Archive | Methanol as a marine fuel

Swedish ship designers create marine methanol.com

ScandiNAOS AB,  a Swedish company focused on ship design, sea cargo handling, and logistics, has created a website focused on the use of methanol as a marine fuel: www.marinemethol.com. This is a function of the company’s devotion to creating energy efficient and sustainable shipping. As their website notes:

“During the past years much of ScandiNAOS’s efforts has been devoted to alternative fuels, methanol in particular, and energy efficiency in general through the EffShip project and its successors. Specific goals for the EffShip project included improving the efficiency of the ship machinery, introducing alternative marine fuels, using wind energy as a complementary propulsion force and developing applicable technology for reducing the emissions of CO2, NOx, SOx and Particulate Matter.

In the SPIRETH project that followed a DME-methanol mixture (OBATETM) was tried on board Stena Scanrail. Besides the technological aspects of the project issues regarding classification and flag state approval were major parts in the project. While the SPIRETH project is still active, ScandiNAOS is a partner in Stena Lines work to convert Stena Germanica to methanol.”

Here in British Columbia, BC Ferries, which operates the world’s second largest ferry system,  is looking to convert some of its ships to LNG, a fuel that ScandiNAOS unequivocally states is inferior to methanol as a shipping fuel. Given that the BC government owns BC Ferries and sees LNG as a $1 trillion industry in the province over the next three decades, BC Ferries’ current approach is not surprising. Over the next few years, however, as the plans of Blue Fuel Energy and Canadian Methanol approach fruition, it would not be surprising to see BC Ferries give methanol a much closer look. Time will tell.

 

 

 

Methanol as a marine fuel

According to an April 10 article in The Motor Ship (a journal for marine professionals), recent developments present new opportunities for the use of methanol as a marine fuel, including the reforming of methanol into hydrogen for fuel cells. This, of course, is a function of the growing realization that methanol is a better carrier of hydrogen than hydrogen itself, as well as development of the IGF Code (International Code for Ships using Gas or other Low Flash-Point Fuels), which could be approved in November 2014 and be implemented by July 2017, leading to diversification of the fuels used to power ocean-going vessels around the world.

 

 

 

MAN developing methanol engines for Methanex ships

UnknownMomentum for the use of methanol as a transportation fuel continues to build with the July 1, 2013 announcement by MAN Diesel & Turbo that it is developing a new ME-LGI dual fuel engine for Waterfront Shipping, which is wholly owned by the world’s largest methanol producer, Methanex. The engines will run on a blend of 95% methanol and 5% diesel. Should methanol-based marine fuels deliver the anticipated emissions and fuel cost reductions, it could usher in a new era in shipping and bolster demand for methanol around the world.

Regulations for the use of methanol as a marine fuel

Det Norske Veritas (DNV) is a classification society dating back to 1864 with the purpose of “safeguarding life, property, and the environment”. DNK  describes its core competence as identifying, assessing, and advising on how to manage risk, and today it has 300 offices in some 100 countries. According to an article in Port News, by this summer( 2013) will have developed regulations for the use of methanol as a marine fuel. This, it would appear, is closely connected with the SPIRITH project in the Baltic Sea discussed in the previous blog post and reflects DNV’s views that methanol is poised to become a viable alternative marine fuel.

Methanol as a marine fuel

The Baltic Sea is part of a designated Sulphur Emission Control Area where the maximum allowable sulphur content in marine fuels will be reduced to 0.1% in 2015. To help meet these requirements, as well as for other environmental reasons, in 2012  several companies and governmental agencies partnered to form SPIRETH, a full-scale pilot project for testing the application of methanol and DME as sulphur-free marine fuels.The project is expected to be completed in March 2014, less than one year from now. Should project results be positive, as expected, another driver of the fuel methanol market is likely to emerge, broadening the base for methanol producers around the world.