Latvian Journal of Chemistry, No 4, 2012, 398–406

DOI: 10.2478/v10161-012-0024-9

ALTERNATIVE FUELS FOR MARINE APPLICATIONS

K. Kołwzan1, M. Narewski2
1
Machinery and Equipment Department, Polish Register of Shipping, Gdańsk, Poland
2
Machinery and Equipment Department, Polish Register of Shipping, Gdańsk, Poland
E-mail: mailbox@prs.pl

This paper outlines the growing number of shipboard applications of

new, alternative fuels such as: low sulphur fuels, gas fuels and biofuels in
the global maritime transport. Advantages of the new fuels, their function-
nal basis, is limited to applicability and current development issues have
been shown, including the analysis of cost predictions. .
All types of marine fuels are subject of certain quality, documentation
and survey procedures. EU policy is an example where international
standards are being transferred to national level, and where marine stand-
ards result in mirror action in inland waterway air pollution prevention
measures.
Key words: emissions, low sulphur fuels, marine diesel oil, marine
gas oil, residual fuels, distillate fuels, biofuels, liquefied natural gas.

INTRODUCTION
Traditional marine fuels are available worldwide, but new requirements of
the MARPOL Convention Annex VI and EU related to sulphur content and
introduction of stricter environmental requirements will influence the
availability and costs of the traditional marine fuels. Today large quantities of
liquefied natural gas (LNG) are available worldwide, and the LNG market is
growing. Hence, with development of related infrastructure, the availability of
LNG will increase. The environmental properties of LNG are superior to heavy
fuel oil (HFO), and LNG is considered the most promising alternative fuel in
the maritime segment today.
In international shipping today HFO is used as the main fuel quality for
propulsion. Auxiliary engines and operation in harbours may require the use of
marine gas oil (MGO) or of marine diesel oil (MDO).

LOW SULPHUR FUELS

Oil is currently the only significant energy source for deep sea and
international shipping. A significant driving force would be needed to change
this; hence oil-derived fuels are considered the default choice in all scenarios.
Taking the revised MARPOL Annex VI into account, oil-derived marine fuels
can be classified as “global distillates” and “ECA distillates”. The principal
difference between these fuels is the difference in sulphur limits. The carbon
content of these fuels would not be very different when measured on an energy
basis.

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 In the distillation processing (boiling off) of crude oil, there are four broad
product fractions or categories generated: refinery gas (primarily methane,
ethane and hydrogen), liquefied petroleum gas, (primarily propane and butane),
gasoline, and distillate fuels. Each of these fuel categories boils at higher
temperature ranges, until the oil will not boil without thermally decomposing.
The fraction that does not boil is called residium or residual oil.
There are two basic types of marine fuels: distillate and residual oil. A third
type of marine fuel is a mixture of these two basic types, commonly called
"intermediate." Distillate fuel, as the name implies, is composed of petroleum
fractions of crude oil that are separated in a refinery by a boiling process, called
distillation. Residual fuel or "residium" is the fraction that does not boil,
sometimes referred to as "tar" or "petroleum pitch". Marine fuel use has the
following types and grades shown in Table 1.

Table 1. Fuel types for marine use

Fuel type Fuel grades Common industry name

Distillate DMX, DMA, Marine gas oil (MGO)
DMZ, DMB Marine diesel oil (MDO)
Intermediate IFO 180, 380 Intermediate fuel oil (IFO)
Residual RMA-RMK Fuel oil or residual fuel oil

The new International Standard Organization standard ISO 8217:2012 lists

15 different marine fuels which meet the requirements for marine fuels supplied
worldwide onboard ships. Out of these 15 fuels, the most important marine fuels
are: IFO180, IFO380, MDO and MGO. These relate to the ISO grades
RME180, RMG380, DMB and DMA, respectively, as specified in ISO
8217:2012 [1].

