Human factors engineering principles, such as ergonomics, ought to be applied by companies working in the field of ammonia powered vessels, says a new research report from class society Lloyd’s Register. Ultimately, if the human factors risks are considered appropriately, then ammonia can provide an acceptable alternative to traditional fuel use, Lloyd’s Register concluded.
“For example, procedures must outline any new or modified planning, communication, competency / training and emergency response requirements related to ammonia. Other areas where modification, changes or new enhancement would be needed include but are not limited to, managing changes to operational and maintenance procedures and practices, personnel related matters including roles, responsibilities, staffing and interfaces with other organizations,” says Lloyd’s Register in its report, “Human factors considerations: ammonia fuel end-of-stage-report“.
Lloyd’s register noted a variety of risks of working with Ammonia and these include toxicity to humans, corrosion, fires, and explosions. Noting that, as a fuel, the use of ammonia is novel, Lloyd’s Register argued that it is “critical” that various ammonia risks – including those associated with human factors are understood.
The high impact human factors for the use of ammonia were competence, different kinds of processes, and occupational health hazards – particularly toxicity exposure, fire, noise, musculoskeletal risks, trips and falls.
Describing “competence” as being related to technical and non-technical skills, knowledge, understanding and application, the class society considered that ammonia-fuelled vessels will affect new technical skills for specific operations and maintenance, along with emergency response, while also raising the importance of non-technical skills.
Lloyd’s Register considered a variety of different kinds of process-related matters related to documentation, work practices, and human involvement in accidents. It considered that ammonia-fuelled vessels will affect policies, procedures, processes, operational and maintenance work practices, increased requirements for risk assessment, changes to emergency response, changes to management of systems, new ammonia-safety related skills (such as leak detection), and updates to metals-related precautions (because of risks from corrosion).
The class society also considered a variety of other areas, such as change management, but considered these to be of a lower impact.
Ammonia (chemical formula NH3) has one nitrogen atom joined to three hydrogen atoms by covalent bonds. It has an energy content by weight of 18.6 megajoules / kilo, which compares poorly to, say, diesel, which has an energy content of 44 mj / kg but it is pretty close to methanol at 19.9 mj / kg.
Ammonia has two main advantages. It contains no carbon whatsoever so combustion does not result in carbon dioxide emissions. Secondly, it is an internationally traded chemical with a multitude of uses, so it is already very well-understood in general terms (although as the Lloyd’s Register report indicates, there is still much to be learned about the many and varied aspects of ammonia as a maritime fuel).
As yet, there are no ammonia-powered ships on order or in operation according to class society DNV.
