World Bunkering > News > Winter 2009 > Equipment and services

Monitoring system keeps track of emissions

While carbon credits and emission trading schemes (ETS) remain a source of dissension, one issue among the many that have yet to be solved is the question of accurately calculating emissions. One speaker at the recent International Chamber of Shipping conference suggested that carbon credits might be measured according to the amount of fuel purchased.

While this solution would be simple to apply, it would ignore the effects of emission reduction technology such as scrubbers. However, US-based W R Systems is developing an emissions monitoring system that will allow vessels worldwide to continuously monitor pollutants and readily report findings to regulatory agencies and inspectors. If a carbon trading system is introduced, a system of this kind could be a key part of the scheme’s success.

In addition, it could play an important role in helping ships prove that they comply with increasingly strict restrictions within ECAs and areas such as the southern US where stricter emission limits apply. The CEMS analyses and records nitrogen oxides (NOx), sulphur oxides (SOx), and carbon dioxide (CO2) , as well as particulate matter (PM). GPS interface data tracks actual vessel position to support regulatory requirements in ECA zones.

A successful land test of the CEMS system was carried out in August 2009, with an at-sea analysis of the CEMS on a Maersk vessel scheduled for September (results not available at time of writing). Certification of the system by the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) is projected for February 2010, with product release expected in Spring 2010. According to W R Systems, CEMS is the first technology integration of its kind, providing automated analysis and data recordings from multiple smokestacks and boilers.

By contrast, current technology for emissions monitoring compliance ranges from annual engine inspections to the reading of smokestacks and boilers, one at a time, using a portable device bolted to the source for a single-time measurement. “CEMS is the only system on the market that can continuously monitor and analyse the combination of multiple smokestack emissions,” says Dave Edwards, senior vice-president and director of W R Systems’ Engineering Services Division. “It can provide real-time and historical data for the length of a voyage and can provide information needed to ensure vessel emissions are within compliance when ships are entering and leaving ECA zones.

Its data points can also assist with the management of fuel consumption and change-over operations from heavy fuel oil to low-sulphur fuel oil to support emissions reductions and environmental initiatives “With the CEMS, a vessel manager, in minutes, can provide an inspector or port regulatory authority with an already formatted emissions report that gives real-time, GPS- stamped data,” Edwards says. “Development of the CEMS has been market driven. We’re providing the maritime industry with a highly accurate, very reliable, and cost effective solution to the challenges coming from new regulations that begin [in the US] on July 1, 2010.”

LR highlights fuel switch safety

Lloyd’s Register has issued a guidance note on maintaining boiler safety and availability when using low-sulphur fuels, in particular gas oil fuels. The note warns that:

• Boiler and fuel system manufacturers should be consulted for fuel switching guidance and to confirm that the boiler, combustion control systems and associated fuel system components, such as pumps, are suitable for the intended types of fuel.
• The furnace purge process must be functioning correctly. It is essential that the whole of the furnace space is fully purged before relighting any fires.
• Burners, in general, and tips, in particular, must be appropriate to each type of fuel to be used.
• The spark igniters (or equivalent) must be correctly functioning and positioned so as to readily ignite the fuel spray on start-up.
• All boiler flame detection and related safety systems must be operating correctly. In the case of flame detectors, they must be correctly positioned to pick out the particular flame pattern which is encountered with the types of fuel to be used.
• Manual and automated combustion control system functions should be checked as necessary to ensure they are operating correctly and reliably.
• Due to their searching nature, the use of gas oil fuels in systems which have generally previously operated with HFO can result in seepage of fuel from pipe flanges, equipment seams and other fittings.
• To ensure the minimum quantity of carbon deposition material within the combustion and uptake spaces, soot blowers should be operated at the latest possible opportunity before entry into coastal and port waters.
• The boilers, burner and fuel oil system, including the relevant automatic controls, should be reviewed by means of a HAZOP workshop, through which the action points for the operators and manufacturers can be identified.
• Oil fuel burning arrangements must be in accordance with the rules of the relevant classification society.
• All modifications to main and auxiliary boilers and associated fuel supply and control systems must be appraised by the vessel’s classification society in order to ensure that class is maintained.

New H2S Analyser

SetaAnalytics has developed a new unique, advanced technology, H²S analyser to determine the potential amount of entrained hydrogen sulphide (H²S) that could be released by a fuel. The H²S Analyser fully complies with the IP 570 method and has also been designed for use with fuels and associated feedstocks. The H²S Analyser uses advanced integrated analytical sensor technology which removes operator subjectivity and gives reliable, rapid and precise measurements.

The instrument offers a cost effective solution for H²S measurement involving no expensive chemicals or the need for analytical test preparations by a trained laboratory technician. Its fast repeat measurement capability offers a much improved means of assessing required remediation treatment of feedstock components and off-spec fuel products. Existing tests take up to two to three hours and require a trained chemist to perform them. In addition, the new analyser is unique in that it measures the H²S in the fuel and hence is a much better indicator of the potential release of H²S in a specific fuel. Alternative vapour space measurements do not quantify the risk.

Parlevliet & Van der Plas B.V. to test towing kite

Parlevliet & Van der Plas B.V., one of the largest European fishing companies, has purchased one of SkySails towing kite systems, to be installed on the ROS-171 trawler Maartje Theadora. “We are looking forward to significant fuel savings by using the SkySails system, particularly during extended transfer runs to the African coast and in the South Pacific, not to mention the potential savings during actual fishing operations,” says ceo Diederik Parlevliet, “while at the same time enabling us to reduce enormous amounts of CO² emissions and make a big contribution to safeguarding the climate.” At 141 metres in length, Maartje Theadora is Germany’s largest fishing vessel and is operated by the Sassnitz-based Westbank Hochseefischerei GmbH, a member of the Parlevliet & Van der Plas Group. The ship has two MaK main engines that produce a total of 8,640 kW of power.

The vessel will be fitted with a 160m² SkySails propulsion system like those already in use on cargo ships. Parlevliet & Van der Plas and the systems manufacturer SkySails will be evaluating if and in what way the wind propulsion system needs to be modified for use on fishing vessels as part of a pilot project funded by the European Fisheries Fund (EFF) and the German state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.

Supplier award for Lintec

Lintec Testing Services has been recognised as Supplier of the Year 2009 by Incentra a/l, the Oslo-headquartered shipowners’ procurement organisation whose members include the owners and operators of approximately 670 ships and offshore rigs, plus 130 confirmed newbuildings.

Lintec general manager Geoff Jones says, “We are very proud to have achieved the highest score in the Incentra supplier evaluation, and it is gratifying to see that the high level of service we offer is recognised by Incentra members. These, after all, are the people who really matter, who see at first hand how well our bunker fuel analysis service operates”.