Bureau Veritas (BV) has released an Ammonia-Prepared notation and has developed a Rule Note for ammonia as a marine fuel to support ship owners, designers, shipyards, and charterers in advancing their journeys toward using ammonia and a zero carbon future.

Ammonia-Prepared is applicable to new-builds and certifies that a ship has been designed and constructed to be converted to use ammonia as fuel at a later date. The notation targets the spaces and structural components that will accommodate future ammonia fuel tanks, fuel handling equipment and ammonia vapor treatment installations. Ammonia-Prepared also covers specific requirements for the conversion of engines and boilers from using fuel oil, LNG or multiple fuels to ammonia. The notation was developed in collaboration with different stakeholders including ship owners, equipment makers, designers and shipyards building on our expertise across the value chain.

Ammonia-Prepared is a prelude to a full Rule Note on ammonia as fuel: NR 671. It will primarily concern the safety aspects of managing ammonia in storage tanks, fuel-piping systems, and during bunkering.

Through these breakthrough notation and guidelines, Bureau Veritas helps to address the challenges of using ammonia in the shipping industry:

• Its lower energy density compared to other fuels – about half that of LNG and about a third of fuel oil
• Its comparatively poor combustibility properties
• Its toxicity, requiring stringent measures to protect crew and/or passengers from exposure

Bureau Veritas recently issued an Ammonia-Prepared approval in principle to GTT related to containment of ammonia in membrane MARK III tanks.

Laurent Leblanc, Senior Vice President Technical & Operations at Bureau Veritas, commented: ”Ammonia is considered a key fuel on the road to the IMO’s 2030 and 2050 GHG and carbon reduction targets. We are working to advance its safe development and are currently involved in joint industry projects to assess the risks of ammonia. The release of these new notations is a major step to help ship-owners, designers, shipyards and charterers make progress in their sustainability journeys and inform their future investments.”

Bureau Veritas is addressing the challenges of sustainability and the energy transition by providing rules and guidelines to the safety, risk and performance requirements for innovation in future fuels and propulsion systems. Forthcoming rules from Bureau Veritas in 2021 will address methanol, ammonia and hydrogen as marine fuels.

Source: Bureau Veritas