TECHNICAL • PROPULSION
how the refineries would have sufficient sulphur removal capacity in place by 2020, or modelled the likely disruption of what would be, in effect, an overnight introduction of the global sulphur cap.
Lars Robert Pedersen, BIMCO deputy secretary general said: ‘This is not about the cost of low sulphur fuel for ships – that has long been known. We know that the shipping industry will buy the fuel they need. But if it is in short supply, the cost will rise not just for shipping but for all users of the fuel. This will price those in poorer economies out of the market’.
Alternative one – scrubbers Exhaust gas treatment (scrubbers) would allow ships to continue to use fuel with sulphur content above 0.5%. However, take-up so far has been relatively slow. The equipment is costly and bulky. And if adoption remains low, how easy will it be to obtain high- sulphur bunkers when most of the industry has switched to low sulphur?
Scrubbers provide, despite the drawbacks, proven, and attractive technology. The equipment is getting smaller. One recent adopter, Channel ferry operator Brittany Ferries, has retrofitted scrubbers into enlarged funnels on most of its fleet, with no impact on passenger or cargo capacity.
Alfa Laval’s latest PureSOx scrubber systems have been introduced with 2020 in mind. Erik Haveman, sales director- exhaust gas cleaning, points out that the U-design scrubber has recently seen a significant size reduction, and other new developments include reduced water consumption and minimised pressure drop, lessening impact on fuel consumption. ‘As the 2020 global cap approaches, more ship owners and operators will be looking at scrubber solutions than ever before,’ he believes.
Alternative two – LNG There are, of course, other fuels that will allow ships to meet not only the 0.5% global cap, but even the lower emissions limits in Emission Control Areas (ECAs), and some ships are going down the liquefied natural gas (LNG) route, initially limited to gas tanker vessels.
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Gas carrier ‘Mari Jone’, operated by Marinvest, one of the first three ships to use methanol as fuel in a large two-stroke engine
Despite the limited supply chain and the complexities of on-board fuel storage and handling, more ship types beside those on short, fixed, routes such as ferries are exploring LNG. We now see a growing number – approaching 200 – of LNG-fuelled ships of types, other than gas carriers, in operation or on order, plus others designed to be ‘LNG ready’.
LNG as fuel is also renewing interest in gas turbines, with more than one current project looking at LNG-fuelled gas and steam turbines providing electric power for propulsion.
With cruise ship projects too in the pipeline, the impetus to provide LNG infrastructure can only grow, accelerating the fuel’s popularity.
Alternative three – low flashpoint fuel
Just as LNG seemed a few years ago to have little application beyond gas carriers, ethane, methanol and liquid petroleum gas (LPG) are no longer the stuff of fantasy. Further research into MAN Diesel & Turbo’s ME-GI LNG- fuelled two-stroke engine has led to some significant developments in this field. MAN’s practice of employing high-pressure injection with the Diesel cycle, rather than the Otto cycle, for its
two-stroke gas-fuelled engines has opened up these possibilities.
MAN’s Japanese licensee Mitsui Engineering & Shipbuilding has recently completed the first of three Mitsui-MAN B&W 7G50ME-C9.5-GIE engines, which MAN says opens up waste gases as propulsion fuel.
‘The ME-GIE engine was originally designed for the combustion of ethane gas, but, research has revealed that it is also possible to operate the engine on volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Accordingly, it is also a potential solution for the propulsion of shuttle tankers and VLCCs,’ said René Sejer Laursen, MAN sales & promotion manager.
MAN Diesel & Turbo sees significant opportunities in developing this engine to burn various alternative fuels as well as standard liquid fuel oils. Originally intended for use with ethane or methanol, it can run on almost any gaseous fuel without any reduction in efficiency. These alternative gas fuels could even include light hydrocarbons or VOCs emitted from crude oil during storage or when loading/unloading crude oil. This opens up possibilities in new applications in, for example, shuttle tankers or FPSOs – as well as providing a fuel source this could help solve the problem of dealing with VOC emissions. The ME-GIE engine is being developed to have the capability to run on a mixture of LPG, which includes VOCs, and methane or ethane. The mixture may contain as much as 50% LPG and the findings so far indicate that even larger amounts of LPG may be included in the gas mixture.
MAN B&W ME-GI engine will allow use of almost any gaseous fuel, including VOCs
Key to these developments is the fuel conditioning and booster system, jointly developed with Alfa Laval. The original ME-LGI methanol version is now joined by the Alfa Laval FCM One LPG system.
Seatrade Maritime Review • Quarterly Issue 2 • June 2017
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