Ammonia fuel cells have broad application prospects and global R&D enthusiasm is rising

Ammonia fuel cell, also known as ammonia-air fuel cell, refers to a new type of fuel cell that uses ammonia as a fuel source and can directly convert the chemical energy of the fuel into electrical energy. Ammonia fuel cells have the advantages of high specific energy, green environmental protection, high conversion efficiency, wide power range, and large capacity. They have broad application prospects in portable mobile power supplies, home power supplies, large power stations, aerospace, new energy vehicles and other fields. According to different technical principles, ammonia fuel cells can be divided into two categories: indirect ammonia fuel cells (IAFC) and direct ammonia fuel cells (DAFC).

According to the “2023-2028 China Ammonia Fuel Cell Industry Market In-depth Research and Development Prospects Forecast Report》shows that the fuel source of the ammonia fuel cell is ammonia gas. Ammonia is the hydride of nitrogen and is a hydrogen-rich carrier that is easily soluble in water. Compared with hydrogen, it has the advantages of convenient transportation, low production cost, and long-term storage. In recent years, with in-depth research and technological progress, the application scope of ammonia fuel has been continuously expanded, and it has broad application prospects in fields such as ship transportation and power generation. However, at present, my country’s research on ammonia fuel is in its infancy, and technological development is not yet mature, resulting in low market penetration of ammonia fuel cells.

The ammonia fuel cell industry has high technical barriers. my country still has technical difficulties in the efficient integration of battery systems and the preparation of high-performance low-temperature and low-pressure ammonia synthesis. In 2022, the National Ministry of Science and Technology issued the “2022 Project Application Guidelines for “Hydrogen Energy Technology” Key Special Projects”. The document clearly mentioned the research directions and assessment indicators of direct ammonia fuel cell technology based on solid electrolytes and key technologies for ammonia-doped clean and efficient combustion. With continuous technological innovation and breakthroughs, the development speed of my country’s ammonia fuel cell industry will further accelerate.

From the product segmentation point of view, indirect ammonia fuel cells refer to decomposing ammonia into hydrogen and nitrogen before transferring energy to the fuel cell; direct ammonia fuel cells refer to oxidizing ammonia under the action of a catalyst and transferring energy directly to the fuel cell. . At present, direct ammonia fuel cells are the main direction of ammonia fuel cell research, and global research and development enthusiasm is high.

Japan is the first country in the world to start developing ammonia fuel cells and has successfully developed a 1kW-class high-power ammonia fuel cell. In recent years, Chinese enterprises and scientific research institutions have also made many new developments in the research and application of ammonia fuel cells. In January 2023, my country’s first ammonia-hydrogen fuel cell bus was officially launched at Fuzhou University.

Industry analysts said that ammonia fuel cells have excellent performance and are expected to be widely used in many fields in the future. As research continues to deepen, the industry The development trend will continue to improve. At present, my country’s ammonia fuel cell industry is still in its infancy, and the market penetration rate is low. Driven by positive factors such as national policy support and technological innovation of local enterprises, the development space of my country’s ammonia fuel cell industry will further expand in the future.