Emission Control

Two-Stroke Low-Speed Diesel Engines

Preface Contents:

This paper has been published to pro- Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

vide information about MAN B&W
Diesel’s deliberations and viewpoints Exhaust Gas Composition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
in connection with emission control of
two-stroke engines. MAN B&W Diesel Measuring Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
has been researching and working on
emission control methods for more NOx Reduction Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
than 15 years. The methods include
engine component modifications and Proposed Rules and Ways of Meeting Them . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
exhaust gas after-treatment.
IMO proposal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
This paper describes the components
in the exhaust gas, the methods used EPA proposal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
in emission reduction and the results
obtained. The results are illustrated by Case Story, Two-Stroke MC Engine with Water Emulsification . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
graphs and figures from two separate
NOx control case stories. In the first Case Story, Two-Stroke MC Engines with SCR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
case, water emulsification led to a
50% NOx reduction, and in the second Materialisation phase . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
case, Selective Catalytic Reduction
(SCR) led to a 95% NOx reduction. SCR process and reactor sizing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Operational experience . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Emission results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

1
Introduction Oxygen. Low speed, two-stroke, Carbon Dioxide, Water Vapour.
crosshead diesels operate with an air Basically, the complete combustion of
General awareness of environmental excess ratio of over 3. More than half hydrocarbons will produce carbon diox-
issues is increasing rapidly. Diesel en- of the air is available for the combus- ide and water vapour, and the relative
gine makers were first involved in ques- tion process, while the remaining part amounts of these will be a function of
tions regarding exhaust gas emissions is scavenged through the cylinder. the hydrocarbon composition. Carbon
in the field of stationary applications. Hence, the exhaust gas contains some dioxide, although not toxic, has recently
13-16% oxygen, and this has to be been given much attention because of
A study of the exhaust gas emissions considered when calculating the con- the so-called ‘greenhouse effect’. The
from a diesel engine represents a chal- centration of various compounds in the use of machinery with a high thermal
lenge to both the engine designer and gas. Some exhaust gas emission regu- efficiency and of fuels with a relatively
to makers of exhaust gas treatment lations refer to 15% oxygen; so, if the low carbon content is the only viable
equipment. It is also a valuable tool for actual content is different, the result means of reducing carbon dioxide
reaching a deeper understanding of will have to be corrected accordingly. emission.
the engine combustion process. Such
understanding has led to more serious Nitrogen makes up about 80% of the Carbon Monoxide (CO) is a toxic gas.
treatment of environmental issues in atmosphere. Given the above-men- The formation of CO is, in principle, a
the marine industry. tioned air excess ratio, it is clear that function of the air excess ratio and the
nitrogen constitutes the major part of combustion temperature. The formation
Anticipating this development, the exhaust gas. As nitrogen is practi- is strongly influenced by the uniformity
MAN B&W initiated studies of the cally inactive, only a small but, as will of the air/fuel mixture in the combustion
emission characteristics of their en- be seen later, an important part is chamber, and we expect this to be the
gines some fifteen years ago. These involved in the chemical reactions in decisive factor in our engines.
studies included work on finding tech- the engine.
niques for reducing the exhaust gas
emissions to comply with current as
well as anticipated future rules.The
main focus has so far been on reduc-
ing the emission of nitrogen oxides, Heat
NOx. As a result, we have already sup-
plied emission control equipment for a Exhaust gas
number of ships.
Air 13.0% O2
Within the IMO (International Maritime 75.8% N2
Organisation) there are now discussions 8.5 kg/kWh 5.2% CO2
of emissions limitations in the form of 21% O2 5.35% H2O
air pollution at sea. Authorities in various 79% N2
parts of the world are taking similar 1500 ppm NOx
steps. An example is the proposed EPA 600 ppm SOx
Fuel
(US - Environmental Protection Agency) 60 ppm CO
rules currently under discussion. Pro- 175 g/kWh 180 ppm HC
posals from both authorities are dealt
97% HC 120 mg/Nm3 Part
with in the paper, and technologies de-
signed to meet the proposals are dis- 3% S
cussed.
Lube
Exhaust Gas Composition 1 g/kWh
97% HC
The composition of major pollutants in
the exhaust gas, as shown in Figs. 1 2.5% Ca
and 2, is a result of the engine process, 0.5% S
its fuels and the means employed to
control the emissions. In the following, Work
each exhaust gas component will be
described.
Fig. 1: Typical emissions from an MC type low-speed diesel engine

2
Basically, our engines have a very low exhaust gas plume will be visible. This viz. sulphates and carbonates, as cal-
carbon monoxide emission, thanks to is because, for a given Bosch Smoke cium is the main carrier of alkalinity in
the high oxygen concentration and the Number (BSN value), the greater the lube oil to neutralize sulphuric acid.
efficient combustion process. Carbon diameter of the plume, the greater the
monoxide is a compound that is still amount of light it will absorb. For in- Once fuel is atomised in the combus-
burnable, so elimination in the engine stance, a BSN of 1 will mean almost in- tion chamber, the combustion process
process is preferable. visible exhaust gas from a truck engine, in a diesel engine involves small drop-
but visible exhaust gas from a large, lets of fuel which evaporate, ignite,
Smoke. A traditional measure of the low-speed engine. and are subsequently burned. During
combustion quality, and a traditional this process, a minute part of the oil
way of qualifying the ‘emission’, is to Typical smoke values for the most re- will be left as a ‘nucleus’ comprising
look at, or to measure, the smoke in- cent generation of MAN B&W diesel mainly carbon. Consequently, particu-
tensity. The exhaust gas plume, when engines are so low that the exhaust late emissions will vary substantially
it leaves the top of the stack, may be plume will be invisible, unless water va- with fuel oil composition and with lube
visible for various reasons, e.g. its con- pour condenses in the plume, produc- oil type and dosage. It is therefore diffi-
tent of particulate matter and nitrogen ing a grey or white colour. However, cult to state general emission rates for
dioxide, NO2 (a yellow/brown gas), or the NO2 may give the plume a yellow- particulates.
of condensing water vapour. Although ish appearance.
it may be argued that these compo- In general, the particles are small, and
nents are either subject to separate Particulate Emissions in the exhaust it can be expected that over 90% will
legislation (NOx, particulate matter) or gas may originate from a number of be less than 1 µm when heavy fuel oil
not harmful (water), it is a fact that sources: is used, excluding flakes of deposits,
smoke and/or opacity limits are en- peeling-off from the combustion cham-
forced in certain countries, e.g. in the • agglomeration of very small ber or exhaust system walls, which in
USA. particles of partly burned fuel, general are much larger.

