On-board carbon capture? Deltamarin says it “looks promising”

RoPax ferry fitted with carbon capture system

Turku, Finland, headquartered Deltamarin Group has been looking into on-board carbon capture as a means for ships to reduce their CO2 footprint and it says that “the results look promising.”

Post-combustion carbon capture systems can extract CO2 from a ship’s exhaust gases, after which the CO2 is liquified, stored onboard and eventually discharged to shore for either permanent storage or further use.

Earlier this year, Deltamarin joined forces with Wärtsila Exhaust Treatment to study how the system could be implemented in RoPax ferries.

The study compared a medium-size 155 meter RoPax ferry newbuild with alternative arrangements for MGO, HFO and LNG fuels. The end conclusion of the study, says Deltamarin, is that carbon capture looks technically feasible for ship integration and indeed a very interesting option in reducing CO2 emissions from ferries. The technology looks particularly promising for LNG-fueled vessels due to some inherent benefits of the fuel.

As the technology will be built on existing knowledge of exhaust gas cleaning systems, Deltamarin says it can also be expected to become available for clients sooner than some of the low- and zero-carbon fuels that might require longer timelines to make the supply and distribution infrastructure available.

The full report of the study will be presented at upcoming industry conferences and seminars, meantime more details are available in this Deltamarin blog post.