ALTERNATIVE FUELS
Gas fuels
Efforts to reduce costs and to achieve maximum profits in sea transport
business are carried out to counter steady increase of oil and petrochemical
product prices. One of the tools in that process is aimed at R&D, to introduce
new technologies in shipbuilding and related maritime industries. In general,
development is directed on:
- high efficiency propulsion and maneuvering systems,
- advanced hull shapes,
- hybrid propulsion,
- gas propulsion.
According to the widely known international safety regulation contained in
SOLAS Convention, the nature of LNG does not comply with regulations which
prohibit fuel with flash point of less than 60 °C, i.e. methane has a flash point
of – 188 °C).
The following historical and technical reasons point our attention to
commercial application of gas fuels in shipping:
• LNG has been used as a marine fuel for over 40 years in LNG carriers;
• LPG/VOC have been used as boiler fuel for a number of years;

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 • hydrogen is used as fuel in submarines and some small passenger crafts;
• LNG is being used on coastal ferries for over 10 years and recently
in onboard platform supply vessels PSV, RoPax ferries and cargo ships;
• the use of LNG as fuel is typical in land-based industrial applications,
as it has important advantages due to the emission requirements.
Advantages of the gas fuel can be summarized as follows:
• as clean fuels compared to conventional fuel oil based ship fuels,
liquefied gases have significant advantages with regard to environmental
effects;
• environmental legislation (NOX, SOX, PM and CO2 reduction targets and
cost benefits) are the key factors to make LNG an attractive fuel for
shipping;
• in principle, LNG is available commercially, and the number of bunke-
ring points grows steadily, the LNG terminals in Europe are going to be
prepared to re-export smaller quantities of LNG;
• small scale LNG carriers are available for LNG distribution ;
• more than 26 vessels in operation serve as proof of safe operation;
• a growing number of countries and stakeholders (engine and equipment
manufacturers, ship owners, class societies) are deeply involved in the
development of safe and environmentally friendly systems for gas fuelled
ships, covering the following important safety aspects: the bunkering
during normal port operations, risk of collision, ranking of collision
consequences and LNG storage tank design.

Table 2. IMO work schedule on developing of the IGF Code

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
BLG- BLG- BLG- BLG-
BLG-13 BLG-14 DE-56 FP-55 BLG-17
15 16 17 18
MSC- MSC- MSC- MSC- MSC- MSC-
MSC-86 MSC-87 MSC-93
88 89 90 91 92 94
SOLAS SOLAS
2010 2014
IMO Res. MARPOL
MSC.285(86) Annex VI
Reg.14
Interim Guidelines 0.1% Sulphur

IGF Code Finalized before BLG-17

The International Maritime Organization international code of safety for

ships using gas or other low flash point fuels (IGF-Code) is of utmost
importance to provide an international legal framework for the technology. The
IGF Code is under development, and a road map is available to see the current
and planned future development (Table 2). The implementation is planned for
2015.

Liquefied natural gas (LNG)

Due to the increase of oil and petrochemical product prices, the shipping
industry started searching for alternative fuels that are also price competitive,
compared to typical marine fuels like MDO. After over 20 years of preparatory
steps, LNG can be used as an alternative fuel in the shipping industry.
LNG-propelled ships will be particularly attractive in case these vessels will
enter emission control areas (ECA), since they can meet Tier III emission levels

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and the SOX requirements without any treatment of the exhaust gas. Almost
70% of the world fleet is estimated to be entering ECA areas. In addition, the
availability of LNG fuels in bunkering ports is a challenge, which needs to be
solved before LNG becomes a practical alternative. In summary, the present
potential for reduction of CO2 emissions from ships through the use of LNG is
somewhat limited, since it is mainly relevant for newly constructed ships and
because, at present, LNG bunkering options are limited.
The forthcoming NOX and SOX ECAs will provide significant additional
incentives for the use of LNG propulsion in short range sea operations, since
ECA requirements can easily be met by LNG-propelled ships. The price of
LNG is presently significantly lower (25–30%) than that of distillate fuels,
making an economic incentive for a move to LNG.
LNG is a cryogenic fuel that is maintained at approximately –260 oF
(–162 oC) at atmospheric pressure. The advantage of cooling and liquefying the
fuel is that the volume is decreased approximately 600 times as compared to the
gas. This advantage improves the energy density significantly for LNG. As
a result, when compared to diesel fuel, LNG has about 2/3 as much energy on
a volume basis and almost 90% as much energy on a weight basis. Unfortunately,
storing cryogenic (very cold) fuels requires special insulated tanks that
significantly erode much of the volume and weight advantages of LNG.
Natural gas consists primarily of methane, and typical composition is pre-
sented in the Table 3.