Unfortunately, methods of measuring • partly burned lube oil, Apart from the fact that a smoking en-
smoke and opacity vary (see the sec- gine is not a very pleasant sight, the
tion on measuring methods) and the • ash content of fuel oil and soot from an engine can cause difficul-
figures resulting from the different cylinder lube oil, ties, especially if it is ‘wet’ with oil. In
methods are not really comparable. such cases, it may deposit in the ex-
• sulphates and water. haust gas boiler, especially on cold
When considering visible emissions, surfaces, thus increasing the back
we should bear in mind that the larger The contribution from the lube oil con- pressure and representing a boiler fire
the engine, the more likely it is that the sists mainly of calcium compounds, hazard. Combustion process control,

Calculated exhaust gas composition for 10K60MC (18,900 kW).

Ambient temperature 25°C, ambient humidity 50%
Concentrations Emission factors
Units ppm% ppm% ppm%* ppm%* ppm%* ppm%*
g/Nm3 g/bhph g/kWh g/MJ input g/kg fuel kg/h
(wet) (dry) (15% O2) (13% O2) (5% O2) (0% O2)
NOx 1570 1660 1362 1820 3652 4767 3.41 13.70 18.63 2.49 99.9 352.1
CO 57 60 49 66 132 172 0.08 0.30 0.41 0.05 2.2 7.7
HC (as CH4) 284 300 246 329 660 861 0.22 0.86 1.17 0.16 6.3 22.2
SOx 516 545 447 598 1199 1565 1.56 6.26 8.52 1.14 45.7 161.0
O2 13.0 13.7 15.0 13.0 5.0 0 196 790 1070 142.9 5740 20225
CO2 5.2 5.6 4.6 6.1 12.3 16 108 440 590 78.9 3170 11188
H2O 5.4 0 0 0 0 0 0 180 250 33.6 1350 4747
Particles - - - - - - 0.12 0.48 0.66 0.09 3.52 12.1
Fuel oil sulphur: 2.25% * Dry
Fig. 2: Different ways of stating the same emission from a low-speed diesel engine

3
together with appropriate temperature done to protect the engine from corro- What is happening now, with the in-
control in the boiler, and frequent clean- sion by SO2 and SO3 which condense creased emission of NOx to the atmos-
ing, are the ways to avoid this problem. as sulphuric acid. However, only a very phere from combustion, is disturbing a
small fraction of the SOx will convert to very delicate natural balance. There-
Hydrocarbons (and trace organics). calcium sulphate and this cannot, fore, NOx control is advocated by envi-
During the combustion process, a very therefore, be considered as a method ronmentalists and legislators and, in
small part of the hydrocarbons will of reducing the SOx content. The SOx fact, NOx control is the number one
leave the process unburned, and others in the exhaust gas will eventually be emission control issue. As mentioned
will be formed. These are referred to as washed from the atmosphere by rain, earlier, NOx control represents a chal-
unburned hydrocarbons, and they are and will increase the acidity of the soil. lenge for engine designers, and there
normally stated in terms of equivalent Hence, SOx is an undesirable com- are a number of ways of reducing the
CH4 content. pound and is likely to be controlled by NOx (as will be discussed in the chap-
legislation which will limit the sulphur ter on NOx reduction methods). How-
The content of hydrocarbons in the content of bunker fuel. ever, all methods cause a certain loss
exhaust gas from large diesel engines in engine efficiency.
depends on the type of fuel and the Nitrogen Oxides (NOx) are formed dur-
engine adjustment and design. ing the combustion process within the
burning fuel sprays. NOx is controlled Measuring Methods
Oxides of Sulphur. Because of the by local conditions in the spray with
organic origin of fuel oils, various temperature and oxygen concentration There are various ways of measuring
amounts of sulphur are present in the as the dominant parameters. At the the components in the exhaust gas.
oil injected into the combustion cham- temperature in the burning fuel spray, Not only the measuring equipment
ber. During combustion, the fuel sul- nitrogen is no longer inactive, and (the analysers), but also the measure-
phur is oxidised into different oxides of oxygen and nitrogen will inevitably react ment procedures and the sampling
sulphur (SOx), mainly SO2 and SO3, to form oxides of nitrogen. A rule-of- technique are important in obtaining
typically in a ratio of 15:1. The emission thumb says that a change of 100°C in reliable results. Analysers and proce-
of SOx from the engine is therefore a combustion temperatures may change dures are specified in several standards
function of the sulphur content in the the NOx amount by a factor of 3. The (see e.g. ISO 8178 [1]). In the following,
fuel oil. SOx can only be controlled by immediate reaction is the formation of a few comments are given on the indi-
either removing the sulphur from the NO. Later in the process, during expan- vidual components.
fuel or completely or partially removing sion and in the exhaust system, part of
the SOx from the exhaust gas by clean- the NO will convert to form NO2 and NOx is measured by two methods, the
ing. N2O, typically 5% and 1%, respec- chemiluminescence analyser (CLA) ap-
tively, of the original NO amount. proved for certification and the electro-
SOx can be removed from the exhaust chemical sensor (ECS) used in almost
gas by water washing the gas in a Basically, two-stroke low-speed diesel all portable instruments. The CLA can
scrubber; but this leaves the problem engines are optimised for high efficiency, be heated to avoid NO2 condensation
of sulphuric acid in the water, which i.e. low fuel consumption, and for ade- (together with a heated sampling line).
must consequently be neutralized quate combustion chamber tempera- This is a common way of measuring
chemically, in turn creating a disposal ture control, providing high reliability and exhaust gas from diesel engines. The
problem. Alternatively, SOx can be long time between overhauls. Hence, CLA measures only NO but, by means
used to produce raw sulphur or sul- the NOx emission from uncontrolled en- of a NO2-to-NO converter, the NOx is
phuric acid, both of which are market- gines is, as already shown in Figs. 1 measured as NO. The chemical cells
able commodities. In either case, the and 2, fairly high. measure each component (NO, NO2)
handling of SOx after the engine re- individually.
quires a large investment. Oxides of nitrogen in the atmosphere
contribute to the ‘Smog formation’ CO and CO2 are usually measured with
The price of fuel oil depends on the sul- which is a considerable problem in many an infra-red (IR) technique. Because
phur content, and this fact should be cities. The conversion of NO to NO2 this is an optical-light technique, the
considered when evaluating the use of will continue in the atmosphere but, analysers are also sensitive to other gas
low-sulphur fuel versus high-sulphur since NO2 – unlike NO – is easily soluble components. Thus, depending on the
fuel and clean-up systems. in water, NO2 will be washed out by rain amount of these components, we must
and will eventually increase the acidity compensate for the cross-sensitivity.
In principle, a minor part of the sulphur of the soil. Accordingly, the effect of Furthermore, because of the wide range
content is neutralised in the engine by NOx is the same as that of sulphur but, of individual components in the ex-
the use of alkaline lubricants to form unlike NOx, SOx can be reduced by haust gas, different cells may have to be
neutral compounds of calcium. This is limiting the sulphur content of fuels. used to obtain the necessary sensitiv-

