MSc thesis. 30 hp: Small ammonia cracker for hydrogen refuelling stations

Scania is one of the leading European manufacturers of heavy-duty vehicles. The 2024 global sales were 96'400 trucks, 11'200 engines and 5'600 buses, with 45 % of the total outside Europe. When it comes to global warming, we already contribute to the necessary reduction of fossil CO2 emissions with a portfolio of solutions for electrification, biofuels and hydrogen fuel, to serve different customer needs in different sales regions.

Background:

The fuel energy of low-carbon hydrogen from renewable or nuclear sources, from geologic reservoirs ("natural hydrogen") or from fossil methane with carbon capture and storage can be transported as ammonia (NH3), which is an established bulk chemical. It is synthesised with hydrogen and extracted atmospheric nitrogen and transported as liquid from -34 °C at 0 bar-g to +65 °C at 29 bar-g by ship, railway and truck. Ammonia's advantages are a high volumetric energy density and comparatively cheap tanks. The disadvantages are its slight toxicity, comparable to carbon monoxide, and its adverse combustion properties.

During an ongoing thesis project on the supply cost of low-carbon ammonia the finding was that (i) it is a cheap option to transport hydrogen's fuel energy (ii) it is already set as fuel for certain ship types (iii) it will due to its toxicity most likely not become a fuel for road vehicles (iv) for locations without hydrogen pipeline, it can be used to supply road vehicles if the cracking takes places in the hydrogen refuelling station (HRS).

In this M.Sc. thesis project (30 hp) for one or two students, a techno-economic assessment of a small ammonia cracker for HRS shall be conducted, where e. g. proton ceramic electrochemical reactors (PCER) are a recent development. The task is to assess for this new type of small, decentralised crackers the technical maturity and to estimate their capital and operational cost. Examples can be found e. g. at DOI 10.3030/101112144 or 10.1039/C9SE01111K. The final outcome shall be an estimate of the cost add‑on [money / energy] between the station's ammonia tank and the vehicles' hydrogen tanks.

Target:

The outcome shall be a public English thesis with a techno-economic assessment of small ammonia crackers for hydrogen refuelling stations. The thesis shall also serve as technical report for Traton, thus for the companies International, MAN T&B, Scania and Volkswagen T&B.

Assignment:

Thorough literature research on technologies suited for small‑scale, distributed ammonia cracking and on examples for the theoretical or practical implementation.

For the two most promising ammonia cracking technologies, from station ammonia tank to vehicle hydrogen tank:

- Investigation of technology, cost and energy consumption of the single components.

- Layout of integrated stations incl. hydrogen dispensing at 350, 500 or 700 bar.

- Process flow diagrams.

- Estimation of the capital and operation cost add-on.

Check for plausibility of the results by comparison with literature values.

Presenting and reporting of the intermediate and final results.

Education & organisation:

Studies: Chemical Engineering, energy engineering, industrial engineering.

Is a must: Knowledge of chemical processes, thermodynamics, engineering economics.

Is a bonus: Knowledge of ammonia cracking and gas processing.

Number of students: One or two.

Start of work: 2025-09-01

Estimated duration: 22 weeks, until 2026-01-30. In average min. 2 office-days per week

Language of work: English, Swedish

Location of work: Södertälje, Stockholm County, Sweden

Students from outside Stockholm County can rent a subsidized Scania apartment in Södertälje.

Per student, payment before taxes: 20'000 SEK at the start, 20'000 SEK after the final report was approved by Scania.

Per student, travel expenses: 1 to 2 roundtrips between study location and Södertälje.

Contact persons and supervisors:

Antonius Kies, Energy Economy / Range. Tel. 0046 8 553 - 724 24

Anders Jensen, Energy Economy. Tel. 0046 8 553 - 859 13

Application:

Please enclose personal letter, CV and the list of grades from the latest M.Sc. studies.

The applications will be checked continuously.

A background check and security interview will be conducted for this position.

Publication date

Until the position is staffed or latest until 2025-06-01.