Fast tracking the conversion of dual fuel engines in existing offshore vessels to ammonia operation

Project Information

Apollo

Grant agreement ID: 101096299

DOI

10.3030/101096299

EC signature date 15 December 2022

Start date 1 January 2023

End date 31 July 2027

Funded under

• Climate, Energy and Mobility

Total cost

€ 7 314 447,98

EU contribution

€ 4 999 999,25

Coordinated by

MARITIME CLEANTECH
Norway

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - Apollo (Fast tracking the conversion of dual fuel engines in existing offshore vessels to ammonia operation)

Reporting period: 2023-01-01 to 2024-06-30

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

The Apollo project addresses the “Retrofit solutions to significantly reduce air or water pollution without increasing fuel consumption and hence GHG emissions, for example main engine abatement systems or engine and propulsion system modifications” goal by maturing to TRL8 and demonstrating the required technologies to enable ammonia fuelled propulsion of vessels. The aim of the Apollo project is to mature and demonstrate in an operational environment in Norway the first ammonia dual-fuel engine for the waterborne transport industry and reduce the GHG emissions by 70% or more. This will be done by replacing two existing engines by one new genset and complete gas supply and safety systems in the offshore vessel to enable ammonia operation.
To realise this aim, the project is broken down into the following main objectives:

1.Mature install and demonstrate the Apollo solution composed of:
a.Complete the technical readiness of the Apollo dual-fuel engines with >70% ammonia and comply with GHG, sulphur oxides (SOx) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) emissions according to IMO Tier III level.
b.Adapt the ship design to include ammonia storage tanks, bunker lines, piping, absorber/burner layout, safety systems and other ship specific adaptions according to applicable rules and regulations as well as verification of vessel intact and damage stability calculations.
c.Complete the conversion in a shipyard in Norway.
d.Achieve ammonia-fuelled vessel class for the demonstration vessel.
e.Demonstrate the operation of the ammonia fuelled EDV’s Viking Energy ship in NorSea Dusavika base outside of Stavanger.
f.Benchmark the operation using the Apollo ammonia powered engines versus dual-fuel LNG engines to further measure and confirm the return of the investment from the economic and environmental points of views.

2.Adapt the design of the Apollo solution to allow ship owners, ship designers, shipyards, classification agencies and insurance companies to adopt the Apollo solution into their decision-making processes as early as 2025.

3.Prepare the business case for the use of green ammonia in the waterborne transport sector, from the production to the distribution and bunkering at European scale. The project plans to cooperate with producers of ammonia to foster the availability of ammonia as a fuel in key ports and bases in North Europe starting by 2024. This will be a holistic approach, considering the production both inland and offshore from renewable energy sources.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

First objective of the project is to complete the technical and commercial readiness of the pre-developed TRL6 technology by WTS specifically to the ship, Wärtsilä is committed to developing combustion technologies, fuel systems, automation systems and safety features to enable the marine industry to operate with future sustainable fuels like ammonia. These technologies are developed as platforms and require ship specific design for the successful implementation to each vessel installation. In the Apollo project, Wärtsilä is adapting the W25DF NH3 engine platform, the Fuel Gas Supply Systems Ammonia platform and safety and exhaust-after treatment technologies.
Such adaptation comprises of design and engineering of the equipment that should specifically fit to the existing vessel Viking Energy. Work carried out has involved up to 10 engineers that have spent more than 1 000 working hours.
This allowed for the achievement of two major milestones in the project; the milestone MS1 which marks the final configuration of the Apollo solution enabling retrofit of all types of vessels with dual fuel engines and the second milestone MS2 marking the completion of the bunkering procedures.

The final configuration of the Apollo solution is defined, enabling possible retrofit of all types of vessels and to reach the quantified impact of 70% reduction of GHG emissions from vessel operations.

In addition, to be able to prove the targeted GHG reduction achievement, it required to analyze the existing operational profile and actual emissions and create a relevant model that would be applicable to demonstrate the GHG reduction after the ammonia conversion of Viking Energy.
WTS used the existing data from a previous 12-month operational period and created "As-Is" model based on the exact extracted data from the vessel operation. This model was used as base to apply the new ammonia technology with actual performance data from the Wärtsilä laboratory testing, which are relevant for the Viking Energy operation, and compare the after conversion “To-Be” outcome with this “As-Is” model.
The comparison results show that the conversion of Viking Energy to use ammonia as fuel would save 72% of total GHG emissions including all CO2eq emissions and energy saving of nearly 8400 GJ equaling 9% compared to as-is energy consumption.

The next step of the project is to complete the necessary planning processes, risk assessment and safety analysis to ensure successful retrofit of Viking Energy.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

During the project's first 18 months, we have achieved the following results:

- Final configuration of the Apollo solution
- Preliminary specific ship design adaptation
- "as-is" vs. "to-be"emissions comparisons - Impact: The comparison results show that the conversion of Viking Energy to use ammonia as fuel would save 72% of total GHG emissions including all CO2eq emissions and energy saving of nearly 8400 GJ equaling 9% compared to as-is energy consumption.
- Development of the bunkering procedures
- Kick-off of the HAZID process
- On-going risk assessment
- Development of a preliminary business plan
- Successful organization of a workshop on ammonia safety

Expected outcomes from Apollo at the end of the project:
- Outcome 1 Demonstrated retrofitting solutions for sea-going and inland navigation vessels in operation
- Outcome 2 Retrofit solutions to reduce GHG emissions that are developed and ready to deploy. The target is to achieve a GHG emissions reduction of at least 35% compared to the original design
- Outcome 3 Retrofit solutions involving climate neutral fuels making vessels GHG emission free. These solutions are expected to have a significant R&I content going beyond a simple exchange of fuels through minor technical adaptations.
- Outcome 4 Establishment of an up-to-date catalogue of suitable solutions for a wide variety of ship types and operation scenarios.
- Outcome 5 Accelerated achievement of climate neutrality of waterborne transport through retrofit modifications to the existing fleet
- Outcome 6 Ensuring cost effective solutions for retrofitting existing ships, thus supporting ship owners in the process of making the European fleet more environmentally friendly.
- Outcome 7 Business models, industry standards, regulatory approvals, best practice guidance, and easy-to-customise strategies for retrofitting removing the commercial risk of deployment.
- Outcome 8 Increased competitiveness of European shipyards, repair yards, and European marine equipment providers within the domain of green shipping technology.

Photo during the Apollokick-off in Stavanger 08.02.2023

Illustration of the ammonia system to be installed on the PSV

Photo of the demonstrator vessel - Viking Energy