4
ity. Similar to measuring NO and NO2, certain path length of exhaust gas, combustion process directly. The ac-
also for measuring CO, ECS cells may which means that particulate matter as tual degree of reduction depends on
be used for travelling purposes. well as gaseous molecules contribute engine type and reduction method, but
to the measured value. varies from 10% to more than 50%.
SOx. There are several methods of
measuring SOx; infra-red (IR), ultra-violet US legislation prescribes the use of ‘a The secondary methods are means of
(UV) or ECS cells. But the accuracy of qualified observer’, who observes the reducing the emission level without
all cell types is still being discussed. exhaust gas plume and compares this changing the engine performance from
Therefore, ISO [1] calculates SO2 in the with a grey-tone scale. This measure- its fuel optimised setting, using equip-
raw exhaust gas from the fuel-sulphur ment is to some extent subjective and ment that does not form part of the
content. If after-treatment is used, or may be considerably influenced by the engine itself. The most interesting sec-
SO3 is to be measured in the exhaust, atmospheric conditions on site. ondary method so far is the SCR (Se-
different methods must be used. lective Catalytic Reduction) method of
removing NOx. This method makes it
Particulate emissions are measured NOx Reduction Methods possible to reduce the NOx level by
with two different principles that may more than 95% by adding ammonia or
produce very different results. The new NOx in the exhaust gas can be re- urea to the exhaust gas before it enters
ISO standard for diesel engines is a duced with primary and/or secondary a catalytic converter.
dilution-tunnel method, as opposed to reduction methods. Primary methods
the common powerplant raw-exhaust are methods that affect the engine
methods. The difference is the mixing
of air into the exhaust gas to simulate at-
mospheric conditions and the tempera-
ture of the filter, where the particulate
matter (PM) is collected. Since these MAN B&W two-stroke diesel engines
conditions are important to the amount
of material condensed on the particles,
NOx (Nitrogen Oxides): Function of peak combustion temperatures
the conditions or the method used
and oxygen concentration
must be specified with the PM value.

Smoke and Opacity. Objective meas- Reduction: Primary or secondary methods

urements can be carried out in the
form of fractional sampling or with in- SOx (Sulphur Oxides): Function of fuel oil sulphur content
stack instruments. The most common
methods of measuring smoke are: Reduction: The most effective means is to
lower the sulphur content in the fuel
• Bosch Smoke Number,
(Scale 0-10),
CO (Carbon monoxide): Function of the air excess ratio and combustion
temperature and air/fuel mixture.
• Bacharach Smoke Number,
(Scale 0-9), Basically very low for two-stroke engines

both of which express the degree of

blackening of a piece of white filter HC (Hydrocarbons): During the combustion process a very small part
paper, through which a certain volume of fuel and lube oil is left unburned.
of exhaust gas has been drawn. Depends on fuel and lube oil types

• Hartridge smoke value Particulate emissions: Originate from:

(unit: % Hartridge), • partly burned fuel
• ash content in fuel/cylinder lube oil
• Ringelmann Number (Scale 0-5),
• partly burned lube oil/dosage
• Opacity in general • deposits peeling off in the combustion
(various instruments), chamber/exhaust gas system

express the percentage of light which

disappears when passing through a Fig. 3: Summary of pollutants and their control

5
 method, as fuel consumption is import- a ship, as the effluent from the cleaning
NOx emission (%) ant. contains sulphur in a non-disposable
0 form as well as unburned hydrocarbons,
20 Air quality control. The partial pressure soot and ash. This problem is obviously
of the reagents oxygen and nitrogen being addressed in depth, but for gas
40 can only be influenced by changing the engines and in cases where clean
specific amount of air entering the en- oxygen-lean gases are available (Case
∆ Bosch (6 strokes) gine, or by changing the ratio between 3), EGR is the proper method to use.
+1 oxygen and nitrogen. The ratio can be EGR could be the right solution in the
0 changed by exhaust gas recirculation process industry, in refineries etc., i.e.
(EGR). If 15 per cent of the exhaust in land applications where the pre-
-1
gas is recirculated, the resulting oxygen viously-mentioned effluent problem
concentration in the intake air will be re- could also be addressed differently.
SFOC penalty (%) duced from about 21 per cent (atmo- Because of the inherent potential of
+10
spheric) to around 18 per cent, and the EGR method, the concept is still
+5 the impact on NOx formation will be being studied for shipboard use.
0 significant. Fig. 5 shows results from
our 4T50MX research engine. Fuel nozzle adaptation/fuel injection.
0 5 10 Fuel nozzle adaptation is a natural part
Retarded Injection timing °CA In principle, exhaust gas can be recir- of any prototype test, along with the
culated both before (Case 1) and after verification of performance at different
: 100% load
(Case 2) the turbocharger, as shown in layouts. During such tests, it has been
: 75% load Fig. 6, but in both cases the gas has to verified that different fuel nozzle types
be cooled and cleaned. EGR can be a have a significant impact on NOx, and
severe drawback, especially on board that the intensity of the fuel injection
Fig. 4: Effect of injection timing on SFOC,
Bosch Smoke Number and NOx

Since our engines use a high air excess

ratio, automotive types of catalysts 1500 Nitrogen oxides
cannot be used. Furthermore, the ppm at 15% O2
heavy metals and the sulphur content 1400 Engine load
in heavy fuel oil would cause automo-
tive catalysts to deteriorate after a 50 %
1300
short period of operation. 75 %
1200
In the following, the various primary re- 90 %
duction methods available will be dis- 1100
cussed together with the SCR method.
As a brief summary, although only NOx 1000
reduction methods will be described,
Fig. 3 lists the sources of all the emission 900
components of concern and indicates
a possible control method. 800

Firing pressure influence. Reducing 700

the firing pressure via injection retarda-
tion will lower the peak temperature and 600
thus reduce NOx, but it also inevitably
leads to higher fuel consumption. The 500
typical behaviour of the three parameters % Exhaust gas recirculation
(SFOC, Bosch Smoke Number and NOx) 400
is shown in Fig. 4 as a function of injec- 0 5 10 15 20
tion timing. It goes without saying that
this is not a particularly attractive
Fig. 5: Effect of exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) on the 4T50MX engine

