Assessing the On-Board Storage and Use of Ammonia as a Fuel Applying the House of Quality

Abstract

Ammonia as a fuel has been known for several years, but only relatively recently has it attracted interest for study and use as a marine fuel. A forthcoming generation of sustainable, economically viable, and safe technologies for the large-scale onboard storage of ammonia as a marine fuel is being developed. This article presents a structured approach to carrying out Quality Function Deployment (QFD) for evaluating a project solution at the strategic level. The “House of Quality” (HoQ) method is utilised since it provides the means for inter-functional planning and communications among people with different problems and responsibilities. The project requirements are defined and lead to functional technical characteristics to satisfy these needs. The approach allows for the application of a weighting scheme to rank the perceived relative importance of the requirements, the difficulty involved in implementing the technologies, and the relationship between requirements and functional technical characteristics. QFD analysis prioritises safety compliance, technical specifications, emission control, and operational efficiency. The added value of this work is beyond the life of a project since it may provide assistance to the stakeholders in assessing the applicability of ammonia fuel solutions given the resources available to them. This feature will enable the justification of further investment into specific technologies based on their potential impact.