Royal Belgian Institute of Marine Engineers
Royal Belgian Institute of Marine Engineers
Thegloballimitonsulfurof0.5%showntobeimplementedin2020willbereviewedanddecidedonin2018.Thechangemaybedelayeduntil2025. Figure2showsdesignatedorpending
ECAs.NotethatportswillbeincludedintheECA.
Emission control areas In order to comply withMARPOL AnnexVI, ships travelling in designated ECAswillbeforcedtooperateusingmarinegasoil (MGO)/marine diesel oil (MDO)/lowsulfur fuel oil (LSFO) or by using anexhaustgascleaningsystem. IndesignatinganECA,theIMOdefines
certainareasoftheseasandinlandwaterwaysas'specialareas'inwhich,fortechnicalreasonsrelatingtotheirecologicalconditionandseatraffic,theadoptionofmandatorypollutionpreventionisrequired.UndertheConvention,thesespecialareasareprovidedwithahigherlevelofprotection
than otherareasofthesea.AnnexVIECAzones,bothexistingandpending,canbeseeninFigure2.NotethatsulfurrulesaresupportedbyEUandUSEPAregulatorsandenforcementwillbecarriedoutbyvariousgovernmentalorganisations. TheimplementationdatesfortheECAzonesvary.EnforcementintheBalticECAbeganinMay2006,intheNorthSeaECAinNovember2007,intheNorthAmericanECAinAugust2012andintheNorthAmericanCaribbeanECAinJanuary2012.Futurecontrolareasunderconsiderationinclude
theMediterraneanandtheFarEast.
The ripple effect MARPOLAnnexVIwillhavefarreachingconsequencesforrefiners.Forthevastmajorityofshippers,thesimplestcompliancesolutionistoswitchtoburninglowsulfurfuelinlieuofthehighersulfurfuelscurrentlyused.Thiswillimpactthepricesofbothlowandhighsulfurfuelsinaninverseway.Itisexpectedthatwhentheregulationstakeeffectasearlyas1stJanuary,2015,demandforMGO/MDO/LSFOwillincrease,drivingpricestorecordhighsbasedonincreaseddemandandcreatingshortages,whilethepriceofhighsulfurfueloil(HSFO)willdecreasetoaverylowpricecomparedtocurrentpricelevels. Arecentstudyindicatesthedifferentialbetweenmarinebunker
andgasoilcouldreachUSS450/tin2015andclimbsteadilyincomingyears,reachingUSS500/tin2020andUSS600/tin2030.Thefuturedifferentialcouldbehigher.ForsomeshipsthatareparticularlyactiveintheECAs,highMGO/MDO/LSFOpriceswillbeuntenable. Thecoststotherefineryforincreasingproductionoflowersulfurfuelstomeetthenewmarinedemanddrivenbytheseregulationswouldbeastronomical.Inaddition,therequiredrevampstorefinerieswouldtakeyears.Currently,itdoesnotappearthatanyrefinershavegivenmuchconsiderationtomodifyingtherefinerytomeettheincreasedLSFOdemand.
Engineering clean air on land and at sea Manysimilaritiescanbedrawnbetweentherefineryscrubberapplicationandthemarineapplication,thoughthemarineapplicationissomewhatlessdemanding.
Inadditiontosimilarprocessconditionsfacedinrefineriesandonships,ofutmostconcerninbothindustriesisreliability.Therefineryscrubberneedstobeextremelyreliableespeciallywheninstalledonthefluidcatalyticcrackingunit(FCCU).ScheduledturnaroundsfortheFCCUare4‐6years,andthescrubbermustbeoperableduringthisperiodtomatchtheturnaroundschedule.SincetheFCCUistheheartoftherefinery,unscheduledturnaroundscancosttherefinerymillionsofdollarsinlostprofit.
Marinescrubbingtechnologyalsoneedstobereliable,anditisnosmalltasktodesignasystemthatisrobust,highquality,andsleekenoughtoaccommodatethetightspacesavailableonships,yetaffordableenoughtomeetareasonablepaybackperiod.BELCO®scrubbertechnologyisabletoachievethat.
BELCO®refineryandmarinescrubbersuseanopentowerwithspraydesign,asopposedtotheuseofpackingtotrapparticlesanddroplets.Packingisavoidedduetothepotentialofpluggingfrombuildupofparticulateandsootaswellasotherreasons.Inthemarinespace,somecompaniesofferpackingdesignswhichusenon‐metallicmaterials(plasticorglassfibrereinforcedplastic(GRP)whichcanmeltorevencatchfireduringmaintenance.Packingalsocausesthe
Scrubbing technology: from land to sea Asrefinerymanagersaroundtheglobeconcernedaboutsulfuremissionshavecometoknow,sulfuremissionmanagementcanbeachievedcosteffectivelythroughwetfluegasscrubbing.FluegasscrubbingtechnologythathasbeenusedsuccessfullyfordecadesonrefiningfluidcatalyticcrackersandboilerscanbeeffectivelymodifiedtoabsorbSOxfrommarineengineandboilerexhaustgases.Wetscrubbingcaneffectivelyreducesulfuremissionstolessthantheequivalent0.1%sulfurcontentrequirement.Notonlyhaswetscrubbingbeensuccessfullyutilisedonhundredsofrefiningapplications,ithasalsobeeneffectivelymeetingIMOsulfuremissionstandardsondozensofclasscertifiedmarineapplications.
