Ammonia aircraft limited by NOx and huge efficiency losses

Liquid ammonia could show its worth in decarbonizing air travel as soon as next year, according to Aviation H2. The company claims that the use of the fuel in a turbofan engine is the “best route to carbon-free flight,” due to its high energy density and medium liquification temperature. Huge NOx emissions and a sub-15% round trip efficiency, however, may provide insurmountable obstacles to commercialization. The Australian start-up has just completed a three-month feasibility study, where it found that the stored weight of energy in liquid ammonia – when including tank requirements – is significantly lower than that of gaseous hydrogen. It is also more energy-dense than liquid hydrogen, when considering the energy required to hold the temperatures needed to…