{"id":1125,"date":"2026-08-07T07:04:42","date_gmt":"2026-08-07T06:04:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/ceat\/?p=1125"},"modified":"2026-08-09T18:59:06","modified_gmt":"2026-08-09T17:59:06","slug":"ammonia-energy-fuelling-guangzhou-maritime-university-enterprises-for-civil-mobility","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/ceat\/ammonia-energy-fuelling-guangzhou-maritime-university-enterprises-for-civil-mobility\/","title":{"rendered":"Ammonia Energy – Fuelling Guangzhou Maritime University’s Venture for Civil Mobility"},"content":{"rendered":"

Methanol is recognised as an excellent low-carbon fuel, offering high flame speed and high oxygen content. Ammonia, as a zero-carbon fuel, produces no CO\u2082 upon combustion and benefits from easy liquefaction, low storage and transport costs, and well-established supply chains. However,\u00a0ammonia suffers from low burning velocity, difficult ignition, and poor combustion stability.<\/p>\n

Dr. Xiao and\u00a0Professor Valera-Medina have ingeniously combined methanol and ammonia in an internal combustion engine, leveraging their complementary physicochemical properties. Methanol\u2019s high reactivity compensates for ammonia\u2019s slow combustion rate, while ammonia\u2019s carbon-free nature offsets methanol\u2019s carbon emissions \u2013 achieving significant CO\u2082 reduction without sacrificing power performance. Remarkably, the pair also complement each other in corrosion prevention: methanol can be aggressive towards engine components (especially aluminium alloys), whereas ammonia induces a protective film on metal surfaces and neutralises acidic impurities such as formic acid generated by methanol\u2019s hygroscopicity. When blended, ammonia mitigates methanol\u2019s corrosivity. One fuel provides \u201cpunch\u201d, the other provides \u201cstability\u201d \u2013 and together they resolve a long-standing durability challenge. This methanol-ammonia blend truly represents a \u201cgolden couple\u201d on the road to decarbonising internal combustion engines, offering a practical, cost-effective, and innovative pathway from high-carbon to zero-carbon propulsion.<\/p>\n

This research leverages the Guangdong Provincial Engineering Research Centre for Marine Energy Saving and Safety Supervision at Guangzhou Maritime University, which has long-standing expertise in methanol-ammonia\u00a0dual-fuel combustion mechanisms, ignition optimisation, and engine combustion. This is combined with Cardiff University\u2019s cutting-edge research on low-carbon fuel injection strategies and high efficient combustion control. The teams innovatively integrated a methanol-ammonia internal combustion engine with a battery pack on a lightweight bicycle platform, demonstrating the combined performance of combustion-driven and electric-driven modes. This reduces the dependence of transport equipment on grid charging and lowers life-cycle carbon emissions. A series of foundational collaborative studies have been published in:<\/p>\n

Energy & Fuels. 2026, 40, 12517\u221212527 (https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1021\/acs.energyfuels.6c00035)<\/p>\n

International Journal of Energy Research, 2026; 2026:4120752 (https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1155\/er\/4120752)<\/p>\n

Professor Agustin Valera-Medina commented, \u201cThis research demonstrates the application of green alcohols and ammonia in internal combustion engines coupled with electric drive on a micro-mobility platform. It provides a practical and innovative route for the large-scale deployment of new green-fuel power systems \u2013 for instance, in marine and automotive applications \u2013 and represents a promising direction for future low-carbon transport. By improving combustion systems and enhancing reconversion, emissions will be eventually fully eliminated, hence enabling clean emissions profiles suitable for civil fuelling activities.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n

Low-carbon energy research team of GMU with Professor Agustin Valera-Medina. The two teams are now further optimising ammonia blending ratios and system integration schemes, aiming to promote the wider application of ammonia\/methanol and other green fuels across maritime, land, aviation, and industrial sectors.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n

Collaborative research teams led by Dr. Xiao from Guangzhou Maritime University (GMU) and Professor Agustin Valera-Medina from the Cardiff University has tested a hybrid power system for bicycles using a methanol-ammonia fuel blend to replace conventional petrol. This marks a significant milestone in the two institutions\u2019 joint efforts to advance sustainable low-carbon energy technologies.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Methanol is recognised as an excellent low-carbon fuel, offering high flame speed and high oxygen content. Ammonia, as a zero-carbon fuel, produces no CO\u2082 upon combustion and benefits from easy […]","protected":false},"author":7050,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1125","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-https-blogs-cardiff-ac-uk-ceat-news"],"meta_box":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/ceat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1125","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/ceat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/ceat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/ceat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7050"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/ceat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1125"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/ceat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1125\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1128,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/ceat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1125\/revisions\/1128"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/ceat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1125"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/ceat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1125"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/ceat\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1125"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}