BV Grants AiP for Bulk Carrier Carbon Capture Project
Bureau Veritas (BV) has delivered an Approval in Principle (AiP) to Wah Kwong Maritime Transport Holdings, a Hong Kong shipowner, for a carbon capture and storage (CCS) project onboard two of its vessels.
Partnering in the project is Qiyao Environmental Technology, a subsidiary of Shanghai Marine Diesel Engine Research Institute.
The AiP follows a joint study which validated the technical feasibility of using CCS technology on existing vessels. Wah Kwong provided two vessels from its fleet for the study: a 53,000dwt bulk carrier (Tianjin Venture) and a 176,000dwt bulk carrier (CSSC Wan Mei).
Based on the specific design parameters of the vessels, Qiyao Environ Tec developed a customized design of a CCS unit for the two vessels. The CCS unit has passed laboratory tests, achieving over 85% CO2 capture from the exhaust gas flow. The system is based on an organic amine solution which extracts CO2 from exhaust gas, before it is cooled into liquid form and stored in a low temperature storage tank.
The study showed that CCS would enable the two vessels to maintain their CII rating at a C level until 2030. It considered all aspects of retrofit space, operational impact, CAPEX and OPEX, as well as the upcoming EU ETS, to assess the future investment and revenue expectations for each vessel.
From 2023-2030, with CCS technology onboard, the Tianjin Venture could save approximately USD 305,000. The ship’s carbon capture rate would begin at 10.2% and then rise to 29.5% by 2030. Similarly, the CSSC Wan Mei could save approximately USD 555,000 with a maximum carbon capture rate of 26.3%.
This study claims that applying CCS to in-service vessels is not only feasible, but a potentially economically attractive option for shipowners. However, customized design of CCS units would be required to ensure each ship reaches the maximum possible CO2 reduction on an economically viable basis.