Solvang looks at carbon capture

CHANGE THE GAME

CARBON CAPTURE • CCS TECHNOLOGIES HAVE A ROLE TO PLAY IN DECARBONISING DEEPSEA SHIPPING, SAYS SOLVANG, WHICH IS ALREADY LOOKING SERIOUSLY AT ITS POTENTIAL

THERE ARE PLENTY of options emerging as the global maritime industry seeks to play its role in the energy transition – as other pages in this issue of HCB illustrate. However, none is anywhere close to providing the zerocarbon option at the scale that is required. The use of exhaust scrubbers can go some way to reducing the emission of environmental pollution from ships but, following advances in carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology, some are looking at applying this to shipboard use.

Norway-based gas ship operator Solvang has spent the past two decades looking at ways to reduce its environmental impact, putting in place equipment and systems to

SOLVANG SEES ONBOARD CARBON CAPTURE AS

OFFERING A BRIDGE BETWEEN CONVENTIONAL

FUELS AND FUTURE, ZERO-CARBON ALTERNATIVES remove NOx, SOx and other pollutants from its ships’ exhausts. But the problem with carbon dioxide remains: there can be no combustion without a carbon output. “There are no easy solutions,” says CEO Edvin Endresen. “So we are looking for the big game changer: to avoid CO2 emissions by means of capture and storage.”

In autumn 2021, Solvang set up a vesselscale CCS project in collaboration with Wärtsilä at the latter’s facility in Moss, Norway. A full-scale test rig sought to capture CO2 from main engine combustion before it reaches the exhaust outlets; a carbon separation process in the smokestack removes CO2, which is liquefied and transferred to deck tanks, where is can be kept ready for injection into long-term storage or for reuse in industrial processes.

So far, the tests have been successful. “The system already runs up to 60 per cent carbon capture on some engine loads, which has never been done before. Furthermore, initial indications are that the CO2 captured is very pure, with little or no product contamination”, says Endresen.

INTO THE REAL WORLD The plan is now to move onto shipboard trials. An up-scaled version is to be fitted on Solvang’s ethylene carrier Clipper Eos, serving the 7 MW main engine. By the middle of this year, an electrostatic filter will be installed in the ship’s exhaust gas cleaning system in a first-of-itskind experiment. If all goes well, a carbon absorber and stripper unit will be installed later in 2023, together with modified liquefaction systems to cater for the deck tanks. Over 2024 and 2025, a complete CCS system will operate alongside the existing scrubber and exhaust gas cleaning systems, which will provide live data on the performance of the CCS unit.

“The scheduled combination of CCS, scrubber and Solvang´s low-pressure EGR system will handle CO2, NOx, SOx, particles, CO and unburnt fuel from the heavy fuel oil (HFO) combustion. If applied to deep sea shipping as a sector, it constitutes a great step towards net-zero emission,” says Tor-Øyvind Ask, Solvang’s fleet director.

Solvang puts it this way: without carbon capture, the best that can be achieved in terms of reducing greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuels (including LNG and LPG) is between 10 and 15 per cent. This will not meet the net-zero climate goals. Indeed, if methane slip is included in the calculations, LNG may score particularly badly. With the application of CCS, HFO looks like the best bet on a well-to-wake basis, depending on the carbon input to any e-fuel and biofuel alternatives.

And there will be competition for decarbonised fuels. “To expect all sectors to plunge emissions at the same time will not work. Air traffic will place the highest bid for e-fuel, leaving shipping to opt for other fuel types,” Ask says. “CCS is something we can do within a few years. When the world has sufficient green energy, the captured CO2 can be transformed into electro fuel. Summed up, we offer a bridge into decarbonised deepsea shipping, thereby contributing seriously to our common future.” solvangship.no