19 minute read
On board CCS
STANDALONE CCS SYSTEM FOR DUAL-FUEL VESSELS
BG Freight Line is installing Value Maritime's Filtree exhaust gas cleaning and carbon capture system onboard two of its containerships chartered from shipowner HS Schiff ahrt
BG Onyx and BG Ruby are expected to be retrofi tted this summer with Value Maritime’s exhaust gas cleaning system which includes a carbon capture module. Once the installation is complete, the vessels will continue to trade in North-West Europe and will use Value Maritime outlets across the region to return the CO2 to shore so it can be reused on land.
The integrated CO2 module can capture 90% of the CO2 in the vessels’ exhaust, but the percentage of CO2 the owner/ charterer wishes to capture is their choice. The captured CO2 is chemically bound to a carrier material and is stored at ambient pressure and temperature in patented CO2 batteries the size of 20-foot shipping containers. Once the vessel is docked, the full CO2 batteries are replaced with empty ones for the next voyage.
“The battery can be offloaded and re-used to facilitate the growth of flowers and other crops or used to enrich future fuels such as methanol for dual-fuelled vessels. Especially in combination with the production of methanol, we see that our Filtree contributes to the circular use of CO2 and therefore reduces emissions drastically,” says Christiaan Nijst, Director & Co-Founder at Netherlands-based Value Maritime.
The company’s first installation was on Visser Shipping’s Nordica containership in October 2021, making it the first vessel to capture and store CO2 onboard whilst in operation. Bureau Veritas granted the relevant approvals for the system. The Nordica has two CO2 batteries onboard which store enough CO2 to reduce the ship’s carbon emissions by 70%. The vessel is operated by X-Press Feeders and is performing optimally, says Nijst.
The Filtree system is one-third the size of a conventional scrubber, and Nijst says shipowners can earn back their investment in 1-2.5 years by running on heavy fuel oil (HFO) rather than VLSFO and by offering customers the option of reducing CO2 emissions in their supply chains and setting a premium on that service. Charging companies upstream to reduce shipping-related emissions could be more effective than purchasing carbon offsets which vary in reliability and effectiveness, he says.
“Our unique technology offers the best of both worlds – vessel owners/charterers can save money and reduce CO2 at a competitive price per tonne of CO2 as much as they or their customers choose. A valuable green and financial dividend, it increases the competitiveness of a vessel by reducing its environmental footprint and lowering OPEX.”
Koert Luitwieler, CEO of BG Freight Line, appreciates the ease of installation of the system: “Value Maritime’s technology offers us an immediate and sustainable solution to reducing our carbon emissions while keeping our vessels commercially competitive and sailing with virtually no disruption to our trading.”
The Filtree system is suitable for all ship types, for newbuilding or retrofit, and is suitable for engine sizes between 2.0 and 15.0 MW, including engines running on LNG or methanol. It includes a compact, plug-and-play exhaust gas cleaning system that filters sulphur as well as ultra-fine particulate matter. The wash water is filtered and pH neutralised before discharge. “Our Filtree system includes the integrated carbon capture feature, it’s a combined system,” says Nijst. “However, the sulphur scrubber can be used without the CO2 capture unit. As conventional scrubbers do not clean the exhaust gasses to the extent of the Filtree, it is not possible to combine our CO2 capture unit with a conventional scrubber.”
The system can be moved from one vessel to another so that shipowners can invest in emissions-reduction technology without committing to a specific fuel or vessel type. The captured CO2 could eventually be used to produce e-methanol to form a more closed-loop system onboard.
Value Maritime is already signing contracts for newbuilds of various sizes. Some of these newbuilds will be LNG fuelled and thus will only use the carbon capture element. Other newbuilds will use the entire system, initially sailing on HFO, and once green methanol is available they will be capable of switching to the circular use of CO2.
Value Maritime is currently expanding its CO2 services within Europe and to Asia and North America. “We are geographically growing the company, and we are in the process of arranging CO2 outlets for our customers worldwide,” says Nijst. “We are also building a network of CO2 battery hubs where CO2 batteries can be loaded and unloaded.”
