APRIL 19, 2017 — MAN Cryo, MAN Diesel & Turbo’s marine-LNG fuel-gas-system manufacturer, has signed a contract with the Vard shipyard group in Norway to deliver a fuel-gas supply system (FGSS) for the
DECEMBER 13, 2016 — America’s first offshore wind farm is up and running. Deepwater Wind reported yesterday that the Block Island Wind Farm has completed its commissioning and testing phases and has
With the goal of improving the safety and capability of the marine research industry, Allied Marine Crane, a division of Allied Systems Company, has developed the A-Stern A-Frame. Hydraulically powered, the A-Frame is used to launch and recover trawls, dredges, and ROVs. Its crossbeam rotates freely as it deploys, ensuring that the load—the unit has a 30,000 to 40,000 lb dynamic load capacity—and lighting are properly oriented throughout the entire range of motion.
Last year, the innovative unit was successfully fitted onto the R/V Sikuliaq. The vessel, owned by the National Science Foundation and operated by the University of Alaska Fairbanks School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences, conducts oceanographic and fisheries related research in polar and sub-polar regions.
Allied says, the A-30 Stern A-Frame’s maintenance position allows crew to access the crossbeam from the deck at a standing height furthering safety during setup and rigging.
The provider also supplied the U.S. Navy’s Office of Naval Research vessels the 238 ft Neil Armstrong and Sally Ride with two sets of crane components. The Neil Armstrong is being operated by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, while the Sally Ride is currently operating for the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California San Diego.
Under the contract, the company designed and manufactured an identical set of handling equipment for each vessel. The units consisted of a davit; the Stern A-frame; a telescoping knuckle-boom crane; a starboard side handling system and a CTD handling system—both of which extend all the way to the waterline for more stability when loading; a portable telescoping knuckle-boom crane—among the first of its kind in the industry, the unit can be bolted down to a standard UNOLS mounting pattern anywhere on deck and can be removed when its not needed; and two hydraulic power units.
BREAKING INTO A NEW NICHE
Rapp Marine U.S. has taken a huge innovative step forward, developing, what its President Johann Sigurjonsson calls “an ideal tow winch for the market.” Having long been a developer and supplier of electric and hydraulic driven mooring winches, anchor windlasses, capstans, and cranes, Rapp Marine worked closely with Baydelta Navigation Ltd. to develop a towing winch that would be long lasting and dependable for the tug market.
Rapp Marine is supplying a unique, fully electric driven double drum tow winch for a new 110 ft x 40 ft tractor tug operated by Vessel Chartering LLC, a wholly owned division of Baydelta Navigation Ltd. The tug was designed by Seattle-based Jensen Maritime and will be built at JT Marine Shipyard, Vancouver, WA.
The winch, the first fully electric driven tow winch delivered by Rapp Marine, will be able to pull over 75 tons and use pneumatic cylinders in place of hydraulics—to keep fluid off the deck.
According to Rapp Marine, the winch will be driven by a single 100 hp electric motor with the ability to clutch in and out each winch drum. The clutches and brakes will be actuated remotely through either control panels or manually on the winch.
The winch will be primarily controlled in the wheelhouse using Rapp Marine’s Pentagon Tow Control System, which provides for a more efficient and safer operations for towing vessels. The system includes Auto Tensioning, automated haul-in and pay-out settings, in addition to touchscreen displays showing tension and wire length.
Rapp Marine says the winch can store up to 2,500 ft of 2.5 inches of Steel Wire Rope and 90 ft of 3 inch chain on the storage drum. The unit will also include a 10 HP electric “come home” drive. The drive can be used as a back up if the main motor should fail.
SELF-ALIGNING ESCORT WINCH
No stranger to innovation, the man behind the innovative training tug, the BRAtt, Captain Ron Burchett, and his company, Burchett Marine, recently delivered three new scale model tugs to Warsash Maritime Academy in Southampton, UK.
