Shipping Eyes Biofuels on Route to Decarbonisation, Shares Infineum Expert

March 31, 2022

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by Rob Ashton (Manifold Times) The International Maritime Organization (IMO) has adopted mandatory measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from international shipping under its pollution prevention treaty (MARPOL).

Rob Ashton, Infineum Marine Fuel Additive Market Manager, explores the actions IMO has taken, the challenges these create and assesses the role that biofuels could play as a first step towards reducing carbon emissions from shipping:

The marine industry is ramping up activities to decarbonise in a concerted effort to slow down the harmful effects of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions with respect to climate change. The IMO has set out a very clear GHG reduction strategy, which aims to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions per transport work, as an average across international shipping, compared to 2008:

By at least 40% by 2030
Pursuing efforts towards 70% by 2050

A raft of measures have been introduced to ensure that the hardware from newbuilds through to the existing fleet are aligned with a continuous improvement strategy to keep on track. Energy-efficiency requirements were adopted as amendments to MARPOL Annex VI and entered into force in 2013. The regulations made the Energy Efficiency Design Index (EEDI) mandatory for new ships, and the Ship Energy Efficiency Management Plan (SEEMP) a requirement for all ships.

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Fuel choice can reduce CO2 emissions

The largest impact can be made through the fuel contribution as this will not only affect fuel consumption but also influence the CO2 factor, which features in the equation. Clearly one of the most effective ways to improve CII and remove GHG from the industry is to move to carbon free fuels. However, the challenges associated with this approach are huge.

The much talked about future fuels (bio-LNG, methanol, ammonia and hydrogen) are not drop in alternatives and all have significant challenges.

Future fuel challenges include:

Robust biotechnology to make the fuels
Scale up to manufacture the fuels in adequate quantity
Infrastructure to supply the fuels at port
On-land and onboard storage
Effective combustion of the fuel to deliver comparable performance to existing fuels

One fuel type that could be a considered a drop in fuel to the existing marine fuel pool (either as an extender or a standalone fuel) is biofuel. Fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) or materials derived from renewable vegetable oils (e.g. hydrotreated vegetable oil or HVO) have established bio-credentials. FAME has been widely used in land transportation for many years and typically features as a fuel extender at around 7% volume. Used cooking oil (UCO) can lead to a significant reduction of up to about 90% CO2 emissions when used as a B100 (this reduces to around 50% when converted to FAME). But this biofuel, along with other more traditional FAME feedstocks, derived from rapeseed and soy, are already supply constrained.

Several significant trial studies have demonstrated that biodiesel can contribute towards a reduction in total hydrocarbons, particulates and carbon monoxide. However, nitrogen oxides (NOx) are generally worse and consequently a balanced approach needs to be adopted. A consideration here is that the CII equation currently does not factor in any potential biodiesel benefits or improvements made to the existing fuel pool with additives. As a result a carbon trading scheme is required to facilitate the use of these fuel types until a revision to the CII is made. Various submissions have been made to the IMO to discuss the future use of biofuel blends as well as to consider increased provision in the next ISO 8217 standard.

Supply constraints aside, Infineum envisages an increased use of bio-blends as a viable short-term option to contribute towards GHG reduction for the marine industry until the new suite of alternative fuels come online. Consequently, we have carried out an initial evaluation to assess where Infineum fuel additives can provide benefits for the marine fleet using bio blends of very-low and ultra-low sulphur fuel oil (VLSFO/ULSFO).

Stability concerns

One of the main concerns associated with VLSFO has been in relation to fuel stability. In the early days, FAME also had its fair share of problems as a blending component with regard to oxidative stability. However, judicious use of antioxidant additives and utilising high quality feedstock, such as rapeseed oil, has largely overcome this issue. Clearly, a key driver for marine is cost and product availability, consequently these high-quality blend components may not be readily available and in addition to this are not as attractive from a renewable standpoint. It is likely that material sourced from waste oils will be used, which are likely to be more variable in quality. Infineum has looked at blending a variety of bio-components into VLSFO as a B30 extender i.e. 30% biofuel blended with 70% of a severe VLSFO. The impact of the various biofuels on stability performance relative to the VLSFO has been assessed along with the additive impact on potential total sediment (TSP).