Table 3. Typical composition of natural gas, %

Methane Ethane Propane Butane Nitrogen

94 4.7 0.8 0.2 0.3

The LNG fuel has a higher hydrogen-to-carbon ratio compared to oil-based

fuels, which results in lower specific CO2 emissions (kg of CO2/kg of fuel). In
addition, LNG is a clean fuel, containing no sulphur; this eliminates the SOX
emissions and almost eliminates the emissions of particulate matter. Addi-
tionally, the NOX emissions are reduced by up to 90% due to reduced peak
temperatures in the combustion process. Unfortunately, one of drawbacks of the
use of LNG is the so-called “methane slip” that is leading to the increase of the
emissions of methane (CH4), hence reducing the net global warming benefit
from 25% to about 15%.
LNG is typically stored in highly insulated, spherical, or cylindrical tanks at
low pressures, (1.05÷5 bars). Fitting these tanks on a ship is quite feasible but
requires some protection measures to reduce the risk of gas release due to
collision with other ships or grounding.
The main problem with using LNG on ships is the large amount of space
required for the LNG tanks. In practice, it should be expected that the volume
required to store LNG will be about 3–4 times more than the comparable
volume of diesel. As over 20 LNG fuel ships are in operation, there is already
some experience that could be used in new ship design.
LNG as a liquid is not flammable or explosive. As any gas it has a flam-
mability range. This range for LNG gas is between 5 and 15% when mixed with
air. An explosion can only occur when the gas is in an enclosed space with air,

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the mixture is between 5 and 15%, and an ignition source is present. As with
any flammable substance, proper design, regulations, and personnel training are
needed to maintain a safe environment.
Conversion from diesel to LNG propulsion is possible, but the LNG is
mainly relevant for newly constructed ships, since substantial modification of
engines, the related piping and allocation of extra storage capacity is required.

MARITIME STANDARDS FOR NATURAL GAS

At the moment, there is no clear background for quality standards for
maritime LNG as in the case of diesel fuels. Several manufacturers of heavy-
duty natural gas industrial engines use either the methane number (MN) or
motor octane number (MON) for specification of gas quality requirements. Both
the MON and the MN are measures of the knock resistance of the fuel. Natural
“boil off” is to have MN at around 100 and calorific value (LCV) between
33–35 MJ/nm3. The “forced boil off” gas will have MN in the range between 70
and 80. The LCV will be higher than for natural boil-off gas, and quite stable at
around 38–39 MJ/nm3 [2].
Work is being carried out by ISO working groups to adapt standards in
maritime area (already existing or being under development) from petroleum or
gas industries. The example could be ISO 28460 standards “Petroleum and
natural gas industries – Installation and equipment for liquefied natural gas -
Ship-to-shore interface and port operations”. That subject needs detailed ex-
ploration and summary of standardization work, will be contained in IGF Code
and related classification requirements.
Safety guidelines for application of gas fuel must be considered with
reference to the following issues: location of fuel tank(s), applicable regulations
and standards, machinery arrangement, bunkering requirements as defined by
the ship owner, and fire and safety requirements related strongly to the ship type
and the mode of operation.
There are following factors that influence fuel tank location: sometimes
ship type is causing additional problems, SOLAS Convention and the Inter-
national code for the construction and equipment of ships carrying liquefied
gases in bulk (IGC) do not permit tanks below accommodation, the required
volume is approximately double that for HFO, and the cryogenic nature of LNG
(–163 °C).
The following hazards must be considered for LNG fuel installations:
various failure modes of piping system leading to leakage, fire/explosion
in spaces and adjacent to spaces, damage or sparking due to impact, failure
of structural integrity of containment systems, mechanical/control/electrical
failures, manufacturing defects in equipment/materials and errors in material
and equipment selection.
Machinery arrangement taken into the account in the design: dual fuel
engines /gas engines and diesel engines, inherently safe engine room with ESD
Concept (emergency shutdown), direct drive and/or diesel electric, engine room
redundancy arrangements, machinery space ventilation with gas safety arrange-
ments and pipe locations for gas leak control.

