TECHNOLOGY company Wärtsilä says its exhaust treatment technology shows potential for exhaust gas abatement systems to directly tackle maritime carbon dioxide emissions in the near future. This would be possible as technology advances and enables manufacturers to design and upgrade scrubbers to capture carbon at the point of exhaust.
Wärtsilä has conducted extensive research and development to explore how carbon capture and storage can be developed and scaled in maritime. Initial findings show that CCS on ships is technically viable for the sector to pursue.
To further accelerate development, Wärtsilä is installing a 1MW pilot plant at its test facility in Moss, Norway. This pilot plant will allow Wärtsilä to test its CCS technologies in a range of scenarios and conditions.
“Building on the success of existing and well-proven technologies, such as scrubbers, will be vital to succeeding on the industry’s decarbonisation goals,” said Sigurd Jenssen, director, exhaust treatment at Wärtsilä.
“Exhaust gas abatement technologies have reached a point of maturity where it is only right that we explore their wider applications beyond sulphur compliance.”
Given the scale of the decarbonisation challenge ahead, Wärtsilä Exhaust Treatment believes there is no better place to focus the efforts than on the biggest emission of them all – carbon – and think about the ways that we can use what we have already learned from sulphur, both as an organisation and as an industry.
Mr Jenssen said, “CCS onboard vessels is clearly a substantial undertaking, but one that we believe we are well placed to pioneer.
“Carbon capture is exciting because it can provide significant reductions in a relatively short timeframe.
“This is important in the context of the industry’s overall decarbonisation transition, as it will enable us to safeguard existing assets as we move to a cleaner mode of operating.”
Wärtsilä Exhaust Treatment offers integrated compliant solutions for all types of ships, and in open loop, closed loop or hybrid configurations. Wärtsilä’s scrubbers are built with a modular approach to future technology development, creating a platform for the abatement of other emissions from shipping beyond sulphur.
