Methanol is emerging as a commonly chosen alternative fuel that can help the marine industry progressively reduce emissions and meet decarbonization targets. If produced from renewable sources, it can reduce CO2 emissions by up to 95% compared to conventional fuels. Green methanol would add no new CO2 to the atmosphere, making vessels carbon neutral when using it.
Marine equipment and solutions for methanol as fuel
Nonetheless, methanol will demand new technologies and a different way of looking at the energy balance on board. Alfa Laval is at the cutting edge of methanol solutions – and is ready to partner with you in making the transition.
How methanol can be used as fuel?
Methanol’s Fuel Quality Benefits
Methanol is used in gasoline blends around the world at low (3-5%), mid (15-30%) and high (50-100%) volume percentages, as a diesel substitute for use in heavy-duty vehicles (HDVs) and as a marine bunker fuel.
Why is methanol used as a marine fuel?
Why Methanol as a Marine Fuel? Methanol can reduce SOx and PM emissions by more than 95 per cent, and NOx by up to 80 per cent compared to conventional marine fuels. Biomethanol and e-methanol can become low-carbon on a life-cycle basis. Methanol is available at more than 125 of the world’s largest ports.
What is the alternative to methanol fuel?
Methanol can be an alternative to conventional transportation fuels. The benefits of methanol include: Lower production costs—Methanol is cheap to produce relative to other alternative fuels. Improved safety—Methanol has a lower risk of flammability compared to gasoline.
What are the different types of methanol fuel?
What types of methanol are there? Broadly speaking, methanol can be categorised into fossil-based methanol and renewable methanol. Fossil-based methanol is produced from coal or natural gas. Renewable methanol can be made from things like biomass or captured CO2 combined with green hydrogen.
What are 3 ways that methanol is used?
Methanol and its derivative products such as ascetic acid and formaldehyde created via chemical reactions are used as base materials in acrylic plastic; synthetic fabrics and fibers used to make clothing; adhesives, paint, and plywood used in construction; and as a chemical agent in pharmaceuticals and agrichemicals.
What is the methanol water mixture for fuel?
Direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs) utilize a mixture of methanol and deionized water (or distilled water) as the fuel for anode side. The most common range for the molarity of the methanol is 0 to 1 Molar and occasionally 0 to 2 Molars (the latter one for advanced users utilizing customized MEAs or CCMs).
How is methanol carried on ships?
Methanol is transported in 12 cargo tanks. All of them have been coated with an environmentally-friendly, inorganic zinc silixcate paint system. All tanks are fitted with two pressure-vacuum valves to comply with regulations requiring a secondary means of releasing pressure build-up in emergency situations.
Is methanol fuel expensive?
At four to six times the cost for useful energy of current bunker fuel, synthetic methanol is clearly a very expensive option. It’s much easier and safer to handle than ammonia, which makes up for the slight price advantage ammonia has.
What is methanol mostly used for?
Solvent. Methanol is primarily used as an industrial solvent to help create inks, resins, adhesives, and dyes. It is also used as a solvent in the manufacture of important pharmaceutical ingredients and products such as cholesterol, streptomycin, vitamins and hormones.
What are the disadvantages of using methanol as a fuel?
Disadvantages
Due to its density and lower heating value, methanol fuel tanks are about 2.5 times larger than oil tanks for the same energy content.
Methanol is toxic, flammable, and can be explosive; it must therefore be stored and handled carefully.
Why is methanol not used as fuel?
Low lean flammability limit. Low volumetric energy content of methanol compared with that of gasoline, diesel or ethanol reduce the driving range of the vehicle, if not compensated with larger tanks or high efficiency engines. The engine fuel system needs to be modified due to the lower heating value.
What is the composition of methanol fuel?
Methanol is a clear, low viscosity liquid with a faintly sweet alcohol odour at low concentrations in air. Chemically, methanol is an aliphatic alcohol containing about 50 wt% oxygen with physical properties consistent with other alcohols used as gasoline blending components (see Table 1).
What is the fuel usage of methanol?
Cars can run on a low methanol blend (<10% methanol), making it a sort of “middle step” between current internal combustion engines and a full transition to a hydrogen-based transportation economy. Additionally, methanol can be converted using a fuel cell to power an electric vehicle.
Fuel supply system
The Alfa Laval FCM Methanol is a low-flashpoint fuel supply system (LFSS) that can be adapted to any kind of marine engine and vessel design. It is a proven technology that has been operating on methanol fueled vessels sailing around the world since 2015.
Aalborg marine boiler solutions for methanol as fuel
Built on a century of thermal expertise, Alfa Laval Aalborg marine boilers are prepared to run on methanol, thanks to our future-proof MultiFlame burner concept. Adding to our already extensive combustion knowledge, we are now conducting large-scale methanol testing at the Alfa Laval Test & Training Centre.
Enabling the move to methanol as fuel
Find out why the Alfa Laval FCM Methanol is the leading choice of low-flashpoint fuel supply system (LFSS) in today’s methanol projects. This short video explains why more than a pump is needed, and it shows how the FCM Methanol lives up to the challenge – from flexible installation to peace of mind in operation.
Alfa Laval Aalborg Boiler Solutions – fuel-flexible and future-proof
A century of excellence in meeting steam and hot water needs using traditional fuels. Pioneering decarbonization with LNG and methanol, and prepared for biofuels. Leading the way in sustainable marine boiler technology.
Heating and cooling
Methanol is similar to liquid fuels that are already in widespread use in the marine industry, but it has both a low flashpoint and an aggressive nature. Alfa Laval offers several heat exchanger types that can handle the temperatures, pressures and corrosion risks associated with methanol operations.
Power from waste energy
The Alfa Laval E-PowerPack uses Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) technology to create electrical power from any heat source on board. By letting you take advantage of all available waste energy, even when steam demands are minimal, it can help you retain fuel economy despite the higher cost of methanol.
Alfa Laval technology powers sustainable operations on Maersk’s pioneering methanol-fuelled container vessel
In a world where sustainability is increasingly important, A.P. Moller-Maersk has set sail with the world’s first methanol fuelled container vessel. Equipped with Alfa Laval’s solutions for methanol as fuel, this vessel shows how innovative solutions and equipment can help shipping companies adapt to the evolving energy landscape and environmental regulations.
Innovating at the Alfa Laval Test & Training Centre
At the Alfa Laval Test & Training Centre, the solutions and knowledge for working with methanol on board continue to develop. With its 2800 m2 of testing space, this unique R&D facility is providing deeper insights into methanol handling, methanol combustion and more. The efforts will ensure safety and efficiency on tomorrow’s more sustainable methanol-fuelled vessels.
Waste heat recovery
The Alfa Laval Aalborg Micro exhaust gas marine boiler supports energy efficiency in multiple ways. Connected to a fired boiler, it supplies steam to a shared steam drum, reducing the need to use the burner. Used with the E-PowerPack and a plate heat exchanger, it delivers waterborne heat energy at a temperature that maximizes power output.