- Danish company Eltronic FuelTech pioneers the industry by offering equipment for fuel supply from tanks to engines on methanol-powered ships, delivering cost savings, energy efficiency, and enhanced safety.
- The naming of Laura Mærsk, A.P. Moller-Maersk’s first container ship capable of sailing on green methanol, heralds a more sustainable era in shipping. In response, Eltronic FuelTech introduces a Low-flashpoint Fuel Supply system (LFSS) tailored for this vessel.
- Green methanol production primarily involves biomass gasification, generating syngas converted into green methanol. An alternative method combines hydrogen, carbon dioxide, and a catalyst under high heat and pressure, requiring renewable electricity and carbon dioxide sourced from carbon capture and storage, direct air capture, or recent biomass.
- Eltronic FuelTech’s LFSS integrates a single supply system and fuel valve train from the fuel tank to the engine, enhancing safety, reducing costs, and conserving energy for the shipping industry.
- Logistic savings are achieved through container standardization for spare parts and reduced technician requirements during maintenance
Eltronic FuelTech’s Innovations In Methanol Fuel
Eltronic FuelTech, a Danish firm, leads the industry by providing pioneering equipment for transferring fuel from tanks to engines aboard methanol-powered vessels. This advancement not only enhances safety but also delivers cost and energy savings to shipping companies.
The naming of Laura Mærsk, A.P. Moller-Maersk’s first container ship that could sail on green methanol, marked the start of more sustainable shipping. In the wake of this, the Danish engineering company Eltronic FuelTech has now launched a new supply system – a so-called Low-flashpoint Fuel Supply system (LFSS) – for this particular vessel.
Most green methanol is produced from the gasification of biomass, which initially produces syngas which is then converted into green methanol. Another method of producing it involves combining hydrogen, carbon dioxide, and a catalyst under high heat and pressure. To be considered green methanol, this process has to be conducted using renewable electricity, while the carbon dioxide has to be a product of carbon capture and storage, direct air capture, or biomass of recent origin.
Eltronic FuelTech’s Integrated Methanol Fuel Supply System
In launching this new supply system, players in the shipping industry can now have an integrated fuel supply system from the fuel tank to the engine comprising a single supply system and fuel valve train which improves safety, cuts costs, and saves energy.
There are savings associated with the logistics, as the same container can be used for spare parts for the entire system, and fewer repair technicians will be required in connection with maintenance.
“Embracing green methanol as a fuel has been increasing markedly in recent years, and with the new LFSS system, we can make a significant contribution to the green transition of the shipping industry,” said Louise Andreasen, CEO at Eltronic FuelTech. “In the past, several suppliers were required to put together a complete fuel supply system from the fuel tank to the engine, but the fact that we can now supply the entire system brings multiple benefits. It’s a huge advantage for customers that it’s now available as a combined package so they no longer have to maintain the interfaces between two different systems. At the same time, when we deliver a combined solution, we can guarantee the safety of the entire system.”
Energy-Efficiency Innovation
While most other supply systems on the market use two pumps to pump the methanol around, Eltronic FuelTech has managed to create an LFSS with only one pump, thereby saving considerable energy. In addition, it is now possible to adjust the pump depending on the engine load, so that only the right amount of methanol is supplied to the engine, something which has not been possible until now.
“This means that if a ship is sailing slowly, the pump automatically adjusts to the load so that it only runs at 60 percent of full power for example” added Ms Andreasen. “With other systems, unnecessarily large quantities of methanol are pumped around the system, which affects electricity consumption, especially on large ships. With the biggest engines on container ships, for example, the pumps usually use more than 100,000 kWh a year pumping the methanol from the fuel tanks to the engine. With our new supply system, we expect to be able to cut consumption by up to 40 percent.”
In addition to developing systems for a ship’s main engines, Eltronic FuelTech has also developed a compact combined system to supply the ship’s auxiliary engines with fuel from the tanks.
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Source: renewableenergymagazine
