Connect with us

Alternative Fuels

Green Ray project to develop solutions minimising methane slip from LNG-fuelled engines

Project involves Chantiers de l’Atlantique, CMA CGA, DNV GL, Finnish Meteorological Institute, MSC Cruises Management, Revolve Water and Shell.
Admin

Published

2 years ago

on

ABS MPA

A consortium including technology group Wärtsilä has secured European Union funding to develop solutions minimising methane slip from marine engines, advancing the environmental and climate benefits of LNG as a bunker fuel.

Coordinated by VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, the Green Ray project brings together several companies from across the shipping value chain: shipyard Chantiers de l’Atlantique, ship owner CMA CGA, classification society DNV GL, the Finnish Meteorological Institute, ship manager MSC Cruises Management, non-profit organisation Revolve Water and energy major Shell.

The project will develop on-engine technologies for low-pressure dual-fuel engines – both 2- and 4-stroke – as well as a novel aftertreatment concept. These solutions will be advanced to a high state of technology readiness, including demonstrators installed on two newbuilds and one retrofitted to an existing vessel. All the technologies developed in Green Ray will also be fully capable to utilize bio- or synthetic methane instead of fossil LNG.

Wärtsilä will develop technology specifically for low pressure 4-stroke dual fuel engines that enables methane slip reduction, increases efficiency and lower operational costs at all engine loads. This technology targets the largest four-stroke engines on the market as widely used by cruise ships, ferries and gas carriers.

Wärtsilä will also develop an on-engine technology for 2-stroke engines around a patented LNG injection system to reduce methane slip from tankers, container ships, etc. Both technologies will be demonstrated at sea in real application during the project in collaboration with the Green Ray partners.

The use of LNG as a marine fuel is accelerating, driven by a well-developed supply infrastructure, a clear transition to cleaner fuels and significant air pollution and climate benefits. The issue of methane slip – unutilized and thus unburned fuel escaping into the atmosphere from engines and across the production and supply chain – is seen as one of the main challenges to wider uptake.

“Methane slip has become an important factor in ship owners’ decisions about whether to use LNG fuel,” said Kati Lehtoranta, Principal Scientist, VTT. “With these promising technologies we aim to reduce the slip contributing directly to reduction of the total greenhouse gas emissions, opening this pathway to even wider segment of the maritime market.”

Shell has developed a proprietary methane abatement catalyst system that has been lab tested and scaled up to a field demonstration, where it was proven to be effective not only in significantly reducing methane slip (over 90%), but also in handling typical compounds that can degrade the catalyst, via the inclusion of a guard bed.

“Shell’s climate ambition to become a net-zero emissions energy business by 2050 will require us to explore a range of avenues that have the potential to help us, our partners, and customers to decarbonise the existing LNG value chain. We are continuously working to improve the value proposition of LNG through dedicated technology research, and we are keen to develop potential solutions to minimise methane slip at such a relevant project as Green Ray,” explains Alexander Boekhorst, VP Gas Processing and Conversion Technology at Shell.

“This research will allow us to build on the continuous improvements made in reducing methane slip from engines over the past twenty years,” said Sebastiaan Bleuanus, General Manager, Research Coordination & Funding, Wärtsilä Marine Power. “Taking these solutions for newbuilds and retrofits to near commercial readiness will be an important step for the long-term viability of LNG as a marine fuel.”

The project has received funding of around €7 million from Horizon Europe. It will run until 2027.

 

Photo credit: Cameron Venti from Unsplash

Published: 1 March

 

Related Topics:
Continue Reading

Methanol

Chimbusco completes bunkering op of China’s first 16,000K TEU methanol DF boxship

“COSCO SHIPPING YANGPU” was supplied approximately 900 metric tonnes of methanol marine fuel by Chimbusco in Shanghai on 11 May.

Admin

Published

11 hours ago

on

May 23, 2025

By

Chimbusco completes bunkering of China’s first 16,000K TEU methanol DF boxship

China Marine Bunker (PetroChina) Co Ltd (Chimbusco) completed a bunkering operation of the first domestically manufactured methanol dual-fuel container ship in Shanghai on 11 May, according to COSCO Shipping on Thursday (15 May). 

COSCO SHIPPING YANGPU was supplied approximately 900 metric tonnes (mt) of methanol marine fuel by Chimbusco at Pier 1 of COSCO Shipping Heavy Industry. 

The operation started on 7 May but was postponed due to unfavourable weather from the Jianghuai Cyclone.

Chimbusco completes bunkering of China’s first 16,000K TEU methanol DF boxship

COSCO Shipping said the operation marked an important achievement in green and low-carbon transformation in shipping, from ship construction and ecological layout of the entire green fuel industry chain of the company. 

Manifold Times previously reported the naming ceremony of China’s first 16,000 TEU methanol dual-fuel container ship, COSCO SHIPPING YANGPU in Yangzhou.

