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Environmental protection and energy efficiency improvement by using natural gas fuel in maritime transportation

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Abstract

Emissions from vessels are a major environmental concern because of their impacts on the deterioration of the environment, especially global warming of the atmosphere. Therefore, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) concerns significant care to environmental protection through the reduction of exhaust emission and improvement of energy efficiency through technical and operational measures. Among the suggested measures from IMO, the alternative fuel such as natural gas has the priority to be used instead of fossil fuels. The present paper calculates the effect of using natural gas in a dual-fuel engine from environmental and energy efficiency perspectives. As a case study, a container ship has been investigated. The results of the analysis show that the percent of CO2, NOx, and SOx emission reduction corresponding to using a dual-fuel engine operated by natural gas instead of a diesel engine operated by heavy fuel oil is about 30.4%, 85.3%, and 97%, respectively. Moreover, it found that NOx and SOx emission rates of the dual-fuel engine comply with the IMO 2016 and 2020 limits, respectively. Furthermore, the Energy Efficiency Design Index value in the case of using dual-fuel engine is lower than the value by using diesel engine by about 30%, and this value will be 77.18%, 86.84%, and 99.27% of the required value for the first, second, and third phases, respectively, as recommended by IMO.

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Data availability

The datasets used and analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Abbreviations

AE:

Auxiliary engine

CSR:

Continuous service rating

CO2 :

Carbon dioxide

DF:

Dual fuel

DWT:

Deadweight

EEDI:

Energy Efficiency Design Index

EEOI:

Energy Efficiency Operational Indicator

CEAS:

Computerized Engine Application System

GHG:

Greenhouse gas

HFO:

Heavy fuel oil

IMO:

International Maritime Organization

IPCC:

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

ISO:

International Organization for Standardization

ITTC:

International Towing Tank Conference

LNG:

Liquefied natural gas

MARPOL:

International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships

MCR:

Maximum continuous rating

MDO:

Marine diesel oil

ME:

Main engine

MEPC:

Marine Environment Protection Committee

ME-GI:

Main engine gas injection

NG:

Natural gas

NOx:

Nitrogen oxides

PM:

Particulate matter

SFC:

Specific fuel consumption

SG:

Shaft generator

SOx:

Sulfur oxides

TEU:

Twenty-foot equivalent unit

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Alexandria University, Alexandria, 21544, Egypt

    Ahmed G. Elkafas & Mohamed M. Elgohary

  2. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Alexandria University, Alexandria, 21544, Egypt

    Mohamed Khalil

  3. Department of Marine Engineering Technology, College of Maritime Transport & Technology, Arab Academy for Science, Technology and Maritime Transport, Alexandria, 1029, Egypt

    Mohamed R. Shouman

Authors
  1. Ahmed G. Elkafas
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  2. Mohamed Khalil
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  3. Mohamed R. Shouman
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  4. Mohamed M. Elgohary
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection, and analysis were performed by Ahmed G. Elkafas. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Ahmed G. Elkafas. Mohamed Khalil, Mohamed R. Shouman, and Mohamed M. Elgohary commented and reviewed the previous versions of the manuscript. Supervision of the research: Mohamed Khalil and Mohamed M. Elgohary. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Ahmed G. Elkafas.

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Elkafas, A.G., Khalil, M., Shouman, M.R. et al. Environmental protection and energy efficiency improvement by using natural gas fuel in maritime transportation. Environ Sci Pollut Res 28, 60585–60596 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-14859-6

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