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INSIGHT SUPPORTING PARTNER:
BLUE INSIGHT
LOW CARBON SHIPPING FUELS & ENERGY GUIDE 2020
LOW CARBON AND ENERGY
ORGANISATIONS PROFILEDINSIDE
47
Methanol
2 3Methanol MethanolBLUE Insight Bureau Veritas
What is the fuel
Methanol, chemical formula CH3OH, is the simplest alcohol. It is in a liquid state between -98°C and 65°C at atmospheric pressure. Methanol has a volumetric energy density (net heating value) of 22.7 MJ/kg, very similar to ammonia (22.5 MJ/kg).
There are varying reported figures on methanol’s flammability limits (6.72% to 36.5% by volume in air) with a very low flashpoint of 11°C and a low auto-ignition temperature of 464°C (Andersson & Salazar, 2015).
Methanol is less energy-dense than HFO, requiring fuel tanks approximately two times the size of traditional tanks for the same calorific value, similar to LNG (Andersson & Salazar, 2015).
Current availability
Methanol is a globally available resource; it is the world’s most commonly shipped resource, and is therefore prevalent at almost all major ports worldwide. Production worldwide is currently 90m tonnes per annum with the chemical industry being the current main source of demand. Due to methanol having half the calorific value of MGO, you can estimate that current production levels of meth-anol could fuel 15-20% of the global fleet - if all the production was focused on the marine industry.
According to the FBCI Energy report titled Methanol as a Marine Fuel, current storage, bunkering, and distribution infrastructure would require only minor
modifications to handle methanol (Andersson & Salazar, 2015).
Current uses
Methanol has been traditionally used to produce paint, adhesives, pharmaceuticals and liquid-crystal display screens, furthermore it has a plethora of uses in the chemical industry. It can also be used as a wastewater additive to enhance nitrogen-reducing bacteria in treatment plants.
Production
Methanol has historically been made via the dry distillation of wood; it has been known as wood alcohol. Currently, the majority of market available methanol has been produced from natural gas, alternatively the majority of Chinese methanol is derived from coal. These fossil fuels are used to make a synthesis gas (syn gas) which is further converted, using temperature and pressure, to produce methanol. Water is produced as a secondary product.
China has a number of large methanol plants, partially due to the governments’ caveat of providing gas mining permits only upon proof of a proposed use for some of the coal. Hence China produces methanol at a very low price, and it is therefore used as a blend in a portion of their gasoline supply. China currently has a production capacity of over 85 million metric tons of methanol, which is a large portion of the 110 million metric tons that is the current global production capacity (Sileghem, et al., 2018). Furthermore, due to the low
cost and increased recent availability of shale gas, US production of methanol has increased, driving the price down allowing them to maintain a methanol price below China.It can be produced from several renewable pathways, for example; biomass or by combining recycled carbon dioxide with renewable electricity. Presently, a number of different biomass sources; forest thinning’s, municipal waste, etc. can be used for the production of syngas.
Carbon Recycling International (CRI) and a number of their competitors, that are discussed later on in the guide, have begun producing methanol that uses waste CO2 to create the synthesis gas.
When produced from biomass the methanol created is known as bio-methanol additionally when it is produced from renewable electricity and recycled waste CO2 it is known as renewable methanol.
There has been a recent development in low carbon methanol, methanol which is still produced from natural gas but with injected recycled CO2, this allows low carbon methanol to have a 30% reduction in lifecycle CO2 emissions in comparison to petrol.
Renewable and bio-methanol
Methanol can be classed as renewable via two pathways, as an electro-fuel or from sustainable biomass.
To create methanol as an electro-fuel; hydrogen, produced via electrolysis utilising renewable energy, and CO2, captured either from heavy industry or
from the atmosphere, are reacted to create a syn gas which is then reacted and distilled to produce methanol (Hobson, C., 2018).
To create bio-methanol from sustainable biomass, there are three routes. Sustainably sourced biomass can be fermented under high pressure to form biomethane (CH4) which is used as the syn gas. The sustainable biomass can also go through gasification to create a syn gas which is reacted and distilled to make bio-methanol. Additionally, forest thinning’s or other wood feedstocks can be broken down using the Kraft process, to create the syn gas required for methanol production (Hobson, C., 2018).