6
 Case 3 Input Case 2 Output

Air

Oxygen m,
lean Texh.
gas Compressor Turbine

Case 1

Engine
cylinders

Fig. 6: Different system layouts for EGR system Fig. 8: Design of mini-sac type fuel valve

Test results NOx CO Smoke ∆SFOC

Fig. 9, a pre-injection of fuel has a signi-
ficant influence on NOx formation.
Units ppm/15% O2 ppm/15% O2 BSN6 g/bhph
Standard
Water emulsification. It was verified
1594 109 0.35 0.0 years ago that water emulsification
valve/nozzle
leads to a significant reduction of the
6-hole fuel NOx, and today two power plants with
1494 108 0.23 + 0.4 MAN B&W engines are using this
nozzle
method for NOx control, with no effect
Slide type whatsoever on maintenance costs.
1232 87 0.18 + 1.8
fuel valve
BSN6 is the direct reading of the Bosch Smoke Number after six pump strokes A standard engine design permits the
addition of some 20 per cent of water
at full load, thanks to the volumetric ca-
Fig. 7: Effect of fuel valve and fuel nozzle design for a 12K90MC at 90% load pacity of the fuel injection pumps, but this
does not represent a limit from the com-
bustion point of view. Water amounts
also has an influence. Fig. 7 shows the between a fuel economy mode and a of up to 50/50 fuel/water have been
influence of different fuel nozzles on low-NOx mode while the engine is run- tested. In commercial application (see
NOx formation as well as the influence ning, by altering the characteristics of below) these water amounts will call
on fuel consumption and other pollu- the fuel injection (single or double injec- for engine modification during con-
tants. Fig. 8 shows the design of the tion, and/or pressure/time history). The struction. Fig. 10 shows the impact on
mini-sac fuel valve. investigation shows that, at this stage NOx and fuel consumption. The in-
of development, a NOx reduction fluence of water emulsification varies
On our 4T50MX test engine, which is potential of about 20 per cent is possible with the engine type, but generally one
equipped for electronic-hydraulic con- at a fuel penalty of 3.5 per cent. per cent of water reduces NOx by one
trol of the fuel injection and the exhaust per cent.
valve timing, the influence of these fea- The electronic-hydraulic system on the
tures on NOx formation is a part of the engine can also perform a pre-injection Whereas water and heavy fuel emulsify
research work. We can now change before the main injection. As shown in readily, emulsification in gas oil is

7
 bar Injection pressure InFl basic Nitrogen oxides
1000 Pre-injection ppm at 15% O2 1 0% H2O
Standard MC 1250
800 2 26% H2O
1000 3 41% H2O
600
4 48% H2O
400 750

200 500

0 250
°CA
0
NOx emission

∆ SFOC corrected to ISO

ppm NOx g/kWh
200 600 1000 1400 12.5
InFl basic
Pre-injection 10.0
Standard MC 7.5
SFOC

5.0
2.5
g/kWh
0.2 0.6 1.0 1.4 0
1 2 3 4

Fig. 9: Fuel injection patterns, including pre-injection and Fig. 10: Effect of water emulsification on NOx emission and SFOC
the effects on SFOC and NOx emissions

possible only with the use of an emul- stability, and the engine can be started Cumulative effect. On a number of oc-
sifying agent. These are readily available, up without changing to fuel without casions we have had the opportunity
are easy to use, and are not expens- water. to test the effect of most of the above-
ive. Typically, such emulsifying agents mentioned methods, individually and in
are based on low-cost vegetable pro- Water injection or humidification. combination, on production engines.
teins which are abundantly available Water can also be added to the com- The results (NOx and SFOC) of such a
and used in industrial livestock feed. bustion chamber through separate test are shown in Fig. 11. Obviously, the
nozzles or by means of stratified injec- results of the different methods are not
The emulsification is done before the tion of water and fuel from the same fully cumulative, but with the simple
circulating loop of the fuel oil system, fuel nozzle. The results are similar to technology described so far, we have
i.e. at a point in the fuel flow to the en- the results of water emulsification, but demonstrated NOx reductions of up to
gine from which there is no return flow. water emulsification is simpler to apply 80 per cent of the uncontrolled figure,
It is thus the fuel flow that controls the and minimises water consumption. a reduction level hitherto only thought
water flow, but the water addition possible with catalysts. However, it
could also be controlled by actually Another way to introduce water into must be borne in mind that catalysts
measuring the NOx in the exhaust. This the combustion zone is by humidifying are proven technology, whereas the
would be the case if continuous moni- the scavenge air. However, knowing primary methods, apart from water
toring of NOx was required. that too much water in the scavenge emulsification and special low-NOx fuel
air may be harmful to the cylinder con- nozzles, have little commercial back-
For vessels using emulsified fuel, a spe- dition, and that we therefore use water ground.
cially designed safety system is built mist catchers as standard after the
into the external fuel oil system so that scavenge air cooler, this method is not Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR).
electrical black out on board will not in- appealing. By this method, the exhaust gas is
fluence the fuel/water emulsification mixed with ammonia, NH3 before pas-