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 Fire safety system should be equipped with: Water spray systems, dry
powder systems, gas detection systems, temperature detection systems, and
consideration for hazardous areas and vent locations.
Design considerations should be taken into account: Regulations and Stand-
ards to Apply – Design a system under IGC Code rules, Location of Fuel
Tank(s), Arrangements (No LNG tank under accommodation), Machinery
Arrangements, Ventilation (From engine to hazardous area), Hazardous zoning
in accordance with IEC60092-401 (No ESD Principle), Safety system as per
IGC (Shut down, firefighting etc.), Bunkering, Fire and Safety.
Bunkering considerations should be taken into account: Cool down, Inerting
and Gas venting, LNG Composition, Spill protection, Bunkering time and
Bunkering location.
BIOFUELS
The use of biofuels on board ships is technically possible; however, use of
“first-generation biofuels” poses some technical challenges and could also in-
crease the risk of losing power (e.g., due to plugging of filters). These
challenges are, nevertheless, overshadowed by the limited availability and
unattractive prices that make this option appear unlikely to be implemented on
large scale in the near future. However, it is believed that biofuels will become
economically attractive, principally for ships in regional trades within ECAs
where biofuel is available.
The increased awareness of human-induced global warming has created an
interest in using renewable energy instead of fossil fuels. Marine transport is
one of the least energy intensive way of transporting goods, however, it is also
one of the sectors with the fewest available alternatives to the fossil fuels. To
combat global warming, all industrial sectors should take measures to cut
emissions; biofuels can help achieve this in marine transport.
Biofuels can be defined broadly as any fuel derived from biomass. They
include biodiesel, bioethanol, products of bioethanol i.e., ethyl tert-butyl ether
(ETBE), biogas, biomethanol, biodimethyl ether and bio-oil.
General division of biofuels is as follows:
First generation biofuels cover: biodiesel (RME), bioethanol, ethyl tert-butyl
ether (ETBE), biogas/landfill gas and straight vegetable oils (SVO).
Second Generation (advanced) biofuels include: biomass to liquid (BtL),
cellulosic ethanol, bioDME/Methanol, biosynthetic natural gas (BioSNG), Bio-
oil/Bio-crude, hydrocarbons from catalysis of plant sugars, biohydrogen,
bioelectricity/CHP and biobutanol.
Third generation biofuels include: algal biofuels.
Comparison of the properties of different fuels is illustrated in Table 4 [3].
European biodiesel physical and chemical properties in accordance with the
standard EN-14214 are shown in Table 5.
Blending bio-derived fuel fractions into diesel or heavy fuel oil is also
feasible from the technical perspective; however, compatibility must be
checked, as is also the case with bunker fuels. Future processes to convert
biomass into liquid fuels can be designed to synthesize various fuels that are

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suitable for use on ships. Currently, biofuels are significantly more expensive
than oil-derived fuels.

Table 4. Comparison of the properties of different fuels

Vegetable Heavy Fuel

Marine
oil treated, Bio Diesel Automotive OilISO
diesel ISO
nontrans- EN 14214 dieselEN 590 8217
8217DMB
etherified RM.

Density/15 °C, 920 ÷ 960 860 ÷ 900 820 ÷ 845 < 900 975 ÷ 1010
kg/m3
Viscosity at 30 ÷ 40 3.5 ÷ 5 2 ÷ 4.5 < 11 < 700
40 °C/50 °C,
cSt
Flashpoint, > 60 > 120 > 55 > 60 > 60
°C
Cetane no. > 40 > 51 > 51 > 35 > 20
Ash content, < 0.01 < 0.01 < 0.01 < 0.01 < 0.2
%
Water content, < 500 < 500 < 200 < 300 < 5000
ppm
Acid no (TAN) <4 < 0.5 - - -
Sulphur content, < 10 < 10 < 350 < 20 000 < 50 000
ppm
Calorific value, ca 37 ca 37.5 ca 43 ca 42 ca 40
MJ/kg

This would have to change if there is an incentive to use these fuels on board
ships. Moreover, as discussed in the future scenarios, as long as there is a
demand, driven by legislation, for biofuels to be used and for carbon reductions
on shore, it will be natural to use biofuels preferentially on land, where this is
credited, rather than on ships.
Present-day biofuels (often referred to as “first generation” biofuels) are
produced from sugar, starch, vegetable oil, or animal fats. Many of these fuels
can readily be used for ship diesels with no (or minor) adaptation of the engine.
Biofuel produced from residual non-food crops, non-food parts of current
crops (leaves, stems), and also industry waste such as wood chips, skins and
pulp from the fruit pressing is sometimes referred to as “second generation”
biofuels. These fuels are considered more sustainable. The conversion process
that is needed to facilitate production of second generation biofuel on an
industrial scale and in an economically viable way is still in development.
Biofuels based on using algae are sometimes referred to as “third gene-
ration” biofuels. This technology is presently at an early stage of development.
Depending on source, there are certain technical issues, such as stability
during the storage, acidity, lack of water-shedding (potentially resulting in
increased biological growth in the fuel tank), plugging of filters, formation of
waxes, increased engine deposits, etc., which suggest that care must be
exercised in selecting the fuel and adapting the engine. Care must be exercised
to avoid contamination with water, since biofuels are particularly susceptible to