The 8,000 hp, 42m ASD tug models were equipped with the latest winch technology from JonRie InterTech—including a JonRie’s patented self-aligning escort winch.
During testing of the winch at the Academy, the model was able to stop a 44 ft long containership model at a speed of 10 knots. Captain Burchett will return to the Academy later this summer for Round 3 of testing at the 12 to 15 knot range.
The winch, says JonRie, was redesigned to accommodate a new 3-speed Hagglunds motor—this would allow for faster retrieval speeds. The motor will have the capability to free wheel each individual cam ring which comes complete with JonRie’s Render Blocking enabling render speeds to exceed 120 m/min. The tug’s dynamic stability was further enhanced by the righting lever supplied by the winch.
The winch’s hydraulic braking system is rated for 300 tonnes.
Additionally, the winch, explains JonRie’s Brandon Durar, is bolted to its rotating foundation to help prevent distortion to the drive from welding. The winch also contains a load tension read out system and JonRie’s foot control for a hands-free operation.
MACGREGOR WINS CONTRACTS FOR ESL SHIPPING CARRIERS
MacGregor, part of Cargotec, recently won a contract to deliver hatch covers, cranes, deck machinery and steering gear to two 25,600 dwt dual-fueled handysize bulk carriers being built for Finland’s ESL Shipping at China’s Sinotrans & CSC Shipbuilding Industry Cooperation’s Quingshan shipyard.
As part of the deal, MacGregor will provide three K3030-4 mechanical grab cargo cranes with a safe working load of 30 tonnes at 30 m outreach. Additionally, the group will provide the design and key components package for multi folding-type hatch covers (6+6), electrically-driven Hatlapa deck machinery and Porsgrunn steering gear.
OPEC’s December decision to maintain oil output may not be doing any favors for U.S. shale producers, but continuing investment by national oil companies around the Arabian Gulf is underpinning a wide range of offshore-related projects and creating opportunities for regional shipyards.
There has, of course, been a sharp downturn in charter rates—the world’s largest energy firm Saudi Aramco, for example, told suppliers including Offshore Support Vessel (OSV) operators earlier in the year that it expected cuts in rates of 20-30%. Many regional OSV owners are under serious pressure.
But while shipyard prices are also sharply constrained, there is no shortage of work. Oil producing countries are geared to pumping as much oil as possible and making the most of the opportunity to grow their market share. Both Saudi Aramco and the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) have revealed that they have no plans to cut back on exploration and production although, to be fair, the Saudi energy company has stopped exploring in the Red Sea for the moment.
Both oil companies have huge capex programs, however. ADNOC has plans to raise oil output by a quarter, to 3.5 million b/d by 2018. The company plans to spend close to $100 billion over the next four years, it revealed last May. More than $60 billion will be spend over the next two years. A significant proportion of the money will be channelled offshore in vast oil fields that lie in shallow water. The oil-rich Emirate is developing some of its offshore reserves by creating artificial islands that provide a cheaper means of production for long-life fields than chartering jack-ups.
With relatively low production costs, Middle East oil producers are less vulnerable to low prices than almost everyone else. The continuing drive to explore and develop more reserves has been a major catalyst in the drive by regional shipyards to target the offshore sector. Heavyweight repair yards including ASRY in Bahrain, Drydocks World Dubai and N-KOM in Qatar have all developed substantial revenue streams from the offshore sector in recent years.
Now, several new yards are targeting the offshore market. The family-owned Zamil Group officially commissioned a new shipyard built on reclaimed land last April. The 2.5 million ft2 facility has been designed not only to build and repair the group’s own vessels—it has a fleet of 76 vessels, mostly OSVs—but also to work on other ship- and offshore-building projects for third parties.
A few miles down the coast, Dammam Ship Repair Yard is also gearing up to take on more business in the offshore sector. The yard has already undergone a significant upgrading under ownership of the Al Blagha group, with two floating docks of 22,000 tonnes and 10,000 tonnes lifting capacity refurbished and brought back into class. Buildings, workshops and yard infrastructure has also been overhauled and upgraded.