8
 The NOx measuring instrument is an in-
1 Reference tegral part of the NH3 dosage control
2
equipment. All instruments are mounted
Slide valve
Nitrogen oxides on a separate panel located in the en-
3 Slide valve +50% water gine control room. An oxygen analyser
ppm at 15% O2 +Reduced pmax
1400 and an NH3 alarm device are also
4 Slide valve +50% water incorporated, together with a strip chart
1200 +20% EGR
recorder, which provides continuous
1000 5 Slide valve +50% water monitoring of system performance.
+20% EGR + Reduced pmax
800
The degree of NOx removal depends
600 on the amount of ammonia added (ex-
400 pressed by the NH3/NOx ratio). At high
200 NH3/NOx ratios, a high degree of NOx
removal can be obtained but, at the
0 same time, the amount of unused am-
∆ SFOC corrected to ISO monia (called the NH3 slip) in the
g/BHPh cleaned flue gas will increase. It is de-
5 sirable that the concentration of un-
4 used ammonia in the cleaned gas is as
3 low as possible. This is because when
2 the flue gas in the downstream boiler
1 or heat exchanger cools, the ammonia
0 may react with SO3 in the exhaust gas,
-1 and the heating surface may be fouled
-2 by ammonium sulphates.
-3
1 2 3 4 5 The ammonia feed can be either liquid,
water-free ammonia under pressure,
or aqueous ammonia solution at at-
Fig. 11: Effect of combining NOx reduction methods on a 5S70MC type engine mospheric pressure, or it can be urea
which can be carried as a dry product
and dissolved in water before use.
sing through a layer of a special cata- cess computer dosing the NH3 in pro-
lyst at a temperature between 300 and portion to the NOx produced by the The NH3 is a combustible gas, and is
400°C, whereby NOx is reduced to N2 engine as a function of engine load. The therefore supplied through a double
and H2O. A schematic layout of the relationship between the NOx produced walled pipe system with appropriate
system design is shown in Fig. 12. and the engine load is measured during venting and an NH3 leak detector in-
test runs on the engine testbed. The stalled in the annulus space. The NH3
The assumed reactions are the follow- relationship obtained is programmed is diluted with pressurised air from the
ing: into the process computer and used scavenge air receiver and subsequently
for the feed-forward control of the NH3 mixed in a static mixer. The mixture of
4NO + 4NH3 + O2 → 4N2 + 6H2O dosage. The ammonia dosage is sub- NH3 and air is injected into the exhaust
sequently adjusted for bias by a feed- pipe from the receiver and mixed with
6NO2 + 8NH3 → 7N2 + 12H2O back system on the basis of the the exhaust gas in a second static
measured NOx outlet signal. mixer. In order to ensure the efficient
As can be seen, oxygen must be pres- operation of the SCR process, and to
ent for the process. If the temperature The reason for choosing this method, minimise the NH3 slip from the SCR re-
is too high, NH3 will burn rather than rather than controlling the ammonia on actor, it is important to obtain a homo-
react with the NO/NO2. At too low a the basis of the measured NOx outlet geneous mixture of the NH3 and the
temperature, the reaction rate would be signal only, is that, with the latter flue gas.
too low, and condensation of am- method, the reactor would be too slow
monium sulphates would destroy the in responding to changes in the NH3 The SCR reactor contains several layers
catalyst. dosage, and this would result in ex- of catalyst. The catalyst volume and,
cessive variations in NOx and/or am- consequently, the size of the reactor
The amount of NH3 injected into the ex- monia outlet concentration. depends on the activity of the catalyst,
haust gas duct is controlled by a pro- the desired degree of NOx reduction,

9
the NOx concentration, the flue gas
pressure and the acceptable NH3 slip.
The amount of catalyst can be ex- Air
pressed by the term space velocity
(abbreviated NHSV), which is defined as Process
the number of cubic metres of exhaust computer
gas per hour which are treated per
cubic metre of catalyst. Ammonia
Evaporator tank
Fig. 13 shows an example of how the
NOx reduction and the NH3 slip vary
with the NH3/NOx ratio for two different SCR reactor
catalyst volumes (NHSV). As can be Air outlet Air intake Exhaust gas outlet
seen, both the NOx reduction and the Deck
NH3 slip increase with an increasing
NH3/NOx ratio. It can also be seen that Support
the same NOx reduction (for example
80%) can be obtained by using only Static
mixer
half the catalyst volume (NHSV =
10,000 Nm3/m3h instead of 5,000 NOx and O2
Nm3/m3h) just by increasing the analyzers
NH3/NOx ratio a few per cent. At the 2
same time, however, the ammonia slip
increases considerably. Therefore, the 3
Air
maximum acceptable ammonia slip
has a strong influence on the amount 1
of catalyst required. Normally, the SCR
units are designed for a steady state High efficiency
ammonia slip of 5-10 ppm during the Orifice
turbocharger
lifetime of the catalyst.
Preheating and
Fig. 13 also illustrates that, if a higher sealing air
degree of NOx reduction is desired, it
is necessary to increase the catalyst
volume to keep the ammonia slip low
at the same time. At a higher degree of
NOx conversion, the need for accurate Engine
control of the ammonia addition
(NH3/NOx ratio) increases. If the
NH3/NOx ratio exceeds 1.0, the am-
monia slip will increase considerably Fig. 12: Schematic layout of SCR system for a low speed diesel
because of the amount of unused
ammonia.
In collaboration with the Danish chemi- phur and 0.04% ash content. The test
The catalyst has a monolithic structure, cal engineering company of Haldor unit adjacent to the engine is shown in
which means that it consists of blocks Topsøe A/S (HTAS), MAN B&W has Fig. 14. A detailed description of the
of catalyst with a large number of paral- developed this method – well known set-up and the results of the extensive
lel channels, the walls of which are from industrial applications – for use on tests can be found in Ref. [3].
catalytically active. The channel diameter diesel engines (Ref. [2]).
has an influence on the pressure drop During the first part of the test run there
across the catalyst as well as on the A pilot test was carried out over a were problems with dust accumula-
risk of dust depositing on the catalyst. period of 4000 hours on a 12L55GSCA tion, which caused the pressure drop
The channel diameter is optimised diesel power plant in the Faroe Islands. across the catalyst to increase. After
after a study of the dust content, the A small part of the exhaust gas was about 2000 hours of operation, the prob-
composition of the exhaust gas, and diverted from the exhaust gas receiver, lem was solved by the installation of a
the permissible pressure drop across while the engine was running on heavy better gas distribution system upstream
the SCR reactor. fuel oil of 380 cSt/50°C with 2.5% sul- from the catalyst. Subsequently,

10
 the pressure drop and the activity re-
mained constant during the last 2000
: NHSV = 5,000 Nm3/m3h hours of the test. The catalyst was also
: NHSV = 10,000 Nm3/m3h mechanically unaffected by normal vi-
100 brations of the engine. Consequently,
the influence of the SCR on the opera-
tion of the turbocharger can be pre-
80
dicted and corrected for in advance,
so the influence on engine reliability will
be negligible. On this basis, the SCR
NOx reduction (%)

technology was cleared for commer-

60 60 cial application.

NH3 slip (ppm)

In addition to the NOx reduction, some
40 40 of the soot and hydrocarbons in the
exhaust are also removed by oxidation
in the SCR reactor.
20 20

Proposed Rules and

Ways of Meeting Them
0
0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1.0 1.1 IMO proposal
Source: HTAS NH3/NOx ratio
Since the discussion of the present
IMO speed-dependent NOx- limit curve,
Fig. 13: Calculated NH3 slip and NOx reduction as function of NH3/NOx ratio see Fig. 15, started, engine builders
for two given space velocities have advocated that rules and rule
administration should be simple and
pragmatic. Although all the details have
not yet been settled, the work for sim-
plicity and pragmatism as well as es-
tablished industry-business patterns
are respected in the IMO rule proposal.

