Komatsu and AFC cooperate on ammonia powered engines

Komatsu and UK-based fuel cell specialist AFC Energy have signed an agreement to integrate AFC’s ammonia cracking technology with Komatsu’s diesel engines to create a new ammonia-fuelled engine platform for use in construction and mining machinery.

The US$2 million investment agreement, also involving Komatsu’s Industrial Power Alliance business, will assess the feasibility of a combustion engine fuelled by liquid ammonia that requires minimal changes to the diesel engine.

Taisuke Kusaba, chief technology officer of Komatsu Ltd, said; “We are very pleased to be working with AFC Energy and its leading ammonia cracking technology to further explore measures to decarbonise our fleets of equipment.

Image of AFC Energy’s H5 ammonia cracker. (Image: AFC)

“Our goal is to achieve a sustainable society and facilitate business growth. We envisage AFC Energy’s ammonia cracking technology as potentially playing an important role in fulfilling our goal.”

John Wilson, the CEO of AFC Energy Plc, said Komatsu’s commitment to AFC’s ammonia cracker technology “provides further industry peer validation, as we continue to commercialise and develop AFC Energy’s offering.

“This JDA further underpins our strategy to deliver commercially viable hydrogen-to-power solutions without government subsidy through the introduction of our technology into an additional vertical with a significant addressable market.”

In addition to its ammonia cracking technology, AFC Energy has developed several mobile hydrogen fuel-cell powered generators. It has a 50/50 joint venture with UK rental business Speedy Hire to rent fuel cell gensets to the construction sector and other customers.