Iowa Energy Center

Diesel Engines Powered by Ammonia-DME

Iowa Energy Center is funding research at Iowa State University on diesel engine performance using a direct-injection liquid ammonia-DME mix.
The motivation to use direct-injection scheme is to confine combustion near the center of the combustion chamber, thus minimizing exhaust ammonia emissions. Liquid ammonia is mixed with DME (dimethyl ether), the latter to provide ignition energy to initiate ammonia combustion. A high-pressure mixing system was developed to mix ammonia and DME. A new fuel injection system was also implemented. Various ratios of ammonia and DME were tested along with different injectors and injection strategies (ie, single injection and double injections).
It was demonstrated that the engine is operable using ammonia-DME. Exhaust emissions of particulate matter and various gaseous pollutants including ammonia were measured and they are within reasonable ranges.

NH3 Fuel Conference Papers

2011: Performance of a Compression-Ignition Engine Using Direct Injection of Liquid Ammonia/DME Mixture [PDF]

Further Information

Iowa Energy Center, Ames, IA, USA
Contact: Norm Olson, 515-382-1774.

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