8 Circular Economy:
Value Maritime’s patented Carbon Capture Module chemically binds captured CO2 to a carrier material and stores it in patented CO2 batteries
GREEN METHANOL SUPPLY RISE TO PICK UP AFTER 2025
A.P. Moller - Maersk has entered into strategic partnerships with six companies with the intent of sourcing at least 730,000 tonnes/year of green methanol by end of 2025
The six companies are CIMC ENRIC, European Energy, Green Technology Bank, Orsted, Proman, and WasteFuel.
With this production capacity, by the end of 2025 at the latest, Maersk will reach well beyond the green methanol needed for the first 12 green 16,000 teu container vessels currently on order. Once fully developed these projects of both bio- and e-methanol will enable Maersk to source green methanol at scale across several regions around the globe.
“To transition towards decarbonisation, we need a significant and timely acceleration in the production of green fuels. Green methanol is the only market-ready and scalable available solution today for shipping. Production must be increased through collaboration across the ecosystem and around the world. That is why these partnerships mark an important milestone to get the transition to green energy underway,” said Henriette Hallberg Thygesen CEO of Fleet & Strategic Brands, A.P. Moller - Maersk.
CIMC ENRIC will develop bio-methanol projects for Maersk in China. The phase one project will have a capacity to produce 50,000 tonnes/year of green methanol, starting in 2024. The second phase of the project will have a capacity produce of 200,000 tonnes/year with start date to be determined. The feedstock for the bio-methanol will be agricultural residues. Maersk intends to offtake the full volume produced.
European Energy is a global renewable energy company and project developer (wind, solar and Power to X). It develops, builds, and operates renewable electricity projects globally with a pipeline consisting of 20 GW renewable energy capacity. European Energy will produce e-methanol for Maersk´s first green feeder vessel, which is expected to be on the water by 2023. The company will also develop e-methanol projects in Latin America and the United States that will have a capacity to produce up to 200-300,000 tonnes annually of e-methanol starting in 2025/2026. Maersk intends to offtake the full volume produced on long-term contracts to help its customers realize their own ambitious emission targets.
Green Technology Bank (GTB) was established in 2016 by the Chinese government with the priority task to fulfill the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. GTB will facilitate development of bio-methanol projects in China together with project developers to be identified. The first project is planned to have a capacity to produce 50,000 tonnes/year starting from 2024, and the second project is planned to have a capacity to produce 300,000 tonnes/year at a start date to be determined. The green methanol produced will rely entirely on resources available in China.
Orsted aims at becoming a global leader within Power-to-X and currently has a development pipeline of 11 projects across several hard-to-abate sectors. Partnering with Maersk, Orsted will develop an e-methanol project in the US that will have a capacity to produce 300,000 tonnes/year starting 2025. Maersk intends to offtake the full volume produced.
“The maritime industry faces a chicken-and-egg challenge, where the supply and demand of green fuels will have to evolve in parallel to fast ensure a sustainable development of zero emission fuels. Orsted is very pleased to partner with A.P. Moller - Maersk to address this challenge by scaling green fuel production together with an industry leader in the maritime sector,” said Martin Neubert, Deputy CEO and Chief Commercial Officer at Orsted.
Proman is an integrated energy company and the world’s second largest methanol producer. The company will aim to supply Maersk with 100,000 – 150,000 tonnes/year of green methanol from its in-development facility in North America. The project will be built by Proman with target start of operations in 2025, producing bio-methanol from nonrecyclable forestry residues and municipal solid waste.
WasteFuel is a California-based start-up addressing the climate emergency by transforming unrecovered waste into sustainable fuels using proven technologies. The company is developing a bio-methanol project in South America that will produce over 30,000 tons per year starting in 2024. Maersk intends to offtake the full volume produced.
8 In addition to
methanol from existing production facilities, such as Pampa in Texas, Proman is evaluating multiple bio-methanol and e-methanol projects in South America, Europe and the UK
CHEVRON TARGETS HARD-TO-ABATE SECTORS
Chevron has accelerated progress toward its goal to increase renewable fuels production capacity to 100,000 barrels per day by 2030 with the acquisition of Renewable Energy Group (REG).
Renewable Energy Group operates 11 biorefi neries in the U.S. and Europe and in 2021, produced 480 million gallons delivering 4.1 million metric tons of carbon reduction. After closing of the acquisition, Chevron’s renewable fuels business, Renewable Fuels - REG, will be headquartered in Ames, Iowa. The $3.15 billion transaction will combine REG’s growing renewable fuels production and feedstock capabilities with Chevron’s large manufacturing, distribution and commercial marketing position.