The methanol dual-fuel container ship named was the first in a series of vessels from COSCO Shipping Holdings, constructed by COSCO Shipping Heavy Industry Yangzhou. 

Related: COSCO Shipping names China’s first 16,000 TEU methanol dual-fuel container ship

 

Photo credit: Cosco Shipping
Published: 23 May, 2025

Continue Reading

LNG Bunkering

Shell wraps up its first LNG bunkering operation for TUI Cruises in Barcelona

Milestone was achieved by Shell’s LNG bunker barge “Haugesund Knutsen” supplying the “Mein Schiff Relax” cruise ship at Port of Barcelona, says Dexter Belmar of Shell.

Admin

Published

11 hours ago

on

May 23, 2025

By

Shell wraps up its first LNG bunkering operation for TUI Cruises in Barcelona

Energy giant Shell recently conducted its first LNG bunkering operation for TUI Cruises in Barcelona, according to Dexter Belmar, General Manager and Head of Global Downstream LNG on Thursday (22 May).

He said the milestone was achieved by Shell’s LNG bunker barge Haugesund Knutsen supplying the Mein Schiff Relax cruise ship.

“Barcelona, one of Europe and the Mediterranean’s leading cruise ports, is also a key LNG bunkering location for Shell as we help more cruise ships transition to lower-emission fuels,” he said in a social media post. 

“A huge thank you to Royal Caribbean Group for their trust, and to Knutsen and Port of Barcelona for their collaboration in making this bunkering safe and efficient.”

Shell wraps up its first LNG bunkering operation for TUI Cruises in Barcelona

Belmar said LNG is leading the way as the preferred alternative bunker fuel in the cruise industry. 

“At Shell, we’re proud to support LNG fuelling needs at 26 locations worldwide, including major cruise ports like Bahamas, Barcelona, Canaveral, Everglades, Jamaica, Miami, Singapore, Southampton, and Tenerife,” he added. 

 

Photo credit: Shell
Published: 23 May, 2025

Continue Reading

LNG Bunkering

IGU report: Global LNG bunkering fleet grows to 56 operational vessels by 2024

LNG bunkering fleet is concentrated in Europe with the highest capacity of operational bunkering vessels, followed by Asia/Asia Pacific and North America, according to 2025 World LNG report by IGU.

Admin

Published

11 hours ago

on

May 23, 2025

By

IGU report: Global LNG bunkering fleet grows to 56 operational vessels by 2024

The global operational LNG bunkering and bunkering-capable small-scale vessel fleet reached 56 units at the end of December 2024 with further support from expanding infrastructure and regulatory drivers such as the IMO’s ban of heavy fuel oil in Arctic shipping and the EU’s FuelEU Maritime regulation.

This was nine more vessels than in 2023, with a total added capacity of 82,900 cubic metres (m3). 

This was one of the major highlights in the 2025 World LNG report by the International Gas Union (ICU), which was launched at the 29th World Gas Conference (WGC2025) in Beijing on Thursday (22 May). 

IGU report: Global LNG bunkering fleet grows to 56 operational vessels by 2024

The LNG bunkering fleet is concentrated in Europe with the highest capacity of operational bunkering vessels. This is followed by Asia/Asia Pacific and then North America, both of which have seen rapid expansions in the past five years. 

As of the end of 2024, Europe has the highest bunkering capacity, with a total of 190,757 cm across 25 vessels currently in operation within the region. 

Asia/Asia Pacific has the second-highest bunkering capacity, with a total of 179,700 m3 across 17 vessels in operation. From that, China currently has five operational LNG bunkering vessels while South Korea currently provides STS bunkering services with four bunkering vessels. Singapore currently has three bunkering vessels in operation. 

North America continued its progress toward becoming a significant region in the LNG bunkering market in 2024, reaching a total capacity of 86,400 m3 across 10 operational vessels by year-end.

The report noted: “2024 was a significant year for LNG bunkering. Bunker users were quick to capture the reductions in both fuel costs and carbon emissions from using LNG, taking advantage of lower LNG prices relative to other marine fuels in 2024. Lower prices and an emerging LNG-fuelled fleet were catalysts in the large uptake in LNG bunker volumes.”

The Port of Singapore, which is the largest bunkering port in the world, recorded 463,900 tonnes of LNG bunkered in 2024, almost four times the 110,900 tonnes in 2023. The Port of Rotterdam, the second-largest bunkering port in the world, also recorded a 52% increase in bunkered LNG, from 620,000 cm in 2023 to 941,366 cm in 2024.”

IGU also said the newcomer in STS LNG bunkering is the Middle East with the LNG bunkering vessel Green Zeebrugge.

“The ship moved at the end of 2024 to Dubai and has performed the first ever LNG bunkering in the Middle East. This area is identified as a potential new LNG bunkering hub with Oman, the UAE, and Qatar as the main bunkering locations.”

Note: The ‘2025 World LNG Report’ can be downloaded here. 

 

Photo credit: International Gas Union
Published: 23 May, 2025

Continue Reading

Trending