Now though, yard management is targeting international offshore operators working in Saudi waters. Mobile repair teams from the shipyard have been deployed on rigs offshore, carrying out a range of projects. Meanwhile contractors including Ensco, Rowan, Noble and Seadrill all carried out jack-up rig repairs, upgrades and modifications during 2015.
Elsewhere in the Gulf, Damen Shipyards Sharjah is also eyeing the offshore sector. The new facility, which is a joint venture between the global shipyard group and locally owned Albwardy Marine Engineering, is a newbuilding and repair yard capable of handling offshore support vessels, tugs and workboats of various types. Its facilities include a Rolls-Royce ship lift capable of handling vessels up to 394 feet, 4,000 feet of quay for alongside repairs, and eight dry repair berths.
BUSY AT GRANDWELD
This past year, Grandweld completed the construction of 17 vessels. The shipyard’s latest projects include advanced crew boats, dive maintenance and support vessels, and work crane boats for a who’s who of Middle East energy firms and offshore contractors.
Grandweld, which has been operating from its Dubai base since 1984, specializes in vessels custom built to conduct complex operations in the region’s challenging offshore environment.
These range from three recently delivered work crane boats for Kuwait Oil Company – optimized for duties such as heavy lifting, oil-pollution control, SPM hose handling, and supply to remote areas – to two modified 42-meter-long crew boats (FNSA-3 and FNSA-4) for Fujairah National Shipping Agency. The latter vessels are capable of speeds in excess of 30 knots and customized to execute operations such as security duties, fast transportation of offshore personal and cargo, and the rapid supply of fuel and freshwater.
“The Middle East is a unique environment, with unique challenges and opportunities,” says Jamal Abki, General Manager Grandweld Shipyards. “We have a history of producing vessels that excel here. We use that understanding to continually enhance our offering, while building new relationships with international clients who can benefit from our expertise when it comes to meeting their own exacting requirements.
“Our integrated proposition is efficient, flexible and modern, while our in-house engineers and project managers are world class. In addition, we invest heavily in research and development to enhance our own designs, as well as using respected external designers when desired. This ensures our vessels are leading the way in operational efficiency, reliability and performance – something the industry clearly appreciates.”
Further noteworthy deliveries over the last months include three 34.3m aluminum crew boats to Jana Marine Services, a 50m Dive Maintenance & Support Vessel to Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), and the 42m crew boats Stanford Volga and Stanford Niger, which are capable of carrying 83 people at speeds of 25 knots.
“It’s an exciting time for the business, and our customers,” concludes Jamal Abki. “As the offshore trend points towards more optimized, complex vessels, our knowledge and experience allows us to respond with advanced newbuilds that deliver added performance and competitiveness for our clients.
“We’re now looking forward to building on our leading market position over the space of the next 12 months, and beyond.”
Meanwhile, Gulf ship repairers are all cautiously optimistic on potential business from Iran. However, legal experts specializing in sanctions are urging the utmost caution. The latest diplomatic fall-out between Saudi Arabia and Iran will certainly not have helped.
NEW DESIGN FROM ROLLS-ROYCE TARGETS U.S., TOO
Offshore operators in the Gulf of Mexico are among those being targeted by Rolls-Royce as it introduces the first in a series of new mid-range offshore vessel designs specifically developed to meet the requirements of companies working in a low capex era. The UT 7217 is a DP2 anchor handling tug supply ship with a bollard pull of 100 tonnes which can be raised to 130 tonnes without any fundamental design changes.
Jan Emblemsvåg is Senior Vice President of Ship Design at Rolls-Royce. He says that the company’s analysis has revealed that there are already more than 600 vessels in this range which are more than 25 years old. This could be the first sector of the offshore market to generate new demand, he believes. There will inevitably be a replacement requirement at some point, he says, and the UT 7217 has been designed with operators’ likely future requirements specifically in mind.
