EMISSIONS ABATEMENT

the space and 30% of the power of conventional marine solution carbon capture systems. The company completed a pilot system at Halliburton Labs in Texas late last year.

In March 2023, ABS granted approval in principle (AiP) to Value Maritime’s onboard CCS system. The Filtree System – a prefabricated gas cleaning system that filters sulphur and 99% of particulate matter – includes a carbon capture module that captures the CO2 onboard in a battery container. The technology allows vessels to capture up to 40% of CO2 emissions, with the potential of exceeding 90% in the future. The Filtree System has already been installed on over 20 vessels, and is set to be installed on the newbuild container vessels of Nordic that are operated by BG Freight Line and which will additionally feature the modular CO2 capture and storage system.

Also in March 2023, Lloyd’s Register (LR) awarded AiP to Rotoboost, a Nordic hydrogen production company, for its pre-combustion CCS system, Rotobox, which uses a thermocatalytic decomposition process (TCD) where part of the natural gas fuel supply is converted into hydrogen and graphite with a liquid catalyst.

The TCD process significantly reduces CO2 emissions, particulate matter and methane slip by producing hydrogen while capturing carbon in its solid form. The company says Rotobox has the capacity to reduce overall carbon emissions by up to 100%, depending on the heating method used. Converted hydrogen from the CCS can be used for fuel cells or as blend-in fuel for combustion engines or gas-fired boilers.

Kaisa Nikulainen, Rotoboost Chief Executive Officer, says the pyrolytic graphite produced is an excellent batterygrade anode material for electric cars and green steel production. “This circular economy creates a powerful tool to combat global warming and climate change on both land and sea. Our technology also demonstrates great potential in cost-effective production of green methanol and ammonia in land-based facilities, which further provides the shipping industry with other affordable alternative fuel options."

Rotoboost says its solution is easily scalable to meet future emission regulations, with lower electrical power requirements compared to conventional CCS systems and less storage space needed for solid carbon, allowing the system and associated storage to remain compact even for long voyages. The system is well suited to LNG carriers and other LNG-fuelled vessels, offering an additional option for shipowners for decarbonising.

For Andy McKeran, LR’s Chief Commercial Officer, the methane slip reduction potential is also significant: “Solving the methane emissions perception in the industry, through technology and evidence enables LNG to become a future fuel that is readily available today, subject to affordability –which ranks higher than any other alleged lower emissions fuel available today.”

As part of the MerVent 2025 project, GTT has received €4.66 million funding from Bpifrance for the design of an onboard CO2 capture system. The objective of the MerVent 2025 project is to design, build and operate, by 2025, the first commercial container ship with hybrid wind-assisted and synthetic fuel propulsion.

The consortium includes the shipowner Zéphyr & Borée, CWS, designer and manufacturer of the wing sails, the Centrale Nantes University with its research teams specialized in energy optimization, OSE Engineering for the design of intelligent operational performance solutions, and GTT for the design of a CO2 capture system on board. The system will capture at least 30% of the CO2 emissions of the alternative fuels being considered including LNG and methanol.

Wärtsilä has received its first order for a CCS-ready scrubber systems for four 8,200 TEU container ships. Delivery of the 35MW open loop scrubbers is expected to take place in 2023. Wärtsilä will take measures to ensure adequate space for the future installation of CCS system, incorporate considerations for minimising idle load and optimising utilities, and prepare the control and automation system accordingly. The CCS-Ready scrubbers will also be designed for integration with a particulate matter filter. Wärtsilä is currently testing its CCS system at 70% capture rate and a pilot installation will take place within the next 12 months.

Wärtsilä Exhaust Treatment also has a strong focus on the retrofit market. Team Manager, Integration Engineering Su Len Quach, says that while it is tempting to only think about new vessels, given the finances, timeframes and technologies involved, the existing fleet cannot be left behind. “Not all vessels can be easily retrofitted for future fuels, for example, and low carbon options may only be speculatively available in the medium and long term on the routes they operate. In this challenging and uncertain atmosphere, the industry should turn to solutions that it already understands – and that can create a platform for further development.”

The business case for retrofitting a scrubber today is positive, he says. With the wide and relatively stable spread between high and low sulphur fuels, they continue to offer favourable economics and payback time has been around 18 months. With CCS, they become a futureproofed investment for achieving marine decarbonisation goals. “The technology has also reached a point of maturity and is globally available to a point where exhaust treatment may become as standard as a rudder. All this should give the industry optimism that existing solutions can help support the latest regulations, including CII and EEXI, and prepare for carbon pricing further down the road towards 2030 and 2050.”

8 Wärtsilä has received its first order for a CCS-ready scrubber system for four 8,200 TEU container ships

8 Rotoboost’s pre-combustion CCS system, Rotobox, uses a thermocatalytic decomposition process (TCD)