Shipboardscrubbersaretheeconomicallyviable,lowoperatingexpenditure(OPEX)alternativetoburningultralowsulfurfuels.TheycanbeinstalledwithapaybackperiodoflessthantwoyearswhilemeetingallIMOequivalentsulfuremissionslimits.Marinescrubbersrepresentacompliancealternativethatwouldallowrefinerybusinessestocontinuebenefittingfromtheirexistingrefiningprocessbunkerproduction,whileallowingshipstobeinfullcompliance.AstheJanuarydeadlinefastapproaches,itseemseveryweekannouncementsarecomingoutnamingnewcontractsbetweenscrubbercompaniesandferry,cruiseshipsandcargovessels.
Withnoincreaseinsupplyofthesefuels,thelowersulfurfuelswillbeingreatdemand,drasticallyincreasingthefuelprice.TheIMOaswellastheEUhavesaidtheywillnotpostponethecompliancedates.Henceitisuptosavvyshipownerstolookforalternativewaystoeconomicallycomplywiththenewregulationsoutsideofjustswitchingtolowsulfurresidualanddistillatefuels. Othercomplianceoptionseachcomewiththeirshareoffinancial,technicalandoperationalchallenges.InthelongertermalternativessuchasLNG,biofuels,dimethylether(DME)andmethanolmayprovidesolutions.However,moreandmoreshipsareadoptingexhaustgascleaningsystems(EGCS)toabsorbSOxoutofexhaustgastotherequired0.1%Sequivalent.TheEGCSofferstheflexibilitytooperateonanykindofbunkerbothinandoutofECAs.
scrubberdiametertobelargerasthegasvelocityacrossthepackingneedstobelowerthantheopentowertoincreasecontacttime.Packingalsocontributesadditionalweighthigherupintheshipfunnelwhichcanreduceaship'sstability,causingthevesseltobeunsteadyinroughseas.
TheBelcoscrubberutilisesabottominlet.Combinedwiththefactthatitismadeofhighquality,corrosionresistantmaterialsthatcanwithstandhightemperatures,thisallowstheshiptooperateina'rundry'modewithnoactivescrubbingwhenoutsideofECAs,eliminatingtheneedforabypassofthescrubber,andreducinginstalledcosts.Additionally,thereisnowaterretentioninthebottomofthescrubber.Thisnotonlyreducesweightbutpreventsanyscrubberwaterfromdrainingbacktotheengine,avoidingthepotentialofcausingmajorenginedamage.Thespecialbottominletextendsintothebottomofthescrubbertoavoidanywaterrunningintotheinletduct.Becauseofitsdesignharmonics,thescrubberisabletoeliminate/replacetheneedforanenginesilencer.
TheBelcoMarineScrubbercanoperateinthreedifferentmodes:openloop,closedloopordry.Inopenloopoperation,thescrubberusesonlyseawaterononcethroughpassforscrubbing.Theopenloopscrubbercanonlybeusedwherethereisenoughalkalinityintheseawater.Inclosedloopoperation,thescrubberliquidisnotusedonaoncethroughbasisbutisrecycledand'dosed'withanalkalinereagentsuchascausticinordertoreducetheamountofSOxintheexhaustgastomeettherequiredoutlet.Theclosedloopsystemisusedwherethereisnotsignificantalkalinityinthewaterforopenloopscrubbing,suchasinfreshwaterlakes,riversandareasintheBaltic(oranyotherbodyofsaltwaterwhichhaslowalkalinity)orwherethereareregulationsorotherreasonsfornotbeingabletodischargethescrubbereffluent(oftenreferredtoaswashwater).Indrymode,hotexhaustgasesexittheshipthroughthescrubbervessel.Thescrubberisoffandthereisnoemissioncontroltakingplace.DrymodealsoallowstheBelcoMarineScrubbertobeinstalledwithoutabypass.AshipwouldtypicallyoperateindrymodewhentravellingoutsideofanECA.
Ascrubbingsystemcanbeprovidedwhichcanoperateinanyofthethreemodes,andthereforeinanymaritimeenvironment.ThissystemisreferredtoastheBELCOMS‐Hybridandcontainsalloftheequipmentandinstrumentationforeithermodeofscrubbingorrundry. Conclusion ItisunlikelythatinvestmentinrefiningprocessesneededtomeettheultralowsulfurmarinefueldemandsimposedbyMARPOLAnnexVIregulationswillbemade.Forshipstotakeadvantageofavailablefuelregardlessofsulfurcontentandstillmeettheregulations,anexhaustgascleaningsystem,orscrubber,isanincreasinglypopularoption.BasedontheamountoftimeashipspendsinanECA,currentfuelpricedifferentials,amountoffuelconsumed,scrubbercosts,andothervariables,ashipoutfittedwithascrubbercanhaveapaybackperiodofl.5to3years.Withthefuelpricedifferentialsincreasing,thepaybackperiodcanevenbeshorter.
Source:Hydrocarbonengineering–August2014