Storage and transportation
Although methanol can be used in traditional, liquid fuel, bunkering and transportation infrastructure, due to methanol’s low flashpoint and toxicity, the infrastructure requires minor modifications (DNV, 2016). Such as: - At the bunkering station, there needs to be sufficient ventilation and a gas detector- The bunkering pipes should be self-draining and there should be an overfill alarm and an automatic shutdown present- The fuel tank and connected pipework on board should all be insulated to prevent leakage and there should be fire detection systems along the pipe- Leak alarms and temperature control on all reformers- Proper crew training on how to handle methanol
Methanol Introduction
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Prior (Pre-2000) fuel uses Methanol has been used in ICE engines throughout their history; as a blend in the engines of pre-war Grand Prix cars and early aircraft as an injection to attain maximum propulsion at take-off (S. Verhelst et al., 2019).
It has been considered as a fuel for the last few years, with current methanol production for fuel standing at 20m tons of methanol per annum Sileghem, et al., 2018). A large portion of this methanol is used for fuel blending with traditional fossil fuels to assist in reducing emissions.
Current uses in shipping
Currently, there are 15 methanol-fueled vessels, nine of which are new build chemical tankers run by Waterfront Shipping, with a number of ongo-ing research projects. One of the most well-known methanol retrofits is the Stena GERMANICA; a 1,300 passenger, 300 car Ro-Pax ferry, that is also capable of taking 46,000t in freight, that was retrofitted in 2015 for approximately US $25.5m.
Due to methanol being shipped through most major ports, 88 of the top 100 global ports, there is already distribution infrastructure in place. Additionally, as methanol requires only minor adaptations to current bunkering infrastructure, methanol bunkering stations can be introduced with minimal cost.
To use methanol in a conventional marine ICE, it requires an ignition enhancer e.g. diesel to assist in
initial ignition (Andersson & Salazar, 2015). Methanol can be used in a Direct Methanol Fuel Cell (DMFC), a variation of a PEMFC (Bowen et al., 2018), however, this technology is in the early stages of R&D and can only achieve about a 10% efficiency currently. They are not expected to be on the marine market either for hotel load or propulsion until at least 2030.
Emissions profile
Methanol produced from natural gas has a life-cycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of over 90g CO2 eq/MJ in comparison to HFO and MGO which are both between 85-90g CO2 eq/MJ. This is due to the emissions created during production as methanol from natural gas has well-to-tank GHG emissions of 25g CO2 eq/MJ whereas HFO and MGO produce 8.5 and 9.6g CO2 eq/MJ respectively (DNV, 2016). Conventional methanol still gives a SOx emission reduction of approximately 90% when compared to HFO and a NOx reduction of 60% when compared to both MGO and HFO. The majority of the NOx emissions occur tank-to-propeller, therefore using an SCR or a similar technology would further reduce NOx emissions.
Renewable methanol reduces CO2 emission by up to 95%, NOx emissions by up to 80% and eliminates SOx emissions. Therefore, renewable methanol can be used as a propulsion fuel in Emission Control Areas (ECAs) and Sulphur Emissions Control Areas (SECAs) worldwide.
Methanol, similarly to other alcohols, burns very cleanly, hence it produces very low levels of soot in combustion and, in some cases, it has been reported to increase engine efficiency or at least perform at comparable levels as with conventional fuels.
Safety
Methanol remains a liquid at ambient temperature and pressure therefore, reducing the cost and potential safety risks of implementing methanol as a marine fuel.
Methanol has a low flashpoint, 11°C, and is therefore classed as a low flashpoint fuel, meaning that, if a leak occurs, it has the potential to mix with air to form a flammable mixture at ambient temperature. Hence, safety precautions have to be in place and adhered to, currently, there are no regulations for the use of methanol as a marine fuel. Class socie-ties are working closely with other bodies, such as the Methanol Institute, to formulate comprehensive guidelines.
Methanol burns with an invisible flame, therefore infrared cameras could be used to detect a fire (DNV, 2016).
Methanol is biodegradable, miscible in water and is over 150 times less toxic to aquatic life than HFO, therefore, in the case of a leak / spill the environmental fall out will be negligible in comparison to conventional fuel. Methanol can be toxic to human / mammals if ingested, via inhalation or through contact with the skin. However, due to methanol being used globally and for over a century, the treatment process is well documented.
Methanol, if all correct safety procedures are followed, is no more dangerous than conventional marine fuels.
