Japan's MHI completes combustion test of ammonia single-fuel burner

Japan's Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) has successfully completed a combustion test of an ammonia single-fuel burner as part of its development of ammonia utilisation technology for thermal power generation boilers, it said on November 28.

The testing was conducted using combustion test equipment at the Nagasaki District Research & Innovation Center in Nagasaki, MHI Group's development base for energy decarbonisation technologies that commenced operations in August this year.

MHI conducted a single-fuel burner test using an ammonia burner, and a high-ratio ammonia co-firing test with coal. In both cases, the tests confirmed stable combustion, reduced nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions compared to coal firing, and complete combustion of the ammonia.

Ammonia is a clean fuel that does not emit CO2 when burned, and it is expected to play an important role in the decarbonization of the power generation sector.

MHI said plans to conduct a combustion test using an actual size burner in a larger 4t/h combustion test furnace. Based on these results, MHI will then take steps for the application of the burner it has developed for thermal power plants in Japan and overseas.