Start-up extends range of GHG emissions control offerings

The timing of Daphne Technology’s growth, from an academic research project to the producer of a “universal green converter”, has been almost perfectly aligned with the growth of shipping’s emissions regulations.

The universal green converter was launched as a new ‘plug-and-play’ exhaust gas purification system in 2021, to provide a single solution for all forms of pollutant emissions in flue gas: SOx, NOx, CH4, N2O, HN3 and CO2. The technology stems from the research conducted by Daphne Technology chief executive, Mario Michan, at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in 2017. The founder of the company, Dr Michan, holds a PhD in Physics from The University of British Columbia, and was a merchant ship deck officer and engineer, and an officer in the Colombian Navy.

Funding was provided by Saudi Aramco and a €2.5M (US$3M) grant from the EU’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme to develop SulPure, an exhaust gas purification system that removes SOx and NOx for ships operating on heavy fuel oil (HFO).

Speaking to LNG Shipping & Terminals’ stablemate Marine Propulsion in 2021, Dr Michan said: “LNG engines emit CO2, CH4 and NOx … ammonia combustion – perhaps the first carbon-free fuel to be used widely in the industry – produces N2O, a very powerful GHG, about 298 times more potent than CO2, and very likely NH3 slip.”

“NOx is indirectly intensifying global warming and needs to be prioritised”

He warned: “Even hydrogen combustion produces significant NOx. NOx in the atmosphere not only returns to land and ocean in the form of HNO3/NO3, but it also results in net ozone formation. Since tropospheric ozone can absorb infrared radiation, NOx is indirectly intensifying global warming and needs to be prioritised.”

Daphne Technology has now launched PureMetrics, which measures and reports real-time tonnes of GHG emissions to the environment.

The aim is to reduce dependency on potentially inaccurate reporting, based on fuel consumption estimates. PureMetrics purpose is to ensure compliance with EU Monitoring, Reporting and Verification (EU MRV) and IMO Data Collection System (IMO DCS) regulations.

The first installation will be in 2024, on an unnamed LNG carrier chartered by Trafigura and managed by Latsco LNG LLC, with the aim of measuring GHG emissions and methane slip.

Trafigura’s head of the energy transition group and venture capital investments, Margaux Moore, commented: “The deployment of PureMetrics on our first vessel is a crucial step towards establishing a baseline measurement for GHG emissions in our maritime operations. This baseline will provide a foundational understanding of actual emissions levels, enabling effective monitoring and targeted reduction efforts.”