Although the design has been developed to incorporate as much flexibility as possible and will be capable of worldwide deployment, specific offshore markets which Rolls-Royce has identified besides the Gulf of Mexico include the Middle East and the South China Sea. Vessel price will of course depend on region and shipyard, but Emblemsvåg reveals that initial indications from some Far Eastern yards lie in the $17 million to $18 million range.
The design has been developed to compete effectively with existing ships in the sector. Bollard pull is greater than the typical 70-80 tonnes, for example, and deck area – at 500 square meters – is more than the usual 450-460 square meters. There is more cargo capacity than is usual and the vessel has a launch and recovery system.
With cost constraints in mind, Rolls-Royce designers have chosen a diesel mechanical propulsion system which comprises two medium-speed C25:33L9P CD diesels of 3,000kW each, driving two US305 controllable pitch azimuth thrusters with 3.2 meter diameter propellers in nozzles. Each engine drives a shaft generator and fire pump for fire-fighting duties. There are two independent 400kW generating sets providing electrical power and two 590kW bow thrusters.
Operating flexibility will be aided by the SPS notation which will enable the vessel to carry up to 12 additional personnel besides the crew. There are 29 cabins giving a maximum of 40 on board. This means that the ship can be deployed in a wide range of tasks, including cargo supply, anchor handling, ROV operations, safety standby and maintenance and repair.
The competitive price indications are based on a Rolls-Royce equipment package including the main two-drum hydraulic winch with 200-tonne heave and 250-tonne brake rating. They also assume the diesel mechanical propulsion system. However, Emblemsvåg is well aware that some OSV operators may wish to specify other equipment and possible alternative propulsion arrangements such as a diesel-electric set-up. These, he says, can be accommodated but will obviously have an impact on price.
Other mid-range offshore vessel designs are currently being worked on by Rolls-Royce naval architects. They include a larger 150-tonne anchor handler likely to be introduced later this year. A mid-range subsea construction vessel design is also on the drawing board, intended for waters where breakeven production costs are relatively low and where energy companies will be focusing whilst the oil price stays down.
Tucked away in southwestern Finland is Salo, a town of about 50,000, where 40 percent of all the doors for large cruise ships are produced. Antti Marine’s production facility in Salo has produced a quarter of a million doors for 300 cruise ships in just over 20 years. It takes about 10 weeks to produce a typical order of 3,000 doors. They are supplied over a period of six months, as and when the ship’s cabins are built
“We are devoted to lean thinking,” says Commercial Director Markko Takkinen. “The production time of the doors is short, as we do not want them remain in storage here.”
Antti Marine specializes in what it calls ‘“tailored mass production”—necessary because on one cruise ship there may be 150 different types of doors.
Antti Marine is not the only Finnish marine company that benefits from many of the world’s large cruise ship fleet being built in Finland.
Cruise ships also have a lot of toilets and a need for a lot of waste management systems. Finnish headquartered Evac Group has just received its biggest cruise vessel contract ever: total waste management systems for four large cruise ships plus an option to outfit an additional six vessels. The initial four-vessel contract is valued at about EURO 30 million.
Each ship will have an Evac Cleansea wastewater treatment plan, allowing operation in Environmentally Sensitive Sea Areas (ESSAs) and Special Areas (SAs), dry and wet waste treatment systems, a bio sludge treatment unit, plus vacuum collecting systems and some 3,000 vacuum toilets.
Evac also supplies its products to a wide range of users ashore and afloat. So, too, does fire protection specialist Marioff Corporation Oy, but its roots are in the marine market and it last year launched a new generation Hi-Fog 3000 sprinkler series for marine applications that replaces earlier Hi-Fog 1000 and Hi-Fog 2000 sprinkler series.
“With the launch of this new generation of Hi-Fog 3000 sprinklers, we are offering to our marine customers enhanced Hi-Fog systems with faster activation, more efficient suppression and improved passenger and crew safety,” says John Hemgård, Director of Marine Business, Marioff Corporation Oy.
