fuels & lubes Maersk plans future with biofuels
No option but biofuels for the leading container ship operator (photo: Port of Felixstowe)
Maersk Line is primed to test and purchase biofuel in 2015 when tougher controls on sulphur content increase the cost of fuel oil, reported the Danish shipping group’s climate and environmental manager Jacob Sterling. “We use 10 million tonnes of bunker fuel a year for our ships. Instead of buying expensive low-sulphur oil in 2015 we
LR assesses alternatives to oil
Reliable sources show that known oil and gas reserves have steadily risen by approximately 60 per cent since 1992, according to a recent assessment by Lloyd’s Register Marine’s lead project engineer for machinery, John Bradshaw.
Demand is also growing, but there is no reason to panic about oil and gas, he believes; it is generally not understood that elemental carbon and hydrogen can be reformed into almost any synthesised hydrocarbon fuel using existing technology. Oil remains the dominant marine fuel and, through clean emissions technology, will continue to compete against the newer fuels entering shipping, he predicted. Interest in alternative fuels is stimulating interest in alternative energy conversion technologies, including gas turbines, batteries and fuel cells, Mr Bradshaw noted. There is some uncertainty over future fuel trends, however; market fragmentation – with operators selecting solutions fitting their own needs – is likely, perhaps resulting in multiple fuel policies within an operator’s fleet.
There is no ‘one size fits all’ best solution, he concluded. LR expects to see continued strong growth in the LNG fuel sector, with oil retaining a large overall bunker market share. Alternatives, such as methanol, bio- diesel and hydrocarbon gases including
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would equally like to buy some kind of low quality second generation biofuels, where we also get a carbon dioxide advantage.” Maersk Line is preparing to try out
different types of biofuel and has an agreement with an Antwerp-based company that produces biofuels from lignin, a residue of producing bioethanol from straw. The group is also involved in
LPG, will gain traction while more radical alternatives, such as hydrogen and nuclear, should not be discounted.
His assessment included a review of some of the leading alternatives to oil and gas and their likely future development. • Biofuel use is rising; fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) bio-diesel is widely available but increasing resistance by society will make next-generation algae-derived bio-oils much more attractive. • Methanol is generally sourced from natural gas feedstocks but, with renewable feedstock being available, has great potential as a clean fuel. Although it is toxic and flammable, fuel handling and risk management for methanol is simpler than for LNG as it is not a cryogenic liquid. • Nuclear energy is mature, clean and reliable but its acceptance faces significant political, regulatory and societal challenges. • Renewable energy, such as wind and solar, will augment traditional gas or oil fuels but are unlikely to replace them. • Hydrogen has traditionally been energy- intensive to produce in large quantities and risk management is challenging but it is potentially both clean and abundant. If efforts to reduce the cost of generating hydrogen are successful, then it could become the holy grail of energy: a cheap, clean and abundant fuel.
In the longer term, added LR’s global technology leader Ed Fort, hydrogen offers
a large Danish research project, in which companies such as Topsoe, Novozymes and MAN Diesel & Turbo aim to develop a sulphur-free alternative to marine diesel oil from lignin. “We believe that biofuels will be the successor to marine diesel in the long term, and do not really see any other options,” asserts Mr Sterling.
the prospect of true zero-emission power generation. While the operation of internal combustion engines on hydrogen is possible, and has been demonstrated, it is unlikely that the evolution of IC engine technology would extend to operation on hydrogen. Instead, should hydrogen become a viable marine fuel in terms of cost and availability, it may be expected that fuel cell technology would be the choice for power generators of the future. Fuel cells are not constrained by the efficiency limits of the otto and diesel thermodynamic cycles and offer significantly higher efficiencies from solid state, silent and vibration-free systems.
LR, which can claim extensive experience with marine fuel cell technology, is currently engaged in a number of development projects, including an evaluation of both onboard hydrogen generation and low temperature hydrogen fuel cell technology.
GLEAMS pursues the potential of glycerol
A byproduct of the expanding biofuel industry, glycerol (commonly glycerine) is proposed as a safe, sustainable, low emissions and low carbon fuel for marine diesel engines. The attractions are summarised by the UK Technology Strategy Board’s GLEAMS (Glycerine Fuel for Engines and Marine Sustainability) project as: • burns with a higher efficiency than diesel fuel • very low NOx emissions, no sulphur ›››
Marine Propulsion I April/May 2014 I 99
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