WinGD and SHI to focus on ammonia as fuel

Swiss engine firm WinGD and Korean shipbuilder Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to collaborate on the development and installation of dual-fuelled ammonia engines on new ships in the future. The MoU, signed at Gastech in Singapore, focuses on WinGD's X-DF-A engine series.

The partners will cooperate on preparing the X-DF-A for integration with wider ammonia fuel systems and auxiliary machinery across various ship types, including oil tankers, container ships, and ammonia carriers. The collaboration aligns with WinGD’s existing strategy of having X-DF-A ammonia engines available from the beginning of 2025.

WinGD plans to begin validation of its ammonia-fuelled engine concept on single- and multi-cylinder test engines in Winterthur and Shanghai later this year. The tests will follow combustion concept testing that began in 2021 and will include simulation and rig tests to understand ammonia emission characteristics and injection requirements, the engine firm said. 

The company's director, Sales, Volkmar Galke, said: "This collaboration offers WinGD the opportunity to participate in the future fuel preparations of one of the world's biggest and most respected builders of high-quality vessels. The aim is to prepare engine and vessel designs as well as fuel system integration specifications that will lead to X-DF-A engines being deployed on a wide range of SHI-built, ammonia-fuelled vessels."

Haeki Jang, the shipbuilder's CTO, commented: "Working with WinGD to prepare its ammonia engines for integration with newbuild projects in key vessel segments will ensure that SHI can offer customers the future fuel vessel solutions they need to meet their decarbonisation targets."

The X-DF-A, like its methanol-fuelled counterpart, the X-DF-M, will operate on a high-pressure diesel-cycle combustion process with liquid ammonia fuel injection supported by a small volume of pilot fuel.