The Hi-Fog 3000 sprinkler series is designed, tested and type approved according to IMO Res.A800(19) as amended in IMO Res.MSC.265(84).
Another Finnish product that really took off after its widespread adoption is ABB’s Azipod. It’s become the propulsor of choice for cruise ships and ABB is currently delivering the complete electrical power plant and propulsion systems for two new 3,300 passenger cruise ships building at Germany’s Meyer Werft. The 20.5 MW Azipod XO propulsion unit for the first of the ships recently left the ABB factory in Helsinki.
ABB has delivered, or has on order, Azipod propulsion units for about 200 vessels
Each Azipod propulsion unit takes about two months for technicians to assemble at ABB’s Vuosaari plant. Across town at ABB’s Helsinki motors, generators and drives factory, the powerful synchronous motors at the system’s core take shape over six months.
COOPERATION AMONG STAKEHOLDERS
The major driver for marine engine designers is bringing engines into compliance with emissions requirements while keeping fuel consumption and maintenance costs under control.
A new pressurized EGR (exhaust gas recovery) economizer from Alfa Laval shows how Scandinavian maritime innovation often results from a cooperation between suppliers, university departments and shipowners. It also illustrates that, for some ships, EGR may be a better means of coming into compliance with new NOx limits than the better known SCR (selective catalytic reduction).
In a project supported by the Danish Energy-Technological Development and Demonstration Program (EUDP) and developed in cooperation with Aalborg University, the EGR economizer has been rigorously tested aboard the containership Maersk Cardiff.
“As a front-runner in the pursuit of green technologies, we were keen to see what the Aalborg EGR-HPE could do,” says Ole Christensen, Senior Machinery Specialist at A.P. Moller-Maersk. “But while we were enthusiastic about the boiler’s potential, we were also somewhat uncertain as how it would handle the physical realities of EGR. The temperatures are twice as high as those of traditional waste heat recovery, and the gas pressures are far greater.”
Those concerns disappeared when the boiler was brought online with the Maersk Cardiff’s two-stroke MAN B&W 6S80ME-C9 engine in November 2014. “Not only did the boiler survive,” says Christensen, “[but also] the results we have seen during testing are very promising.”
“EGR provides Tier III NOx compliance with a very compact footprint, but compliance itself is only part of the full potential,” says John Pedersen, Business Manager, Boilers, Combustion & Heaters at Alfa Laval. “Working closely with MAN Diesel & Turbo to optimize the EGR technology, we saw additional opportunities through our expertise in marine boilers.”
In the EGR process, around 30% of the exhaust gas is directed back into the engine, which reduces the combustion temperature and thus the production of NOx. Since only the remaining 70% of the gas reaches the traditional exhaust gas boiler after the turbocharger, waste heat recovery is reduced by 30% as well.
The Aalborg EGR-HPE is a revolutionary new economizer enclosed in a pressure casing that is placed in-line ahead of the pre-scrubber sprayers in the EGR circuit.
“By moving the break point for waste heat recovery from a medium engine load down to a low load, the Aalborg EGR-HPE enables even slower steaming,” says Pedersen. “That means fuel savings that quickly pay back the economizer, offset the EGR investment and lower CO2 emissions on top of the NOx reduction.”
Positioned ahead of the pre-scrubber spray jets, the Aalborg EGR-HPE has access to much higher temperatures than traditional exhaust gas boilers. It is integrated with the conventional waste heat recovery after the turbocharger by its steam drum, which is shared with the traditional exhaust gas boiler. With the output of the traditional economizer feeding into the shared drum, the Aalborg EGR-HPE produces extremely high-quality steam with a temperature of just above 400°C, bringing the waste heat recovery system to a much higher level of efficiency.
Using the Aalborg EGR-HPE in an integrated system allows waste heat recovery to occur at lower main engine loads than possible with a traditional waste heat recovery system in Tier III operation. This creates the possibility of even slower steaming.
