Methanol as an alternative fuel for marine use to reduce the atmospheric pollution

• Germán de Melo Rodríguez ^[1] ; Ignacio Echevarrieta Sazatornil ^[1]
  1. [1] Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya

     Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya

     Barcelona, España

     
• Localización: Maritime Transport'16 / coord. por Francisco Javier Martínez de Osés, Marcella Castells Sanabra, 2016, ISBN 978-84-9880-591-8, págs. 300-308
• Idioma: inglés
• Enlaces
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• Resumen

  • Although the fuel used in maritime transport accounts for approximately between 3- 3,5% of the total consumed per year in the world, it emits to the atmosphere approximately 1016 million tonnes of ????2 or GHG, (Third IMO GHG Study 2014 ????2). Most shipping routes pass near the coasts of maritime shipping countries, and in some cases as The Channel, The Strait of Gibraltar, The Strait of Malacca, etc., with a very high density of maritime traffic and near the coast, this makes much of air pollution from ships landing on the shores of the countries where they navigate, causing, among other effects, acid rain and global warming. The MARPOL Annex VI requires that from January 1st. 2015 the sulphur content in fuels used by the main and auxiliary engines of ships operating in ECA areas must be less than 0.1%. Also from January 1st., 2012, the same annex has forced international shipping vessels to a maximum sulphur content of these fuels of 3.5%, and from 2020 it will be lowered to 0.5%. The emission of the NOx from the burning of fossils fuels in the main and auxiliary engines is also regulated by the Annex VI in three levels: Tier I – Ships keel laid from January 1st, 2000 to January 1st 2011 (Global for existing “pre-2000”engines), Tier II – Ships keel laid on or after January 1st 2011 (Global for new engines installed after 1st 2000), and Tier III – Ships keel laid after January 1st, 2016 operating in the North American Emission Control Area or the United States Caribbean Sea Emission Control Area. (NOx Emission Control Areas for new engines), with a mean rate of 12,140 g/kWh. The above measures have caused a tsunami in shipping for strict compliance with the rules set in the Annex VI of MARPOL, for ships sailing in the ECA areas, it requires ship owners to use fuel with sulphur content less than 0.1%, which makes it necessary to use MGO fuel more expensive than HFO, or others types of fuels, liquid or gas, that comply with the new regulations regarding to the emission of SOx and NOx. The IMO in its “Third IMO GHG Study 2014 ????2” made the inventory of the total emissions of GHG and established all kind of measures to reduce the consumption of fuel and the emissions of GHG from the ships. In this paper we study the alternatives fuels, like LNG or Methanol, to the fuels like HFO or MGO to comply with the IMO regulations and reduction of GHG, analysing its advantages and disadvantages, which can be used in existing ships and new construction, and therefore is desirable to have means to allow the use of new fuels, and doing that maritime transport be more respect with the environment.