In order to arrive at the IMO-NOx figures

for a given engine, the NOx emission
must be measured at different loads
following the guidelines given in ISO
8178 (Ref. [1]). A typical NOx curve is
shown in Fig. 16 with the IMO-NOx
value calculated to 19.5 g/kWh,
i.e. relatively close to the IMO limit of
17 g/kWh for an engine with an MCR
speed of 91 rpm.

The fine-tuning of the engine perform-

ance for optimum fuel consumption in
a shop test, particularly for the first unit
of an engine type that comes into ser-
vice, will have an impact on the shape
and level of the load-dependent NOx
curve. This means that the NOx value
predicted or expected for any given en-
gine can only be regarded as a guide.
Fig. 14: SCR pilot plant during long-term testing on the 12L55GSCA diesel engine at The NOx value must be established by
Sundsverket, the Faroe Islands testbed measurements.

11
 Therefore, an engine which, in the pro-
ject phase, is offered with both a guar-
NOx (g/kWh)
anteed fuel rate and a NOx limitation
24 will carry both a fuel penalty and a high-
er tolerance because, as mentioned
22 NOx (g/kWh) = 17 x n <130 before, fuel consumption and NOx are
= 45 x n-0.2 130 < n < 2,000 not independent parameters. Instead
= 9.8 x n n > 2,000 of the 3% fuel tolerance, a 5% toler-
20 Where n = engine speed in r/min ance will be observed when the pro-
posed IMO rules are adopted.
18
17 With regard to meeting the IMO pro-
16 posal for ships built today, we will
apply low-NOx fuel injection nozzles.
14 It is expected that IMO, five years after
the introduction of the speed related
12 curve, will present further limitation of
the NOx, and this could call for water
10 emulsification. The actual method to
(Ref. IMO meeting BCH 23 in London) be used at that time will be selected
Engine speed (r/min) after the level of uncontrolled NOx for
8 the engine in question has been estab-
0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000 lished on testbed.

Catalysts will be used only where very

Fig. 15: Target emission levels of IMO strict individual rules are enforced, i.e.
for certain stationary plants and maybe
for special areas at sea.

EPA proposal

NOx (as NO2) - g/kWh

Fig. 17 illustrates the previous
24
EPA/California proposal, which was ex-
pected to come into effect from year
2000-2001. The NOx limit was based
20 on the same NOx curves as the IMO
limit. But the proposal left it to the oper-
ators/owners to decide the level of NOx
16 reduction on their engine and, accord-
ingly, the size of the ‘user fee’ they
would have to pay when operating in
12 an EPA restricted area. The lowest user
fee was obtained by reducing the NOx
level on a fuel optimised engine by
8 80% or more. This reduction could be
IMO/ISO-E3 (g/kWh) achieved with SCR.
Estimate Mk 6 - 19.5
30% H2O add. - 16.0 This proposal is no longer relevant for
4
IMO proposal - 17.0 the US. However, similar proposals
might be proposed by e.g. the Baltic
% of load countries − especially for ferry boats.
0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 At the time of writing, EPA has pro-
posed a new rule system in which inter-
national shipping would be covered by
Fig. 16: Typical load-dependent NOx curve, 6S70MC IMO, whereas ‘local shipping’ would

12
 Case Story, Two-Stroke
NOx g/kWh MC Engine with Water
Emulsification
28 NOx curves:
As described elsewhere (see Refs. [4]
A A= 64.3 x n-0.2 to [6]), engines are in service with NOx
24 B= 45.0 x n-0.2 emission levels far below the IMO limits.
C= 12.8 x n-0.2 A recent power plant installed on the
Where n = engine speed in r/min island of Guam is a good illustration of
20 the commercial potential of primary
NOx control methods. The prime mover
B (IMO)
is a 12K80MC-S, a 40 MW output en-
16 Expected NOx level for gine, and the NOx limitation was speci-
“fuel optimised engines” full user fee fied as 950 ppm at 15 per cent oxygen.
The uncontrolled NOx was expected to
12
be 1800 ppm, so it was decided to use
water emulsification with 50 per cent of
NOx level for “NOx optimised engines”
water added to the fuel. The engine
8 Between 30 and 80% reduction was therefore equipped with fuel pumps
C
50% user fee designed for a 90-type MC engine in
4 order to allow for the larger volume of
fuel-water mixture to be injected.
NOx level for special “NOx optimised engines”
min 80% NOx reduction: 10% user fee Other pollutants were also subject to
0
0 100 300 500 700 900 1100 limitations. In November 1994, the en-
Full user fee penalty corresponds to 10,000 USD/ton NOx Engine r/min gine was put through extensive shop
testing, both with and without water,
and using different types of fuel nozzles.
As the results in Fig. 19 show, all
Fig. 17: Schematic layout of EPA NOx-limit user-fee proposal emission limits were comfortably met,
with a very moderate fuel penalty. It
goes without saying that engine per-
be covered (in the US) by emission rules formance parameters were acceptable.
similar to the regulation for non-road The plant was commissioned in the
EPA proposed emission diesel engines (see Fig. 18). The inten- second half of 1995.
standards for new marine diesel tion is to harmonise international ship-
engines not covered/regulated by ping rules, but exactly how this should The first commercial application of NOx
IMO be carried out is not clear. control on an engine of MAN B&W de-
sign was for a 20 MW stationary power
NOx : 9.2 g/kWh Legislation restricting NOx emission plant in Puerto Rico. This plant, which
HC : 1.3 g/kWh levels to as low as 100 ppm or less at also used water-in-fuel emulsification
CO : 11.4 g/kWh 15% oxygen is being enforced in some was commissioned as early as in 1984,
local areas on land as well as in some to comply with the Federal rules of the
PM : 0.54 g/kWh coastal waters. It is believed that such EPA.
Smoke : transient cycles (20/50%) levels may be more frequent in the
coming years and may be enforced in The prime mover of the plant, a
local areas. NOx emissions of the above 7L90GSCA engine, has an uncontrolled
(The standard may include level from high efficiency engines can NOx level of 1150 to 1200 ppm, see
corporate averaging) only be obtained by employing cata- Fig. 20. The EPA rules permit an
lytic converters. emission of 600 ppm, at 15% O2 for
engines with a thermal efficiency of
Fig. 18: New emission-limit proposal by EPA 35%. Since the rules permit a propor-
tional correction for higher thermal
efficiency, the limit for this engine was
approximately 770 ppm. Water emulsi-
fication of the heavy fuel oil, together
with reduced maximum pressure was