Chevron reaffirmed its targets to lower the carbon intensity of its operations and grow new energy business lines in renewable fuels, hydrogen, carbon capture and offsets. “Chevron’s new energy businesses are making progress towards our 2030 goals,” said Jeff Gustavson, president of Chevron New Energies. “We’re bringing our unique capabilities, in partnership with others, to advance lower carbon energy solutions that target harder-to-abate sectors and deliver competitive returns.”
Speaking at a presentation for investors in February, Chevron Chairman and CEO Mike Wirth said: “Our marine customers are looking for solutions. Our aviation customers are looking for solutions. Our rail customers are looking for solutions. These are big segments of the economy. These are big consumers of energy. And particularly when you talk marine and rail, these are big consumers of distillate products today that are not easily electrified. And this is a market that can continue to grow as large entities have made their own low carbon energy transition type commitments on emission reductions. And we intend to work along the value chain all the way out to these end-use customers to find a way to help them achieve their goals.”
CJ Warner, REG president & CEO, said: “With the larger, slower-moving high power engines of marine and rail, biodiesel is actually a preferred molecule over renewable diesel, especially in marine. And this is an emerging market where that sector is just starting to decarbonise. So, it's definitely an additional outlet for customers to watch for biodiesel demand.”
Biodiesel (fatty acid methyl ester or FAME) is an ester created by transesterification of oils and fats which is then blended with petroleum diesel, whereas renewable diesel (hydrotreated vegetable oil or HVO) is produced by hydrotreatment of fats. This removes impurities resulting in a fuel with the same composition as fossil diesel.
Earlier this year, REG entered into an agreement with Bunker Holding Group to further develop the U.S. and EU marine markets for sustainable bio-based diesel. The agreement is initially focused on opportunities in North America and Europe. For REG, the agreement continues its efforts to expand product offerings with further reach into the approximately 70 billion gallon, or 230 million metric tons, global marine market.
REG is currently in the process of expanding its REG Geismar production facility. The project will take total site production capacity from 90 million gallons per year to 340 million gallons per year. REG Geismar was the first renewable diesel production facility in the U.S. and was acquired by REG in 2014. The project will involve upgrades to the existing site, as well as expansion to an adjacent site. Improvements will include enhanced marine logistics that will enable global trading of feedstocks and fuel. The company announced that the estimated project cost is $950 million and is expected to be fully operational in 2024.
Meanwhile, Chevron has agreed to create a joint venture with Bunge North America to create renewable feedstocks leveraging Bunge’s expertise in oilseed processing and farmer relationships. Bunge’s soybean processing plants in Louisiana and Illinois will be contributed to the joint venture while Chevron will contribute approximately $600 million in cash.
Plans include approximately doubling the combined capacity of these facilities from 7,000 tons per day by the end of 2024. The joint venture may also explore opportunities in other renewable feedstocks, as well as in feedstock pretreatment. Under the agreements, Bunge will operate the facilities; Chevron will have purchase rights for the oil to use as a renewable feedstock to manufacture transportation fuels with lower lifecycle carbon intensity.
“I believe Chevron is well positioned for the future with a leading traditional energy business and faster-growing new energy business lines,” said Wirth at a recent investor presentation.
8 Renewable Fuels
had focused on expanding the U.S. and EU markets for sustainable bio-diesel
SAFETY AT HEART OF NEW CCS ALT FUEL STANDARDS
The China Classifi cation Society (CCS) is not only studying such alternative fuels, but also analysing their impact on ship design and safely
Shipping greenhouse gas emissions rose by 4.9% in 2021 to 833 million tonnes compared with 794 million in 2020 and 800 million in 2019, according to a recent report by UK broker Simpson Spence & Young. The rise was attributed to a recovering world economy, increased services demands, faster steaming speeds, longer trade routes and port congestion. The report described the increase as an ‘inconvenient truth’ for the IMO.
Founded in 1956 and today with a serviced fleet of over 32,000 vessels, CCS started looking at cleaner alternative fuels in 2008.
