Pittsburgh-based software and simulation company Ansys Inc. has been selected to provide its simulation technology for a new research project that is backed by $10 million in funding from NASA.
The research project is being conducted by the University of Central Florida, and it will look to develop zero-carbon jet engines that use liquid ammonia, or NH3, as fuel. The five-year grant is specifically a part of the NASA University Leadership Initiative.
The project will utilize Ansys’ (NASDAQ: ANSS) chemical kinetics and computational fluid dynamics simulation tools, Ansys Chemkin-Pro and Ansys Fluent. Researchers will be able to simulate chemical reaction systems surrounding ammonia, which includes the vaporization of ammonia inside heat exchange tubes, heat transfer and the combustion of ammonia and hydrogen in the air. The overall goal of developing a jet engine that uses liquid ammonia as fuel is for the ammonia to serve as a carrier of hydrogen, with the engine utilizing chemical catalysis to leverage the ammonia’s hydrogen components while only releasing safe emissions. Ammonia requires no special handling at high altitudes to remain liquid and does not require cryogenic storage, like hydrogen would.
"Simulation is reshaping a cleaner future in many industries, and today we applaud its continued impact on aviation with this exciting new project made possible by UCF and NASA. Simulation enables companies to save resources, energy and emissions before products are ever built; and build more energy-efficient products and processes that have far-reaching sustainability impacts," Prith Banerjee, chief technology officer at Ansys and executive sponsor of Ansys' Academic and Sustainability Programs, said in a release. "Through simulation, Ansys provides the predictive certainty to realize our customers' vision for a sustainable future and model interactions that we otherwise could not analyze, such as chemical reactions. We look forward to playing a role in developing groundbreaking sustainable aviation fuel options."
