starting in late 2024, as a wave of new liquefaction projects came online.

In April 2024, the U.S. Energy Information Administration anticipated a modest increase in U.S. LNG exports for the year (2%) followed by significant growth in 2025 (an additional 18%). This growth is mirrored by expectations for a rise in U.S. natural gas exports by pipeline (3% in 2024, 4% in 2025) and a slight dip and recovery in pipeline imports in 2024 and 2025, respectively.

The United States, Australia, and Qatar produced three-fifths of the world’s LNG in 2023, with the United States leading the pack as the top global LNG exporter after Russia fell behind when the Nord Stream pipeline exploded in 2022.

The Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis expects global LNG production capacity to grow by roughly 193 MTPA from 2024 - 2028, rising from ~474 MTPA of nameplate capacity at the beginning of 2024 to 666.5 MTPA by the end of 2028—the fastest capacity growth in the history of the global LNG industry, representing a 40% increase in five years.

A couple of trends have emerged from this sector of the industry: modularization and e-LNG. “LNG projects are requiring modularization to eliminate risk in the field, i.e., stick built, in addition to a decline in available field labor,” said Joel Schubert, Director of Business Development LNG at Siemens Energy. “We also see a trend for future LNG projects going forward with e-LNG (electric motor drives) to reduce emissions and their carbon footprint.”

launch of NMBL LNG: a modular solution for mid-scale gas liquefaction. It consists of modules capable of processing from 0.8 up to ~2 MTPA each and is based on the single-mixed refrigerant liquefaction process. Each NMBL liquefaction train includes a process module, a turbo or electric motor-compressor for the mixed refrigerant, the surge vessel for refrigeration storage, the cold box of brazed aluminum heat exchanger type, and the e-room.

“The global LNG market is responding with an unprecedented surge of additional export capacity,” said Andrea Intieri, LNG Platform Leader of Gas Technology Equipment, Industrial, and Energy Technology at Baker Hughes. “According to Baker Hughes, over the next three-year period (2024 - 2026) approximately 100 MTPA of liquefaction capacity is expected to reach a final investment decision.”

A micro trend our team has observed is the use of alternative fuels such as methane, ammonia, and methanol to propel marine vessels.

In September 2024, Amogy’s carbon-free, ammonia-powered maritime vessel—the 

—successfully completed its maiden voyage on a Hudson River tributary, upstream from New York City. The vessel is a tugboat originally built in 1957, equipped with Amogy’s ammonia-to-electrical power system. In the coming months, the company will release a case study with additional technical details.

“Ammonia is the world’s second most produced chemical, with around 20 million tons moving around the globe through 200 ports each year,” said Seonghoon Woo, CEO and Co-Founder of Amogy. “With that track record, shifting the industry mindset to use it as a fuel is completely achievable and can happen at an accelerated pace.”

In late 2024, MAN Energy Solutions announced a significant development for its marine-based ammonia engine work: the 

. With funding from the German government and extensive industry partnerships, the project aims to develop a four-stroke, medium-speed, dual-fuel test engine that operates on ammonia for large-scale ship applications. This follows the design and testing of its first two-stroke ammonia engine.

“We are using synergies between two-stroke and four-stroke in both directions with a deep technological exchange," said Christian Kunkel, Head of Combustion Development and Four-Stroke R&D at MAN Energy. “[In terms of ammonia], we can copy and adapt some of the technical concepts and ideas from two-stroke engine development, mainly in the fields of safety concepts, compatibility of materials, and lube oil."

The first AmmoniaMot project focused on fundamental investigations regarding the combustion of ammonia in an internal combustion engine. The main takeaways from the AmmoniaMot project [that apply to developing four-stroke engines] were:

ammonia seems to be a suitable fuel to operate four-stroke medium-speed engines

a greenhouse gas reduction potential of up to 90%

This year, the turbomachinery industry was characterized by several trends—from technological innovation to gas turbines’ supporting role in renewably integrated grids.

Top Turbomachinery Trends of 2024

In light of Rotating Machinery Services (RMS) being acquired, the company's 

, said Arcline's industry and business-model experience and growth-centric focus are an ideal match for his company's management team, employees, and customers. 

“Our success has been made possible by the work and dedication of the entire team at RMS, and we look forward to working with Arcline to continue executing our vision to redefine the aftermarket turbomachinery business through parts offering, service, expertise, and customer focus,” Bartos said. 

BMO Wealth Management served as Arcline's financial advisor for the acquisition of the parts and services company specializing in the aftermarket turbomachinery industry. 