“Such fuels are the fundamental path for the shipping industry to achieve low-carbon transition,” explained Luo Xiaofeng, director of the CCS Rules & Research Institute in Wuhan. “But since alternative marine fuels’ development prospects are affected by factors such as countries’ energy and resource abilities; international policies and regulations; production technologies; and emission reduction effects, the industry has different views on the path to a low or zerocarbon transition.
“In order to ensure that ships, which typically have a 20 to 25 years operating life, maintain their long-term market adaptability and ability to meet likely future regulatory requirements, CCS is actively trying to find those fuels for the future. We are doing that, however, by applying strict technical standards and practices to ensure their safe use.”
Risks
As Luo Xiaofeng noted, due to significant differences in both the physical and chemical properties of alternative fuels as against traditional fuel oil, new risks may arise in fuel bunkering, storage, supply and utilisation aboard ships.
“Based on the special properties of differing alternative fuels, CCS has conducted analysis and evaluations of those potential risks aboard ships and proposed safety requirements and risk control measures covering ship design and arrangement; fuel storage and supply; power plants and electrical equipment; ventilation systems; fire protection; and control and monitoring systems.
“As a result, we’ve developed a series of rules and guidelines covering the use of different alternative fuels aboard ships. For example, and in conjunction with [cryogenic equipment specialists] Zhangjiagang CIMC Sanctum, CCS has conducted safety tests on the cold box of LNG storage tanks. The objective was to assess and verify the risk of accumulation from a cold box LNG leak under continuous ventilation conditions.
“Using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software,” Luo Xiaofeng continued, “we’ve also assessed the diffusion range of alternative fuels and vapour in different leakage scenarios, and how the design of the drip tray capacity at bunkering stations can be optimised. Additionally, using the FLame ACceleration Simulator (FLACS) CFD software, CCS has conducted quantitative assessments of leakage risks in high-pressure hydrogen storage spaces and can provide optimal design suggestions for such spaces, along with the ventilation system.”
Turning to alternative fuels such as methanol and ammonia, Luo Xiaofeng pointed out that they can have corrosion and swelling effects on some metal and non-metal materials, while hydrogen has the problem of embrittlement.
“CCS has carried out material compatibility studies for these alternative fuels, and specified the types of metal and non-metal materials that are applicable and nonapplicable. Our ‘Guidelines for Ships Using Methyl/Ethyl Alcohol Fuels’ specify that fuel pipes should not be manufactured from materials sensitive to methyl/ethyl alcohol and provides a list of various compatible materials. The guidelines also advise that fuel tank coatings should be resistant to methyl/ ethyl alcohol and vapours.
“Turning to hydrogen, CCS’ ‘Guidelines for Ships Using Fuel Cell Power Installations’ specify the material requirements for components and equipment. Hydrogen cylinder materials should meet the requirements of international standards, national standards and industry standards for gas cylinder products, while hydrogen fuel pipes should be seamless and made from austenitic stainless steel. If pipelines’ design pressure is greater than, or equal to, 20 megapascals, higher performance stainless steel – such as S31603 and S31608 –should be used.”
Environment and Crew Safety
Given that using alternative fuels is the only way for the shipping industry to achieve carbon neutrality, CCS has also paid special attention to their potential environmental impacts and human injury risks.
“For example, we’ve studied LNG’s methane (CH4) slip, a powerful greenhouse gas (GHG),” Luo Xiaofeng commented. “We’ve also looked at the nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions –another strong GHG – from ammonia fuel, along with its serious toxicity, plus unregulated emissions such as methanol and formaldehyde – a known carcinogen – from methanol fuel.
“Because of its advantages, such as a mature industrial chain, lower costs, and both NOx and SOx reductions, LNG
8 Yuan Rui Yang
world's fi rst dual fuel VLCC 3
has been widely adopted as a marine fuel. With the progress of GHG emissions reduction, however, CO2 emissions are being continuously strengthened. More attention is also being paid to other GHGs, including CH4, that pose a severe challenge to the environmental benefits and sustainability of LNG as a marine fuel. Whether effective measures can be taken to control methane slip is a key factor determining LNG’s development prospects in shipping’s low-carbon transition. So what can we do?
“The amount of methane slip varies depending on the type of engine,” Luo Xiaofeng explained. “The average level of LNG’s methane slip is about: 8 4g/kWh for four-stroke pure gas fuel engines 8 6g/kWh for low-pressure four-stroke dual-fuel engines 8 3g/kWh for low-pressure two-stroke dual-fuel engines, and 8 0.01g /kWh for high-pressure two-stroke dual-fuel engines.
