Benefits of both onboard CO2 capture technology and a role for shipping in a future CO2 transportation market being explored
by Eli Matthew
Japan’s “K” Line has joined the Global Carbon Capture and Storage Institute, an Australian-based think tank promoting the take up of CCS technologies as a solution to creating carbon neutrality by 2050 while South Korea’s >Samsung Heavy Industries gets AIP for its onboard carbon capture solution. CCS is a series of technologies designed for capturing carbon dioxide (CO2) which is emitted from power plants, refineries, and factories instead of releasing it into the atmosphere. In this system, the captured CO2 is to be transferred and stored in a carefully selected safe site deep into the ground. The CCS is capable of reducing CO2 emissions, a greenhouse gas, making it a promising climate change technology.
Last year “K” Line, along with Mitsubishi and Class NK, ran a demonstration “CC-Ocean” of a shipboard carbon capture system. The project partners said it succeeded in separating and capturing CO2 from the exhaust gas from a vessel, the coal carrier Corona Utility. The demonstration happened between August and October last year. The result achieved its projected aims of extracting a small percentage of CO2 emissions from the vessel’s exhaust, with the captured CO2 having a purity of more than 99.9%.
K-Line is also participating in the demonstration project on CO2 ship transportation by New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization（NEDO) and conducting research and development that will contribute to the long-distance and large-scale transportation of CO2 in the future. A liquefied CO2 carrier for the demonstration test is to be built as the world’s first demonstration vessel for the CCUS project.
GCCSI was established by the Australian government in 2009 to promote the use of CCS technology worldwide, and currently has members from all over the world, including government, industries, and research organizations. GCCSI conducts surveys on the latest trends in CCS business and technology and holds subcommittee meetings to discuss the launch of international CCS projects in the future.
With similar objectives, Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) and Panasia received Approval in Principles (AIP) from the class society Korean Register of Shipping (KR) for its onboard Carbon Capture and Storage System (OCCS), another eco-friendly technology that captures the CO2 emitted in the exhaust gases generated from the internal combustion engines of ships.
SHI and Panasia optimized a wet absorption-type of carbon dioxide capture device. This is the result of a three year joint R&D The system is the very first of its kind to be developed in Korea and KR conducted the HAZID analysis to assess the system’s risk factors.
“This AIP is an extremely important step to help shipping companies stay compliant with the stringent decarbonization regulations. KR is committed to actively supporting the application of these eco-technologies, and to helping shipping companies meet their environmental obligations for the good of the industry and society as a whole”, said KIM Daeheon, Executive Vice President of KR’s R&D division in a press statement.
Efforts are being made to reduce carbon emissions worldwide, parallel to the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) goal to reduce carbon intensity by at least 40% by 2030, pursuing efforts towards 70% by 2050, compared to 2008. As part of this, the Carbon Intensity Indicator (CII) now measures the operational efficiency of ships on international voyages.
As a result, shipowners are considering installing carbon capture devices and adopting eco-friendly alternative fuels such as ammonia, hydrogen, and methanol to comply with the CII regulations.
As well as Mitsubishi and SHI, other technology firms are also ramping up onboard carbon capture technologies including Wärtsilä and TECO 2030.