13
 identical to the normal heavy fuel ver-
sion.
NOx - ppm dry at 15% O2 PM - mg/Nm3 dry at 15% O2
The service condition of the engine
1000 180
was carefully investigated during a
160 planned stop after 11,000 operating
900
140 hours. The cylinder wear ratio, includ-
800 120
ing running-in, was found to be be-
tween 0.01 and 0.06 mm per 1,000
100 hours, with an average of 0.03 mm per
700
80 1,000 hours, equivalent to a liner life-
600 60 time of around 120,000 hours (or 15
years). The exhaust valve condition
40 and general engine cleanliness were
500
20 very satisfactory, and the fuel injection
% Load % Load
0 0 pumps and valves presented no prob-
50 60 70 80 90 100 50 60 70 80 90 100 lems, except for a moderate fuel valve
nozzle burning, which requires the ex-
change of fuel valve nozzles about
Measured DO once a year instead of once every two
HFO limit years.
Measured HFO
HC - ppm C1 dry at 15% O2 We can therefore conclude that the
CO - ppm dry at 15% O2 above described method of reducing
350
150
the NOx can be considered commer-
cially viable, also for other projects with
300 fuel oil burning engines. However, the
125 method has its limitations. Whereas
250 water/heavy fuel emulsions are easily
100 created and are stable, this is not so
200 with diesel oil. With low sulphur fuels
becoming compulsory in coastal
75 waters, water emulsification may not
150
be feasible using the above technology
50 100
only. Special emulsifiers may be needed.

% Load % Load
0 0
50 60 70 80 90 100 50 60 70 80 90 100
Case Story, Two-Stroke
MC Engines with SCR
In August 1988, MAN B&W was asked
Fig. 19: Emission limits and actual emissions, stationary 12K80MC-S diesel engine to participate in a meeting at the Cali-
in emission controlled version fornia State Merchant Marine Academy
in Valejo, north of San Francisco, to
discuss emissions in relation to a spe-
therefore chosen as the NOx reduction The 7L90GSCA engine was designed cific project. The California State Mer-
method. specifically for operation with water/ chant Marine Academy had been en-
heavy fuel oil emulsion, so a larger fuel gaged by UPI (USS-POSCO Industries)
Compliance with the US-EPA regula- pump is used, together with modified to evaluate emissions emitted during
tions for NOx emission (at that time) fuel valve nozzles. In order to avoid ca- the transportation of steel to a facility in
was achieved by using a water/heavy vitation and boiling-off in the low press- Pittsburg, California. The project, which
fuel oil emulsion with around 22% ure part of the fuel oil system, a closed, at the time of the meeting was not
water as shown in Fig. 20, and a re- pressurised system is used. Further- clearly defined, involved shipments of
duction in maximum pressure of about more, a water dosage system and a steel from Korea to the United States.
5 bar. homogeniser are installed. Apart from
these minor changes, the engine is It was assumed that, during certain
parts of the voyage, the transportation

14
 Materialisation phase
Puerto Rico 7L90GSCA
Corrected NOx (ppm)
Hyundai Heavy Industries, HHI, were
1200 to build at least two vessels, each of
30,000 tdw, with NOx control installa-
tion. The obvious choice of main pro-
1000 pulsion engine for this type of vessel
was a 6S50MC type low speed diesel,
with a maximum continuous rating of
10,680 hp. The engine is equipped
800 with one exhaust gas driven turbo-
US - EPA limit charger for scavenge and combustion
air supply, supported by two electrically
∆ SFOC (g/BHPh) driven auxiliary blowers for air supply at
4 low load. The reactor is located before
MCR 81% the turbocharger, as shown in the ex-
haust gas flow sheet, Figs. 21 and 22,
2 in order to be in the optimum tempera-
ture area of 300-400 °C.

The turbocharger was matched to a

0 higher efficiency than normally required
0 5 10 15 20 % Water content in order to compensate for the press-
ure drop across the SCR reactor and
associated pipe work.
Fig. 20: NOx control by water emulsification on a 7L90GSCA two-stroke low speed diesel
engine

would require a reduction of the NOx

by around 90%. As already discussed, By-pass valve V1
such a reduction of NOx could not be Exhaust gas
achieved by any primary method, i.e.
engine modifications and water emulsi-
fication only.
Engine SCR
It was discussed whether the NOx re-
duction system should be based solely proper Reactor
on the use of SCR, or whether some Turbocharger
NOx reduction should be achieved by
water emulsification before using SCR.
Auxiliary Air
In principle, the latter would give a re-
duced NH3 consumption as less NOx blower
would have to be removed by SCR.
However, bearing in mind the modifica-
tions that would be necessary to the
fuel oil system if a significant NOx re-
duction was to be obtained with water
Fig. 21: Flow sheet for an SCR system
emulsification, and the fact that a low-
sulphur gas oil was to be used (compli-
cating the emulsification process, as jection system would not be optimal In the design of the layout, it was very
mentioned earlier), it was decided not for fuel oil use only, again with conse- important to keep in mind that these
to use this method. If water emulsifica- quences for fuel economy. The SCR particular engine installations, given the
tion was used with the fuel oil system technology was therefore proposed as planned ship routings and limited time
changes discussed, either water the best way of reducing NOx for this in NOx controlled waters, had to oper-
should be used all the time, which project. ate just like any other vessel. We also
would be uneconomical, or the fuel in- had to bear in mind that although the

15
 diesel, or possibly some medium grade
of heavy fuel, had not been finally deter-
mined. For that reason, and given the
design parameters available, a fairly
large channel diameter for the catalyst
structure was selected, and the required
volume of catalyst was calculated.

Since they are really in a stow-away

position, the reactor and its catalyst are
protected from engine vibrations and
from undesired penetration of exhaust
gas when not in use, by a sealing air
system. When valves 2 and 3 (see Fig.
12 again) are closed and valve 1 is
open, the reactor is connected to the
scavenge air system of the engine and,
therefore, subject to scavenge air
pressure and slightly ventilated by
scavenge air via controlled leakage
through valves 2 and 3.

