More efficient freshwater generators, heat exchangers and ammonia testing are among the new products and initiatives announced
Alfa Laval had a wide range of new and updated products on display at SMM 2022, including a two-stage freshwater generator that will soon join the Alfa Laval AQUA Blue family.
Compared with the single-stage AQUA Blue E1, the two-stage AQUA Blue E2 produces twice as much fresh water for a certain amount of waste heat – or the same amount of fresh water using around half the waste heat.
Introduced in 2008, Alfa Laval’s AQUA plate technology cut the seawater needs and power consumption for freshwater generation in half. Since then, the AQUA Blue family of freshwater generators has steadily grown and improved. AQUA Blue E2 will be available early 2023.
Alfa Laval head of marine heat transfer Serdar Sengun said, “The AQUA Blue E2 has all the strengths of the AQUA Blue E1, including AQUA plates with non-glued gaskets.”
“By having two stages, it takes the green benefits even further. Shipowners can get twice the fresh water out for the energy put in, or they can use the added efficiency to save in other ways.”
Staying with the decarbonisation theme, as part of reducing its carbon footprint throughout the equipment supply chain, Alfa Laval and Swedish steel producer SSAB have signed an agreement to collaborate on the development and commercialisation of the world’s first plate heat exchanger to be made using fossil-free steel.
The goal is to have the first unit made with hydrogen-reduced steel ready for 2023.
Alfa Laval president of marine separation and heat transfer equipment Peter Nielsen said, “Our marine plate heat exchangers are already key to decarbonising on board, thanks to their superior level of energy efficiency.”
“Through our collaboration with SSAB, we will minimise their total carbon footprint. Manufactured with fossil-free steel, plate heat exchangers will be as smart in production as they are in operation.”
Carbon-free fuel is going to be a key requirement in the future, but ammonia is toxic and special measures need to be taken when testing.
Alfa Laval was able to announce at SMM 2022 that the authorities in Denmark have granted approval for testing with ammonia at the Alfa Laval Test & Training Centre. When installation of the testing setup is completed by the end of 2022, the centre will be able to work with all fuels in consideration as the marine industry decarbonises.
Alfa Laval vice president technology development, energy solutions Lars Skytte Jørgensen said, “The Alfa Laval Test & Training Centre will explore ammonia’s properties and its behaviour in a wide range of systems. That includes combustion systems such as the burners on Alfa Laval Aalborg boilers, but also fuel supply systems and fuel cells – in other words, the full chain of fuel preparation and handling, where we will look at both efficiency and safety. With our testing setup approved, we can be first off-the-block in the race towards ammonia implementation.”
The Test & Training Centre is also on track for a 200-kW methanol fuel cell installation. The project’s aim is an efficient and cost-effective energy solution based on high-temperature proton exchange membrane (HT-PEM) fuel cells.
In the first step, a 10-kW (2 x 5 kW) installation has been running at the Alfa Laval Test & Training Centre since July 2022.
Alfa Laval business development manager, marine energy solutions Jeroen van Riel said, “We are pleased with the progress in the HT-PEM fuel cell system project. Although this first installation is small, it allows us to test the basic setup and the function of the supporting equipment. The data compiled so far is very promising, which suggests we can move into the next stage as planned.”
Alfa Laval is the driving force in a marine fuel cell development project funded by the Danish Energy Technology Development and Demonstration Program. In Q2 2022, Alfa Laval started up the small-scale methanol fuel-cell system to ultimately provide the marine industry with a scalable energy supply that does not involve combustion.
The fuel-cell system in development, which will provide clean operation with no particulate emissions, uses carbon-neutral renewable methanol. It comprises modules of HT-PEM fuel-cell stacks that can be combined in racks of 200 kW, creating a standardised, scalable system for many megawatts of power. Alfa Laval is responsible for the overall system infrastructure, as well as the distribution systems needed to support the fuel cells.
In the current phase of testing, two modules containing one fuel-cell stack each are being run with the distribution systems. The operational data will then be used to fine-tune the 200-kW module and rack setup.
“The project will lead to an integrated, safe and marine-certified product for application on tomorrow’s green ships,” said Mr van Riel. “Within the near future, it will offer a realistic alternative to combustion-based auxiliary power on board.”
In addition to the above products and services, Alfa Laval demonstrated the latest updates from recently acquired StormGeo, weather intelligence and decision-support solutions provider for shipping, which include the launch in October 2022 of a vessel carbon footprint dashboard as part of StormGeo’s s-Insight platform.
“The carbon footprint dashboard provides a single source of all CO2 emissions data. It gives access to the analytics necessary to review the impact of implemented measures, identify corrective actions, and report on carbon intensity alignment with industry trajectories to internal and external stakeholders,” said StormGeo product manager Madeleine Engelhardt. “The dashboard helps shipping companies focus on the decarbonisation metrics that matter.”
With several preconfigured widgets, the dashboard provides numerous graphs and diagrams to visualise the carbon footprint of all shipping activities. The system calculates and displays various CO2 emissions indicators for fleets, vessel subgroups, and individual vessels for each leg of the voyage. These insights will be available to all dashboard users, helping to ensure transparency and improve collaboration on decarbonisation initiatives across organisational departments.
Decision support is one of the topics at this year’s Tanker Shipping & Trade Conference, Exhibition & Awards in Athens, Greece 9-10 November 2022. Register your interest here
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