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biofouling. Blending bio-derived fuel fractions into diesel fuel or heavy fuel oil
is also feasible from the technical perspective; however, compatibility must be
checked, as with bunker fuels. There are a lot of research reports published on
biofuels properties and technology of production, but there are only few refe-
rences available describing practical applications for ship propulsion or energy
generation.
Table 5. European biodiesel standard EN 14214

Properties Units Min. Max. Test methods

3
Density at 15 ºC kg/m 860 900 EN ISO 3675,
EN ISO12185
Cetane number – 51.00 – EN ISO 5165
Kinematic viscosity at 40 ºC mm2/s 3.50 5.00 EN ISO 3104
Flash point ºC 101 – ISO / CD 3679
Carbon residue wt.% – 0.30 EN ISO 10370
(on 10% distillation residue)
Oxidation stability at 110 ºC hrs 6 – pr EN 14112
Copper strip corrosion (3 h at 50 ºC) rating Class 1 EN ISO 2160
Esters wt.% 96,50 – EN 14103
Water mg/kg – 500 EN ISO 12937
Sulphated ash wt.% – 0.02 ISO 3987
Sulphur mg/kg – 10 -
Acid value mg OH/g – 0.50 pr 14104
Iodine value – – 120 pr 14111
Methyl linolenate wt.% – 12.00 pr 14103
Polyunsaturated methyl esters wt.% – 1.00 -
Methanol wt.% – 0.20 pr 14110
Glycerides
Monoglycerides wt.% – 0.80
Diglycerides wt.% – 0.20 pr EN 14105
Triglycerides wt.% – 0.20
Free glycerol wt.% – 0.20
Total glycerol wt.% – 0.20
Alkaline metals (Na, K) mg/kg – 5 pr EN 14108,
pr EN 14109
Phosphorus mg/kg – 10 pr EN 14107
Total contamination mg/kg – 24 EN 12662

It should be noted that, although many of the technical challenges related to

biofuels may look trivial, the consequences may be engine shutdown, which
may be more critical with respect to the safety of a ship than, for instance, in the
case of a car or a stationary combustion source on land. First generation biofuels
can be upgraded (hydrogenated) in refinery. In this case, the resulting fuel is of
high quality and the aforementioned practical problems do not apply. This
upgrading costs energy, and hence results in additional emissions.
Another issue identified is related to engine manufacturer’s manufacturing
policy as there is limited offer of marine engines suitable for biofuel appli-
cation. New engine models do not seem to be easily modified for the use of
biofuels as alternatives to the main fuel.

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 CONCLUSIONS
The various parts of the shipping industry – ship-owners, shipbuilders and
classification societies (the depositories of technical expertise in the industry) –
are actively examining a number of ways to reduce emissions from the ships. In
the longer term, the shipping industry is also exploring a number of alternative
fuel sources for possible reduction of emissions. Fuels with lower emissions
include biofuels and liquefied natural gas (LNG).
Using fuels with less total fuel cycle emissions per unit of work done, such
as biofuels and natural gas, is one of the four fundamental categories of options
for reducing emissions from shipping.

REFERENCES
1. Standard ISO 8217:2012, 5th Edition, ISO, Revised specification of marine fuels.
2. Ollus, R., Juoperi, K. (2007). Alternative fuels experiences for medium-speed diesel engines.
CIMAC paper 234; Proceedings of the 25th CIMAC World Congress on Combustion Engine
Technology, Vienna, Austria, 21–24 May 2007.
3. Matsuzaki, S. (2004). The application of the waste oil as a bio-fuel in a high-speed diesel
engine. Proceedings of the 24th CIMAC World Congress on Combustion Engine Technology,
Kyoto, Japan, 7–11 June 2004.

ALTERNATĪVĀ DEGVIELA JŪRNIECĪBĀ

K. Kolvzans, M. Narevskis
KOPSAVILKUMS

Lai samazinātu siltumnīcas gāzu izmešus, kuģniecības industrija (kuģu

īpašnieki, kuģu būvētāji, klasificēšanas sabiedrības) meklē jaunu, alternatīvu
degvielu avotus. Tie var būt biodegviela un sašķidrināta dabas gāze.

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