Pulp Paper & Logistics


LOGISTICS 11


6,000kW, the five auxiliary engines and the fuel system. Each engine required the


in the shipping sector and, with the Stena Germanica, our environmental impact will be completely different to what the industry has seen before.” Ann-Catrine Zetterdahl, director


general of The Swedish Maritime Administration at the time, added: “I think Stena Line’s initiative in being the first in the world to use methanol as an alternative fuel is extremely pleasing. Together with the impressive efforts made in its Energy Saving Programme, ESP, over a number of years, this demonstrates a great commitment to sustainable development. This is showing shipping the way forward, both in Sweden and globally, for how to protect responsibly the environment and climate.” In the two years since the


award-winning conversion was carried out, the operation of the methanol-powered ferry has provided useful feedback that will be used for other similar projects. The conversion itself involved much more than modifying the four Wärtsilä-Sulzer engines, each with a rated power of almost


upgrading of its eight dual diesel- methanol injectors, high-pressure common rail supply and control systems, along with flame and gas detection, high-pressure fuel pumps and double-walled piping. Because of the nature of methanol, ventilation in the pump room was necessary, along with leakage sensors. An inert gas system using nitrogen and two generators are an added safety system in the fuel supply system. The drive to use methanol as a fuel is clearly its cleaner combustion, but other benefits include its handling ease, relative safety because its dissolves in water, and potential ‘green’ production from plant sources (as in Brazil) or from captured carbon dioxide. Its disadvantages are its low flash point, its corrosive nature because water is produced in the exhaust and the cost of conversion. Because the Stena Germanica


project was the first of its kind, detailed planning was necessary because there was no ‘roadmap’, says Erik Lewenhaupt, Head of Sustainability at Stena Line Group. “The six-week shipyard conversion went according to plan, but designing such a ship from scratch would be easier. We had a few incidents in adjusting the safety and injection valves to the fuel pressure because new ones had to be manufactured and changed which caused some delay. “Since then the ship has


resumed normal operation between Gothenburg and Kiel and the conversion of each four main engines has been completed one at a time. The last engine will have been converted by the end September 2017. “As the ship has been on


September/October 2017


a regular operation and this has never been done before, Stena Line has opted to avoid disruptions for our customers. When completed all four engines will run on marine gas oil or methanol and switched in- between seamlessly. “We are satisfied so far in what will be a technically sustainable alternative over time,” says Lewenhaupt. “Currently methanol is slightly more expensive than regular bunkers but this may change. Our hope is that the production of biomethanol will increase and prices will come down (or incentives go up) in order for us to be able to convert more ships.” Test results during operations


showed NOx exhaust content to be 3-5 g/kWh, carbon monoxide less than 1 g/kWh and a reduction of 99 per cent in sulphur oxides. There was no reduction in output


or load response, along with higher efficiency. Parallel projects with a


sustainability theme at Stena Line include a battery project on one of the Stena Lines vessels that is planned for next year. With the objective of having systems installed in the first half of 2018, it provides power up to 1,000kWh for any ship. Charging will be from ‘green’ electricity in ports and from the auxiliary engines in the ships. The system will be used for


powering bow thrusters during port manoeuvring and for filling power fluctuations during normal seagoing operations. The first large ‘plug-in hybrid’ RoPax will be the initial step towards a fossil- fuel free ship being used from Göteborg to Fredrikshavn in 2030. “It will lower emissions, noise and maintenance, and add goodwill,” says Lewenhaupt.


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