Engine designers in Europe and Asia plan to release multi-fuel, slow-speed engines capable of burning ammonia, hydrogen and low-carbon fuels by mid-decade
Engine designers are pushing on to release new ‘green’ engines by mid-decade. One of those is Japan Engine Corp (J-Eng), which is working in a consortium with Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL) and MOL Drybulk Ltd to trial a hydrogen-fuelled engine in a dry bulk carrier. The consortium says the as-yet unnamed slow-speed, two-stroke hydrogen-fuelled engine would be the first of its kind.
The engine would be developed in joint co-operation between J-Eng, Yanmar Power Technology and Kawasaki Heavy Industries (KHI) and backed by Japan’s New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO), part of the Green Innovation Funding Program.
One of the world’s largest shipowners, MOL, wants to deploy net-zero emissions ocean-going vessels in the 2020s and achieve net-zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2050.
Ammonia engine development
Besides hydrogen, two-stroke engine designers are accelerating their efforts on prime movers and auxiliaries that will burn ammonia – a shipping fuel that does not contain any carbon. Over 80% of ammonia produced is used in the production of fertilisers. With a chemical formula of NH3, ammonia is composed of nitrogen and hydrogen. It is an excellent hydrogen carrier and does not present the cryogenic and containment complexities presented by hydrogen. While easily transported at normal temperatures and pressures, it is highly toxic, corrosive and less energy dense than traditional marine fuels and LNG.
No ammonia is yet available as a shipping fuel. However, shipowners have faith that such an engine will emerge; they have placed orders for 24 ‘ammonia-ready’ ships at shipyards, according to the latest data from Clarksons Research. An ‘ammonia ready’ notation signifies that the ship has been built for conversion to burn ammonia when it becomes available.
In November Swiss engine designer WinGD said it plans to commercialise its ammonia- and methanol-fuelled two-stroke engines based on its X diesel fuel and X-DF dual-fuel platforms, with a projected release by 2025. “By 2030, many of the ships that will be sailing in 2050 – the date of IMO’s greenhouse gas emissions reduction target – will already have been ordered,” says WinGD director of global sales Volkmar Galke.
“As soon as there is a demand for an ammonia solution, we will be ready”
As a result, WinGD expects 50% of its sales to be comprised of multi-fuelled engines capable of operating on carbon-neutral fuels by 2030.
MAN Energy Solutions firmly has its sights set on ammonia. “In container ships with a two-stroke engine, ammonia will certainly play a decisive role and such an engine will be available from 2024,” says Marita Krems, head of the four-stroke marine engines division at MAN Energy Solutions.
She says ammonia use has been discussed with customers in “great detail” in the four-stroke segment. “Cruise ships or ferries, for example, are basically floating cities and have especially high safety standards. Here, we only see options for ammonia’s use if initial, positive operating experiences have been gathered in other segments.
“As soon as there is a demand for an ammonia solution, we will be ready,” emphasises Ms Krems.
Plans call for MAN Energy Solutions to offer engines in 2022 that are designed for later conversion to methanol operation if required, and the introduction of methanol-burning, four-stroke engines in 2024.
MAN Energy Solutions’ first two-stroke, methanol dual-fuel engine, ME-LGIM, went into service in 2016.
© 2023 Riviera Maritime Media Ltd.