“The EGR economizer makes waste heat recovery beneficial at far lower engine loads, down to around 30%” says Pedersen. “This means that vessels can steam even slower, with huge fuel savings as a result.”
DUAL FUEL
B&W in MAN-B&W stands for Burmeister & Wain and the Burmeister & Wain shipyard in Copenhagen built the Selandia, the world’s first successful diesel-powered oceangoing ship. That was in 1912.
More than a century later MAN Diesel & Turbo in Copenhagen is still on the cutting edge of diesel innovation.
One beneficiary of this is TOTE Maritime which opted for MAN Diesel & Turbo dual fuel technology for its two new Marlin Class, Jones Act containerships. Both of these ships have been delivered for operation between the U.S. and Puerto Rico, burning LNG as fuel and thereby meeting all U.S. SECA emissions requirement. Each is powered by the world’s first dual-fuel slow-speed engine, an MAN-B&W 8L70ME-GI, built in Korea by licensee Doosan Engine.
The technology in the ME-GI engines wasn’t just pulled out of a hat. It is a natural development of the MAN B&W low speed electronically controlled ME family of engines. The first testing of the GI principles was carried out in 1987 and MAN Diesel
& Turbo introduced its first two-stroke ME-GI dual fuel engine series in 2011, adding the ME-LGI engine series (which can burn liquid fuels such as methanol and ethanol) in 2013.
In theory, any ME engine can be converted into an ME-GI engine, but to be recognized by a classification society as “LNG ready” an ME engine equipped newbuild will have to be designed with provision for such things as the necessary LNG fuel tanks, piping and other ancillaries.
MEDIUM SPEEDS, TOO
LNG fueling has also proved an attraction for many operators of vessels with medium speed diesels who have to operate in emissions control area.
That trend sees Wärtsilä set to deliver the 100th Wärtsilä 34DF dual-fuel marine engine from the factory in early 2016. It is part of an order for three new large escort tugs under construction for Norwegian operator Østensjø Rederi by Spanish shipbuilder Astilleros Gondan. The tugs will operate at Statoil’s Melkøya terminal near Hammerfest in Norway.
“These 100 engines do not include those delivered for land-based energy generation applications,” says Lars Anderson, Vice President, Wärtsilä Marine Solutions.
“Within its power range, the Wärtsilä 34DF has become the workhorse of the marine industry, thanks to its superior reliability and lower operating costs. It is a highly efficient engine that is also making a notable contribution to environmental compliance,”
The Wärtsilä 34DF dual-fuel engine was upgraded in 2013 with a higher MCR (maximum continuous rating) and better efficiency than its earlier version, the first of which was delivered in 2010. The upgraded version has a power output range from 3,000 to 10,000 kW at 500 kW per cylinder.
ELIMINATE THE ENGINE?
Of course, if you can eliminate the engine and switch to battery power, that gets rid of emissions issues entirely. One area where this could be possible is in certain short range ferry operations and we have already noted the E-ferry way project under way in Denmark at Søby Værft AS.
Wärtsilä, too, is eyeing this niche. In January it launched a concept for a series of zero or low emission shuttle ferries. The concept has been developed in line with new Norwegian environmental regulations for ferries, and Wärtsilä says this regulatory trend is also evident in other countries.
The ferries are designed to run entirely on batteries or in a battery-engine hybrid configuration where the fuel options are liquefied natural gas (LNG) or biofuel.
In plug-in operation, the fuel consumption is reduced by 100 percent compared to conventional installations, and all local emissions are completely eliminated. With the plug-in hybrid configuration, emissions are reduced by up to 50 percent.
The concept features Wärtsilä’s new wireless inductive charging system, which offers major benefits for typical shuttle ferry operations involving 20,000 or more departures a year because of its time and energy savings. The system eliminates physical cable connections, thus reducing wear and tear and enabling charging to begin immediately when the vessel arrives at quay.
Wärtsilä has now signed an agreement with Cavotec SA to jointly develop a combined induction charging and automatic mooring concept. It would incorporate Wärtsilä’s wireless induction power transfer into a vacuum-based automated mooring technology in which remote controlled vacuum pads recessed into, or mounted on the quayside, moor and release vessels in seconds.