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CH3OH
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PROJECT:
Iceland-based Carbon Recycling International (CRI) claim to be the leading producer of renewable methanol from carbon dioxide, hydrogen and electricity for fuel applications, and has been developing this process since 2006, when the company started. CRI takes hydrogen or CO2 from either electrolysis or a source point, and turns it into methanol, a process they call Emissions-To-Liquids. When using hydrogen from a point source, CRI describe the end product as ‘low carbon intensity methanol’, whereas converting hydrogen using electrolysis is branded ‘green’ methanol’. CRI opened the George Olah Emissions-To-Liquid plant at the Svartsengi geothermal power station in Reykjanes, Iceland in April 2012, which currently has a production capacity of 5,000 tonnes per annum. They are constructing a plant in the Henan province of China which will be 27 times larger than the one they have constructed in Iceland, with 330 tons a day of methanol capacity – which reveals the potential scaling opportunieiss for the technology, and can be considered a potential major player.
In the commercial shipping market, CRI is working with Stena Line on a project in Sweden, where they will be using a reactor to turn blast furnace gas from a steel plant and CO2 into methanol for use on their dual fuel methanol ferry, Stena Germanica. The project is expected to be commence in late 2020.
In addition, CRI has two teams working abroad; one team working in China where they have a joint venture with Geely, an automobile manufacturer, focusing on marketing their technology to the Chinese market. CRI also have a team in Europe, who are focused on producing electro-fuels collaborating with Statkraft, a Norwegian national power company.
PROCESS:
To create methanol, CRI requires pure CO2 and hydrogen. Once both the CO2 and hydrogen have been purified, they are delivered into the process loop; the gases go through a compressor, which increases the pressure and blends the two gases together, injects them into a reactor which contains the fixed bed catalyst. This then forms a blend of methanol and water, crude methanol, which is in turn distilled and separated as the two elements have distinct boiling points to produce pure, market ready methanol. The methanol is extremely pure due to no major by products being formed other than higher alcohols such as ethanol. A lot of CRI’s customers are happy to receive a slight percentage of ethanol as it is another source of energy but for industrial standardisation it will be removed.
FUNDING:
A privately-owned company, CRI has a diverse shareholder group with the majority of funds being owned by Icelandic family funds combined with strategic investors from the metal industry and Chinese automotive company, Geely. CRI has gone through two rounds of raising equity and will continue to as they are growing. Methanex is also a key shareholder in CRI.
FEEDSTOCK:
Iceland has a surplus of green electricity due to the abundance of geothermal and hydro energy that Iceland has harnessed, hence all of the energy in their grid is renewable. This allows CRI to produce and certificate green methanol. In China, CRI uses hydrogen from coke gas, a by-product of industrial coke production, which has to be separated and purified prior to use.
COMPANY / PROJECT: CARBON RECYCLING INTERNATIONAL (CRI)
INITIATIVE: Producer
EMISSIONS:
CRI estimate that the use of methanol instead of conventional marine fuels gives a greenhouse gas emission reduction of 90%. However, when utilising by-product gas from industrial processes, such as in their project with Stena, different calculations have to be made as often the gas has no alternative use so would be emitted anyway but CRI are working on a method of calculating this.
CRI can only estimate the GHG reduction as the method of calculating the reduction in GHG has not been verified by any external sources. Due to the perfect combustion value, there are limited by-products created during combustion and utilising methanol can give a NOx reduction of over 60%. Furthermore, on a combustion basis, CRI estimates there to be a 5-10% reduction in CO2 emissions per energy unit, not accounting for upstream emissions.
SCALABILITY:
Long haul shipping does and will, according to CRI, require a liquid fuel so therefore methanol should be considered an option. Barges and other vessels working in close proximity to populated areas could also see an advantage in switching to methanol due to the noticeable reduction in air pollution. Passenger transport and cruise line operators can also see this as an advantage for travel in sensitive areas such as the Arctic and ECAs.
Currently as the EU has a number of incentives for the automotive industry; oil companies have blending obligations to fulfil to reduce the emissions, therefore CRI’s methanol is being used in gasoline blending, biofuel production and in testing of methanol fuel cell vehicles. CRI is interacting with the fuel distribution and oil companies to provide the full service to clients.
COSTS:
The main cost driver for methanol, if making an electro fuel, is electricity. If using hydrogen from industries, such as their project in China, the cost of hydrogen is quite low hence CRI can make methanol at a competitive price with grey methanol, which in turn is cost competitive, on an energy adjusted basis, with current bunker fuels.
VISION:
CRI is aiming to facilitate the global uptake of methanol and other fuels utilising the Emissions-to-Liquid technology by assisting in the construction of production plants worldwide.
Website: https://www.carbonrecycling.is/ Phone: +354 527 7000 Email: [email protected]
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