“RMS demonstrates key traits we look for in our portfolio companies as a provider of mission-critical, highly engineered, non-discretionary aftermarket parts and services to a massive installed base of critical infrastructure,” said Arcline. “The company has a reputation among customers and employees and is led by an experienced and knowledgeable management team. We are confident the growth-oriented culture at RMS will fit well within the Arcline portfolio, and we are excited to partner with the management team for the Company’s next chapter of growth.”

 in Pennsylvania, which handles machinery turnaround, overhauls, rerates, remaining life estimations, and failure and performance assessments. The location contained a machinery assembly bay, dynamic balancing, blasting booth, machining shop, tungsten inert gas welding up to 250 amps, and OEM technical support.

The Bethlehem shop is home to roughly 20% of RMS’ 350 overall employees who provide guidance on proper machinery operation and maintenance, review operational data from various sites, and suggests future repairs and upgrades. It primarily houses its expander and axial compressor product lines, but steam turbines, power turbines, and centrifugal compressors are also present.

 (BSU), integrating the company with its own engineering, repair, and maintenance services on critical compression equipment. The collaboration with BSU brings together expert personnel and additional customer relationships, reinforcing RMS’ aftermarket upgrades, repair, maintenance, and rebuilding/overhaul services for turbomachinery.

BSU is an independent aftermarket turbine blade and parts manufacturer focused on producing new blading for all models of gas turbines, steam turbines, and compressors. It offers precision engineering, in-house tooling, quality assurance, and customer service, expanding RMS’ capabilities and providing customers access to high-quality blades.

In June 2024, engineering and metrology teams at 

RMS performed a drop-in blower replacement

 on an AC Compressor-brand D54 centrifugal compressor. The teams scanned the current blower during operation at RMS’ Pearland Works facility, revealing critical geometries such as suction and discharge nozzles and baseplate feet without interfering with the customer’s production schedule.

The digital overlay provided by the real-time scan prepared RMS for the virtual assembly process in the Prevu3D platform. A virtual overlay of the replacement blower was compared to the original scan data, allowing engineers to understand how the component would fit into the system upon installation. The scan comparison established the need for precise baseplate machining for a seamless fit on the new blower—RMS partnered with a field machining company to optimize baseplate geometry for efficient installation and optimal shaft end alignment.

Rotating Machinery Services conducts specialty repair, maintenance, overhaul, and custom manufacturing for critical OEM and non-OEM turbomachinery infrastructure.

Arcline Purchases Rotating Machinery Services

In this episode of the TurboTime Podcast, Myth Busters Klaus Burn of Ebara Elliott Energy, and Rainer Kurz of RKSBenergy LLC, discuss root-cause analysis (RCA), including what it is, the philosophy and methodologies behind it, what actions should and should not be taken, and more.

Brun said: “RCA, some folks call it root-cause failure analysis, looks at something that failed: Your machine had a catastrophic failure, or you’re missing performance by a percent or two—something is not as you would expect in a compressor or gas or steam turbine, and you want to figure out what it is. So, you perform an RCA based on certain symptoms. In most cases, RCA starts with a review of the machine’s operation that may have preceded the failure and in some cases a metallurgical investigation, which is one of the best indicators as to what failed. It can indicate it was high-cycle fatigue, sudden overload, corrosion or erosion, for example. Then you figure out what excitation may have caused the high-cycle fatigue or what in your process gas may have caused corrosion or erosion.”

Kurz said: “In a way, this is a bit like a detective story. You find something failed, aka the dead body, and then you gather evidence. One of the key things in root-cause failure analysis is that you not only gather evidence, but you also document it. One of the key problems when these reports are written is you have a failure in 2015, for example, and you conduct an RCA, and the next similar failure isn’t for another 10 years. (These events don’t happen that often.) And if you haven't documented what you did for the first one, you can’t use it as a starting point.”

Klaus Brun and Rainer Kurz discuss root-cause analysis—what it is, its methodologies, and why it’s so important to managing turbomachines.

TurboTime Podcast: Root Cause Analysis with the Myth Busters 

During this episode of the TurboTime Podcast, Klaus Brun and Rainer Kurz discuss how hydrogen is transported and its use as an energy carrier. They then discuss how ammonia is produced, its advantages and limitations, and for what industries it’s a suitable solution.

“We’ve previously talked about hydrogen in some of our Myth Buster podcasts and how it’s relevant to a decarbonized energy economy as an energy carrier. Unfortunately, hydrogen itself has a lot of nasty characteristics: it's hard to compress, highly flammable, as a gas it’s not easy to deal with, etc. From a transportation and storage perspective, it leaks, has many safety issues, causes hydrogen embrittlement, etc., making it difficult to transport.”

“Making ammonia is nothing new. We know how to how the process works, but it is an energy-intensive process. But ammonia is a very toxic gas. It causes skin burns rapidly if you touch it in liquid form. In vapor form, even at less than 100 PPMs, it’s very irritating, so it creates a lot of issues from the handling perspective.”

In this episode of the TurboTime podcast, Myth Buster Klaus Brun and Rainer Kurz discuss ammonia. 

Pete Baldwin

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