FILTER PROMISES TO CUT NOX
The Exilator, an environmental filter for smaller ships, able to reduce both sulfur, carbon monoxide, NOx and noise, has been successfully tested on a Danish Maritime Authority ship. The technology has been testing over a 12-month project phase followed by a three-month practical test of the concept on the Danish Maritime Authority’s ship Poul Løwenørn. The filter’s performance has been documented by the Danish Technological Institute, and the installation and mounting of the filter has been approved by LR.
The filter has been designed for ships with engines of up to 6 MW. Current regulations don’t require the cleaning of exhaust gas from smaller ships if they already sail on marine diesel with a maximum sulfur content of 0.1%. Still, developer Exilator ApS
believes that there is already a market for the filter, as it reduces soot pollution and NOx on the ship itself and also cuts engine noise considerably — particularly attractive in the yachting sector, or expedition vessels sailing in very sensitive nature areas.
According to the test from the Danish Technological Institute, the filter reduces soot particle emissions by 99,1%, carbon monoxide by 98% and NOx by 11%. Though those tests didn’t cover the filter’s noise reduction properties but the company expects a noise reduction up to 35 dB, including low frequency noise.
Financing for development and testing was secured through the Danish Growth Fund and investment & development company CapNova.
The filter works by catalytically incinerated the soot in the exhaust as soon the ship’s engines reach exhaust temperatures above 325 degrees C. Ash is accumulated in the filter, which means that the filters must be cleaned after about 5,000 operational hours, as part of the recycling process.
The filter requires that the ship uses marine gas oil with a maximum sulfur content of 0.1%. According the test, the filter improves the ship’s fuel consumption by around 1%.
The exhaust gas, after passing through the turbo charger, goes to a muffler that removes the deep resonance. Then comes the particle filter, which also serves as an oxidation catalyst, where the soot is captured and burned – and finally the gas is led through a reducing catalyst, which minimizes NOx and NO2, before being emitted into the atmosphere.
Development is now underway in a collaboration with DTU, the Technological Institute and an engine manufacturer aimed at increasing the filter’s NOx reduction from 11% to 40% in phase 1, and to 80% in the subsequent phase 2. When this is achieved, the filter will enable compliance with IMO Tier III NOx limits.
SCRUBBERS
Shipowners face no shortage of options if they decide to use exhaust gas scrubbers to cut sulfur emissions. Recent customers for Alfa Laval’s PureSOx exhaust gas cleaning systems include Buss Shipping, which is retrofitting hybrid PureSOx systems on two 1,025 TEU container feeder ships that operate exclusively in Emission Control Areas (ECAs). Since they frequent the low-alkalinity waters between Rotterdam and St. Petersburg, as well as ports like Hamburg with zero-discharge requirements, a scrubber with closed-loop mode was a necessity.
Each ship will receive a hybrid PureSOx system with multiple inlets, connecting the main engine and two auxiliary engines to one U-design scrubber. In contrast to earlier systems with multiple inlets, the inlets will now lead into a single scrubber jet section – an advance in construction that will make the scrubber even more compact.
“The PureSOx solution was well engineered and allowed a sophisticated integration of the scrubber system into our container feeder ships,” says Christoph Meier, Project Manager, Buss Shipping. “The custom construction let us avoid major modifications inside the vessel, which together with the pre-outfitting gave us a short installation time. All those factors contributed to a competitive price.”
Though there’s no doubt that scrubbers work, they also involve a substantial investment. That led Finland’s family-owned Langh Ship to develop a scrubber of its own, the decision was made a little easier by the fact that another family-owned company has 40 years’ experience in cleaning washing waters.
The resulting product was successfully tested over an extended period on one of Langth’s own ships, the M/S Laura, and received final class approval from GL in August 2014. All of Langh’s five vessels have now been fitted with the scrubber and last year a hybrid version was installed on Bore Shipping’s M/V Bore Song.