Operational experience
The intention was to measure the ac-
tual uncontrolled NOx from the engine
on testbed with the very same instru-
Fig. 22: SCR system installation - photo from engine room mentation as would later be installed
on board with that engine and which
would serve as part of the ammonia
vessels are purpose-built they may, at a more integrated layout with the cata- feed control.
some point in time, serve a different lyst in the exhaust gas receiver can be
trade. It was therefore a design crite- selected. Measurements on testbed showed
rion that when the de-NOx system was that the uncontrolled NOx for the
not required to be in use, the engine SCR process and reactor sizing 6S50MC was lower than the conserva-
should be able to operate like any tive estimate of 1600 ppm, viz. in the
other ship propulsion engine. A 6S50MC engine delivers a maximum range of 1200 ppm, which gave an ad-
exhaust gas amount of around 50,000 ditional safety margin to the original re-
The reactor was designed as a separ- Nm3/h. As the uncontrolled NOx had not actor sizing. As mentioned above, the
ate unit, vertically positioned away previously been measured for this en- relationship between NOx produced
from the engine and connected via ex- gine type, it was conservatively esti- and engine load was also established.
haust gas pipes and pertaining valves, mated at 1600 ppm. For reasons of sim- The fuel flow to the engine was se-
as illustrated in Fig. 12. The horizontally plicity, liquid anhydrous ammonia was lected as the load signal and, on this
located SCR reactor, above the turbo- selected in this plant. Ammonia is a quite basis, the curve shown in Fig. 23 was
charger, is an alternative location which familiar product in the marine industry, established and could serve as a
can be more convenient for the engine and rules for its use have already been model curve in the process computer
room arrangement. As can be seen, established by the classification societies. for the feed-forward control of the am-
the reactor is an integral part of the en- The ammonia is stored as liquid gas monia dosage. The equipment was
gine exhaust and turbocharging sys- under a pressure of about 5-10 bar. subsequently installed, and the sea
tem, and the influence of the reactor The ammonia storage tank is located trials of the first vessel took place in
volume and heat capacity must there- on deck, sheltered from sunlight to pre- November 1989.
fore be carefully evaluated in terms of vent overheating. The evaporator is
the control of engine dynamics, espe- heated, and evaporation takes place at Whereas the SCR process, right from
cially during transient conditions such around 70°C. the start of the reaction, showed the
as load changes, start-up, etc. For per- desired NOx reduction in the relevant
manent operation of the SCR unit, for At the time of planning, the actual type temperature window, the engine turbo-
instance in stationary applications, of fuel to be used, i.e. gas oil, marine charging system showed a need for

16
 vessel for the same trade entered
kg/h ppm service in mid-1991 and No. 4 ship
1400 in 1992. Subsequent voyages have
150 shown that the load profile originally
kg/h suggested had been rather unrealistic.
Real life profiles generally turned out
125 to be dominated by lower loads, with
much more frequent stops and idling,
which obviously accentuated the
1200 turbocharging difficulties seen during
100 ppm the sea trials. An actual load profile is
shown in Fig. 24, superimposed on
the original estimate.
75
To overcome these problems, as well
as the original difficulties, the following
1000 modifications have been introduced:
50

• The closing procedure for valve 1

is now controlled by a dual level
25 maximum temperature difference
850 between exhaust gas receiver and
turbine inlet.

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 110 Load % • Larger auxiliary blowers have been

fitted and their control limited to
temperature difference between ex-
Fig. 23: Uncontrolled NOx emission from 6S50MC haust gas receiver and turbine inlet
as well as scavenge air pressure.

some modifications. The change-over 1989, Fig. 25, after some preliminary • Sealing air for the reactor has been
procedure from de-NOx off to de-NOx modifications. The second vessel en- moved to the hot side of the air
on, via the opening of valves 2 and 3, tered service in February 1990. A third
see Fig. 12, followed by the closing of
valve 1, was too fast, with the result
that the turbocharger did not get
enough energy, as this was used to Engine
heat up the catalyst. A high exhaust speed
gas temperature alarm was the result.
125
Furthermore, fairly large turbocharger Expected profile
speed variations over a 5-10 minute
100
periodic cycle were observed with the
reactor in operation, again caused by
an unsteady energy flow to the turbo- 75
charger. However, even under such
conditions the de-NOx process worked
satisfactorily. 50

Whereas solutions to the observed

problems were fairly quickly estab- 25 Inbound Outbound
lished, it was clear that they could not
be implemented on a day-to-day
basis, so with the cooperation of the 20 21 22 23 24 1 2 3 4 18 19 20 21 22 23 Time
parties involved, viz. ship and engine
builder and the shipowner, the first
vessel entered service in December Fig. 24: Load profile from actual operation

17
 References
[1] ISO 8178, ’Reciprocating Internal
Combustion Engines - Exhaust
Emission Measurement’, Parts 1
to 9.

[2] Per Morsing and Kristian

Søndergaard: ’Selective Catalytic
Reduction of NOx in Exhaust Gas
from Marine Diesel Engines’,
Haldor Topsoe A/S, Denmark,
1990.

[3] P. Schoubye, K. Pedersen,

P. Sunn Pedersen, O. Grøne and
O. Fanøe: ’Reduction of NOx
Emissions from Large Diesel
Engines’, 17th CIMAC Congress,
Warsaw 1987,
Paper D31, pp. 1-14.

[4] J.R. Gibson, W.G. Gibbs and

Fig. 25: The M/V Pittsburg, main engine 6S50MC with SCR NOx control K.R. McMahon: ’Air Emission
Control’, USS-POSCO Industries,
Pittsburg, California, 1990.

[5] Emission Control on Low Speed

cooler to allow shorter start-up time bay and river waters, subject to rela- Diesels,13th Marine Propulsion
on approaching controlled waters. tively large local variation. The entire
Conference, London, March 1991.
voyage in NOx controlled waters will
• Heat tracing has been fitted around thus comprise both periods with de-
[6] Optimising Engine Performance
the reactor to permit shorter start- NOx on and de-NOx off in order to en-
up time after stay in port. sure turbocharger performance and towards Emission Control,
appropriate engine load response. The ISME 1995.
• In view of the use of extremely low- NOx concentration and the actual load
sulphur gas oil in controlled waters, profile are therefore integrated, and the
the lower end of the temperature result which is of real interest – the
window has been changed to NOx emission in lb/trip – is calculated.
270°C, and the use of sealing air in
controlled waters has been disconti- Each of the four vessels has now made
nued with de-NOx off. several voyages, and from the end-
users facing the local authorities (UPI
• Control loop for NH3 feed has been facing the BAAQMD, the Bay Area Air
changed to minimize NH3 slip and Quality Management District) accept-
to give faster response. ance and classification of the system
has been received. The SCR system
• Various minor modifications. has thus demonstrated satisfactory
performance with regard to NOx re-
Emission results moval. However, fine tuning may re-
duce NOx even further.
The de-NOx system aims at a reduc-
tion of the NOx concentration in the ex-
haust gas to 130 ppm. The NOx control
takes place both on the ocean and in

18