4 Highlights 67 / 2020 – GreenPilot – guiding the way to low-emission and fossil-free operation of small vessels

The GreenPilot project showed that it is feasible to convert small vessels to methanol operation. Photo: ScandiNAOS

GreenPilot – guiding the way to low-emission

and fossil-free operation of small vessels
The GreenPilot project converted a pilot boat to operate on renewable methanol fuel, demonstrating the improvements
to environmental and operational performance that can be achieved for this fuel. Methanol is a clean-burning alcohol
that does not contain sulphur and results in low emissions of particulates and nitrogen oxides when combusted. It can
be produced from many renewable feedstocks, which means that “well to wake” greenhouse gas emissions can be
­significantly lower than those of fossil fuels.

Reducing emissions to meet Why methanol?

Photo: Joanne Ellis.

climate goals
The developing climate crisis has led to the
establishment of targets both internationally and
nationally to reduce emissions of greenhouse
gases. The International Maritime Organization
(IMO) adopted a strategy in 2018 that calls for
greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from
shipping to be reduced by at least 50 percent
by 2050 (compared to 2008 levels).
In Sweden, the government has set an
­ambitious goal of net zero emissions by 2045,
and this is shared by the Swedish Transport
Administration’s road ferries. Swedish t­ransport
emissions should be reduced by 70 percent
by 2030. The Swedish Maritime Administra-
tion, another partner in the GreenPilot project
­consortium, has a vision for a zero-emission pilot
boat, and this was a starting point for the project.
Methanol is a liquid fuel that can be easily stored
and bunkered on smaller vessels and it can be
produced from many renewable feedstocks.
It has been used successfully on a few large
vessels, including the Stena Germanica, where
it demonstrated good performance in a dual-fuel
medium speed engine application. Although
­there are currently no commercially available
small marine engines (300 – 1,200 kW power
range) that are approved for operation on
methanol, development and testing of different
methanol concepts for engines in this range
were carried out in the SUMMETH (Sustainable
­Marine Methanol) project, which included many
of the same partners as GreenPilot.
The G ­ reenPilot project was the first to test
Mr Freddy Debue and Mr Louis Vervloet from
methanol on board a smaller vessel with a­ the Port of Antwerp visiting the GreenPilot boat
­high-speed engine. in October 2019.
Converting a pilot boat to
methanol operation
The two-year GreenPilot project began in 2016,
with a main goal of converting a 12.6-metre long
pilot boat that was made available to the project
by the Swedish Maritime Administration.
The conversion work involved adapting
on-board systems, primarily fuel supply and
­safety, and replacing one of the vessel’s two
main engines with an engine converted to
­methanol operation. Two engines, a Weichai
and a Scania SI, were converted by project
partner S­ candiNAOS to run on methanol using
spark-­ignited port injection technology. Both
engines were tested on land and on the pilot boat.
A compression ignition engine was also tested
on land during the later stages of the project
and was tested post-project in the pilot boat.
Testing on board
Renewable, fossil-free methanol produced from
pulp mill black liquor in a Swedish pilot plant
was used in many of the tests. Engine efficiency
was tested under real driving conditions, and
emissions were measured both in lab testing and
on board the vessel.
Diesel-like performance was observed during
the testing, with high efficiencies ranging from
37–40 percent. Emissions measurements taken
on board included nitrogen oxides (NOx), parti-
culate matter (PM) and particulate number (PN)
taken by Chalmers University. SOx was mea-
sured during laboratory testing. PM emissions
were extremely low, as alcohol fuels do not form
soot. NOx formation was reduced as compared
to MGO operation, and the emissions from
methanol combustion complied with existing and
upcoming IMO and EU (Inland Waterway Euro
V) regulations.
Good environmental performance
with renewable methanol
Environmental performance assessment was
focused on comparing air emissions on a fuel
life cycle basis. The fuel life cycle comparison
­included emissions both from fuel production,
“well to tank”, and fuel combustion on board,
“tank to propeller”. Greenhouse gas emissions
(GHG) reductions over the fuel life cycle in the
range of 94 percent were achieved for m ­ ethanol
produced from pulp mill black liquor (the
bio-methanol used in the testing).
Interest in methanol fuel continues
to grow
During 2019, more large vessels operating on
methanol have entered regular service. ­Waterfront
Shipping added four more dual-fuel methanol
tankers to its existing fleet of seven that came
Joanne Ellis
WTP GHG Emissions as Senior Researcher and
tonnes CO2 eq per year Project Manager.
Joanne has a PhD from
10.000
9.000 Chalmers University of
8.000 Technology and an MASc
7.000 in Environmental
6.000 Engineering from the University of British
5.000 Columbia. Since joining SSPA in 1999, she
4.000 has been involved in projects in the areas of
3.000
risk, safety, alternative marine fuels, and
2.000
environmental assessment of marine transport.
1.000
0 She has managed and participated in several
MGO Methanol (BLG) projects on the use of methanol as marine fuel,
including serving as project manager and lead
Well to Tank Tank to Propeller author of a study for the European Maritime
Safety Agency, and coordinating multi-partner
Comparison of greenhouse gas emissions for research projects.
the annual pilot boat fleet operation using ma- Contact information
rine gas oil (MGO) and methanol produced via E-mail: joanne.ellis@sspa.se
pulp mill black liquor gasification (BLG).
Emissions from methanol combustion
as compared to MGO baseline The GreenPilot project ­consortium
– MGO shown as 100% c­­onsisted of the Swedish ­Maritime
­Technology Forum at RISE,
0.52 g/MJ 0.23 g/MJ 12 mg/MJ ­ScandiNAOS, SSPA Sweden, Swedish
100%
Transport Administration, and the
80% Swedish Maritime Administration.
The project was co-funded by the
60%
Swedish Transport Administration,
0.18 g/MJ the Swedish Maritime Administration,
40%
and the Methanol Institute.
20%
0 g/MJ 0.003 g/MJ
0%
NOx SOx PM
MGO Methanol
Emissions from methanol combustion as
compared to MGO baseline. MGO shown as
100%. Note that the emissions values are per
MJ of fuel. Particulate matter (PM) emissions
are shown as mg.
into service in 2016. In October, Stena Bulk and c­ ompression ignition concept engine on the
Proman announced plans for a joint venture to ­GreenPilot test boat and has tested both methanol
own and operate methanol-­fuelled tankers. and ethanol fuel in the same engine. Both alcohol
In the smaller vessel segment, significant fuels performed well.
­interest exists but there are no vessels in r­ egular The GreenPilot project showed that it is
operation. The Port of Antwerp carried out a feasible to convert small vessels to methanol
­feasibility study on converting a tugboat to operation. The demonstration of bio-methanol
­methanol operation and visited the GreenPilot as a low emission, low environmental impact
boat in October 2019. fuel on a pilot boat was a great initiative for this
The Inland Waterways Authority of India has vessel segment.
announced plans to build methanol-fuelled boats SSPA is committed to developing sustainable
and cargo vessels to reduce emissions and use a solutions for shipping and was proud to be part
nationally produced fuel – methanol made from of the GreenPilot project team.
fossil feedstocks and from municipal solid waste.
ScandiNAOS has continued testing a Illustrations by SSPA.