Testing was conducted over an extended ageing period for one week at 50°C, with the following results.

The severe VLSFO worsened over time, however the additive was able to arrest the deterioration.
Incorporation of FAME improved the TSP to a point where it was nearly on specification. Addition of additive boosted the performance to being well within specification and this was maintained over time.
Addition of isomerised HVO made little difference to the VLSFO base case, however the additive impact was greatly enhanced and this was maintained over time.
Addition of standard HVO (non-isomerised) represented a more sever case and was similar to the base VLSFO. Once again additive was able to stop further deterioration over time.

Cold flow

A similar study was conducted to assess the effect on cold flow properties when blending various bio-components in VLSFO – the suite of bio components was extended to encompass unconverted bio-oils where these B30 blends have high pour points.

As anticipated the FAME and HVO samples improve the base cold flow performance, especially the isomerised HVO sample. The unconverted oils alone are very viscous despite having relatively low pour points and when blended into the B30 blends, they have pour points of ~25°C, which is higher than the individual component pour points and quite close to the ISO 8217 pour point specification (30°C max). Given the B30 fuels made with FAME and HVO had improved cold flow performance they were not part of the additive evaluation project.

Infineum pour point depressants perform well in the VLSFO and the B30 blends using the unconverted oils. The additives also demonstrate some performance in the neat bio-components which could free up the potential to target biofuel feedstocks, which would otherwise be inaccessible to ship operators and fuel blenders due to apparent poor cold flow characteristics.

Combustion concerns and engine cleanliness

As mentioned previously, several of the major shipping companies have already conducted ship trials with Bx blends and have determined that biodiesel can contribute towards a reduction in total hydrocarbons, particulates and carbon monoxide. However, NOx emissions are generally worse. In our view, lowering the peak combustion temperature is essential to help control NOx emissions and the use of Infineum combustion improver technology can be used as an effective way to reduce the NOx contribution from biofuels that are incorporated into the marine pool.

Engine cleanliness assessment is still in progress. Initial results on a B30 FAME fuel using rig simulators have highlighted that FAME appears to be a bad actor, laying down dense, carbonaceous deposits on the metal surfaces. However, these deposits can be effectively managed with Infineum asphaltene management chemistry.

Challenges ahead

The marine industry is committed to reducing CO2 emissions from the international fleet and action is needed now. As work continues on the development and commercialisation of carbon-free fuels, alternative solutions are needed on the route towards decarbonisation. Biodiesel is one option to consider as a drop in fuel. READ MORE

Can ammonia or wind propel carbon-free shipping? (Climate Now; includes AUDIO podcast)

Excerpt from Climate Now: In the race for decarbonization, the shipping industry faces major challenges. Fuel is cheap, almost half the price of gasoline. And, most ships last between 20-25 years, meaning that the turnover to cleaner shipping could take far longer than road transportation, where the average car is only 12 years old.

But there is some wind in the sails of maritime decarbonization initiatives.

Maria Gallucci, a climate journalist with Canary Media, has spent the last 5 years investigating the challenges and opportunities of decreasing maritime emissions. She spoke with Climate Now about why it is so hard to decarbonize this sector, and the diversity of approaches that are being explored, with a focus on ammonia and wind-powered propulsion.

Chapters:

00:00 Maria's background

02:08 Why is shipping so hard to decarbonize?

05:43 How is shipping regulated?

08:20 What technologies and alternative fuels for shipping could replace fossil fuels?

11:08 Ammonia:

- 11:08 Pros and cons of ammonia for shipping

-14:25 What needs to happen to convert shipping to ammonia-powered?

-17:18 Addressing the challenges of ammonia

23:10 What startups are tackling shipping's emission problem?

25:25 Wind-powered propulsion in the shipping industry

28:12 Battery-electric shipping and carbon capture READ MORE