“It has lived up to our expectations: minimum sludge handling, very clean outgoing water and in that respect minimum impact on the environment,” said Jörgen Mansnerus, VP, Marine Management at Bore Ltd.
Scrubbers could become less expensive as the result of a pilot project developed by Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) researchers Carlos Dorao and Maria Fernandino.
Called the Lynx Separator, the technology now being examined for possible use in marine exhaust gas scrubbers was originally developed for use in the natural gas industry and involves using a steel sponge along with centrifugal force to remove the fluid from a gas stream, offering a brand new solution for the gas industry.
In the Lynx Separator, wet gas flows through the separator. A tubular metal sponge spins rapidly so the liquid is separated from the gas and thrown to the side and down, allowing dry gas to stream up to where it’s needed.
The Research Council of Norway’s Innovation Program MAROFF (Maritime activities and offshore operations) has now funded a pilot project to examine the possibility of applying the separator technology to cleaning ships’ exhaust emissions from ships andetheoretical calculations and testing show promising results
BALLAST WATER MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS
Another major focus of compliance concern for shipowners is, of course, ballast water management. Needless to say, most of the major players in the Scandinavian marine equipment sectors have horses in this race. It’s just to soon to pick any winners given the fact that no system has yet gained full U.S. Type Approval.
As this was written, Norway’s Optimarin was claiming to be on the brink of the coveted approval and was pleased when the U.S. Coast Guard told manufacturers of ultraviolet (UV) based BWMS that it will not accept the Most Probable Number (MPN) testing method in its approval process. The MPN methodology evaluates organisms on the basis of “viable/unviable,” with most UV systems depositing “unviable” organisms back into the water – meaning they are still alive but cannot reproduce. The USCG said that the FDA/CMFDA test, which judges life forms as “living/dead,” must be the standard for approval.
Optimarin says the decision is good news.
The Coast Guard has told UV system manufacturers that it will not accept the Most Probable Number (MPN) testing method in its approval process. The MPN methodology evaluates organisms on the basis of “viable/unviable,” with most UV systems depositing “unviable” organisms back into the water – meaning they are still alive but cannot reproduce.
“This is a clear indication to the industry that USCG wants absolute certainty with regard to standards – they do not want living organisms deposited in their territory,” comments Tore Andersen, Optimarin’s CEO. “MPN is acceptable for IMO, but that won’t be any consolation to shipowners with global fleets that want the flexibility of sailing in and out of U.S. waters.”
He says that Optimarin, which has over 20 years of industry experience and installed the world’s first commercial BWT system in 2000, is the only UV manufacturer that is currently within “touching distance” of USCG approval.
Its technology successfully satisied the FDA/CFMDA criteria during testing last year. Further tests in other water salinities are scheduled for spring 2016, after which point approval is expected later this year.
Andersen says the system’s power is the key to its efficacy. “Each of our system lamps has a 35 kW capacity, which is huge for a UV system. That power instantly kills invasive organisms and that’s exactly what USCG wants to see,” he says
JANUARY 8, 2015 — Marine Group Boat Works, LLC, a San Diego, CA, family-owned boatbuilding and repair company with three yards in Chula Vista, National City and San Jose del Cabo, was
SEPTEMBER 14, 2014—Every two years, the shipping and shipbuilding world descends on Hamburg, Germany, for SMM, a week-long, mind-boggling smorgasbord of marine technology and innovation on display at more than 2,100 booths
NOVEMBER 25, 2013 — Crowley has signed a contract with VT Halter Marine, Inc., Pascagoula, MS, covering the construction of two 219.5 m, LNG-fueled, combination container combination container – Roll-On/Roll-Off (ConRo) ships.
Denmark’s A2SEA (owned 51 percent by DONG Energy and 49 percent by Siemens Wind Power) has signed a contract with Chinese shibuilder COSCO Shipyard Group Co., Ltd., for the construction of a
