Japanese shipping firm NYK on Tuesday (30 January) held a ceremony on January 29 to break ground at a site in Chiba Prefecture where the company will install a test engine facility to evaluate the safety of biofuels and accelerate their practical application as bunker fuels.
NYK will complete the installation of the test engine in June and analyse the biofuel in combustion tests over the next three years.
“The test engine will be a reused generator from the tugboat Sakigake, which is currently being converted to an ammonia-fuelled tug,” it said in a statement.
NYK Group companies Boltech Co., Ltd. and Nippon Yuka Kogyo Co., Ltd. will also participate in this project by utilising their engine-operation and fuel-oil-analysis technologies to verify the potential of various biofuels.
Biofuels are produced from various raw materials, including grains and waste cooking oil, but only a few are currently being commercialised. More types of biofuels are expected to be commercialised in the future as demand for biofuels increases.
However, about a year of testing and analysis at an external engine facility, followed by 12 to 18 months of onboard trials, is needed before continuous shipboard use of new bunker fuels.
“NYK expects to shorten the test period and the time until the new fuel can be used on board by owning and operating the test engine,” it added.
Manifold Times previously reported it will be conducting full-scale trials of long-term use of biofuel bunkers starting in fiscal 2024.
NYK at the time said it will use biofuel continuously for three months on multiple vessel types through the trial. After that, NYK will gradually extend biofuel use for a longer period for further validation.
Related: NYK to replace LNG bunker fuel system of tugboat “Sakigake” with ammonia-based solution
Related: Japan: NYK to conduct full-scale bio bunker fuel trials for long term use in 2024
Photo credit: NYK
Published: 31 January, 2024
