Finnish Wärtsilä will 2012 be ready with a new generation of LNG engines in which methane emissions are greatly reduced. Even Rolls-Royce reports that they are working to produce environmentally friendly LNG engines.
The new LNG engines will reduce methane emissions by up to 70%. Emissions would be reduced from 20 grams of methane per kilowatt-hour to 6 grams per kilowatt hour.
This means significant improvements in the environmental statement, where the engines so far reduced the CO2 savings through the use LNG instead of diesel, as they in return placed the even more powerful greenhouse gas methane.
Wärtsilä Power Supply, with the new generation of dual-fuel LNG engine, would solve much of the problem, writes Teknisk Ukeblad. Wärtsilä has since 2002 delivered about 280 engines for LNG carriers, and will focus on getting the new and more environmentally friendly model out 2012th.
“No one focused on methane emissions earlier. It was enough to try to reduce the NOx. Now the focus is directed at reducing methane emissions,” said sales manager John Martinsen, Wärtsilä Ship Power in Norway to the Technical Ukeblad.
Wärtsilä is not the only one that has focused on methane emissions. Rolls-Royce has announced that their next generation of lean-burn LNG engines also reduce emissions significantly. On the new engines there will be down to 4 grams of methane per kilowatt, and that is a reduction of 50%.
“The first edition of LNG engines were very good at reducing emissions of NOx, SOx and harmful particles. But the climate profile was destroyed by the fact that there was unburned gas released that contained the greenhouse gas methane,” says Sales Director Odd Magne Horgen from Rolls-Royce to Teknisk Ukeblad .
The first gas engine, which Rolls-Royce sold, was a converted version of a diesel engine.
“It was an engine that was developed 40 years ago. It would be too expensive to adapt it so that methane emissions are reduced and thereby improving it. We have therefore developed two new series, B and C, where we have succeeded to reduce in methane emission by at least 50%, “says Odd Magne Horgen.
Rolls-Royce has improved cylinder, cylinder head and valve system to prevent unburned methane released.
This is especially the cylinder head which is why they reduced emissions of methane, but Rolls-Royce is very secretive. It is here, “says Odd Magne Horgen, that the secret lies.
Freja Czajkowski, tirsdag 24. maj 2011 kl. 15:37