“In general, the CO2 emission reduction potential of LNG is about 25%. If the impact of methane slip is considered, its GHG reduction potential can still reach more than 10%.
“There are two main methods of reducing methane slip from gas engines: in-cylinder techniques and after treatment technologies. Over the past decade, gas engines’ average methane slip level has been reduced by over 50% through the application of in-cylinder techniques. In the face of increasingly stringent emission standard limits, however, simply using in-cylinder techniques is unlikely to be sufficient. The industry needs to carry out research and development (R&D) of exhaust gas recirculation (EGR), methane oxidation catalysis (MOC), and other after treatment technologies to further reduce methane slip.
“At present, there are mature EGR solutions for lowpressure two-stroke gas engines that can reduce methane slip by about 50%. CCS is also collaborating with some engine manufacturers to carry out key technology research and prototype development of MOC for marine gas engines. CCS believes that the development of after treatment technology will effectively solve the problem of methane slip, and promote the further development of LNG fuel on ships.”
Research and Development
The study of alternative marine fuels is a systematic project that requires co-operation between stakeholders across the industrial chain, along with maritime authorities, research institutions, universities and others, Luo Xiaofeng notes.
“As a third-party institution, CCS actively collaborates with all such bodies in order to build an integrated platform for production, education, research and application. Based on this platform, our research work has achieved many important results and effectively promoted progress in applying alternative marine fuels.
“For example, under the aegis of the China Maritime Safety Administration, we’ve developed a series of alternative fuel regulations covering LNG, hydrogen, methanol, ammonia, and others. Working with major shipping lines and other enterprises, CCS has achieved the following: 8 Signed three co-operation agreement frameworks with
Maersk to jointly carry out studies on life-cycle GHG emissions from green methanol, green ammonia, and on the technical feasibility, economic feasibility and market feasibility of their application aboard ships 8 With COSCO we’ve carried out both a hazard and operability study and hazard identification assessment of a design scheme for an ammonia-fuelled VLCC. We’ve also recently issued the first Approval in Principle (AIP) certificate for the ship type design of a methanol dualfuelled VLCC developed by COSCO Shipping Energy
Transportation Co. together with Dalian Shipbuilding
Industry Co. That followed an AIP for COSCO’s design scheme for a methanol-fuelled pulp vessel 8 For both COSCO and the China Yangtze Shipping Group.
CCS has researched an action plan of carbon peak and carbon neutralisation 8 Working with the world's largest lithium battery supplier,
Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., we’ve jointly researched and developed a marine lithium battery lifecycle safety and health system.
“Turning to engine manufacturers and research institutes, with the former including WeiChai, Yuchai, and Zichai, we’ve worked on the technical development and product certification of both LNG and methanol engines. As to the latter: 8 Plan approval and survey of a hydrogen fuel cell power plant for China State Shipbuilding Corporation’s 712
Research Institute, providing technical services for the
R&D of China's first inland hydrogen-fuelled ship. With 712, we’ve also carried out R&D of a methanol-fuelled mediumspeed engine 8 Joint R&D of a large, ammonia-fuelled low-speed marine engine with China Shipbuilding Power Engineering Institute 8 Joint research on zero-carbon synthetic fuels, such as synthetic methanol (‘liquid sunshine’) with Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics and the Chinese Academy of Science 8 A joint assessment on life cycle emissions of marine fuels with Sinopec Research Institute of Petroleum Processing.
“Finally, turning to universities, CCS has carried out the following: 8 Joint research on hydrogen, lithium battery and fuel cell onboard application technology with Tsinghua University 8 Pilot applications and the joint development of a methanol engine with Tianjin University 8 Basic research on ammonia as a fuel with Xiamen
University, and 8 Joint research on LNG and its application aboard ships with Wuhan University of Technology.
“CCS remains highly active in all matters pertaining to alternative marine fuels,” Luo Xiaofeng concluded, “and doubtless further important R&D results will follow in the coming years.”oss the search s. es with orm for sed on many ess in
Safety ve fuel monia, other ks with e GHG and on market d and ent of a ve also e (AIP) l dualcoming years.
8 Luo Xiaofeng, Luo Xiaofeng,
