Harris Pye Eyes New Opportunities in Waste Heat Recovery Market Amid Increased Slow Steaming

by Ship & Bunker News Team
Friday September 30, 2016

The Harris Pye Engineering Group (Harris Pye) says that, in response to increased slow steaming and time spent at anchor within the shipping industry, it is working with more than 10 companies and shipyards on a variety of waste heat recovery systems, including solutions for floating storage regasification units (FSRUs), liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers, container ships, bulk carriers, and tankers.

"Vessel managers are increasingly operating their vessels in situations where slow steaming, or long periods at anchor result in reduced recovery of heat from the main engine exhaust," said Chris David, CTO at Harris Pye.

"This can result in an increase in the cost incurred in firing the auxiliary boiler. Use of the waste heat from other systems, especially from the auxiliary engine exhaust gas, can significantly reduce this additional fuel cost, and in some cases, prevent the auxiliary boiler from having to be fired."

Harris Pye says that it is currently working with project partners to improve overall system efficiency, slow steaming production analysis, minimising energy consumption at port, offsetting ballast water treatment system running costs with heat recovery, and providing essential services during maintenance.

In terms of improving overall energy efficiency, Harris Pye says it is working with a client on a project involving 25 Aframax tankers at anchor for 120 days within an emission control area (ECA) aimed at the assessing the possiblity of using auxiliary engine cooling water to preheat the main engine jacket water as part of an overall solution. 

The company is also looking at assessing the energy consumption of large container vessels slow steaming between ports and in port.

"In working on all of these scenarios we, and our clients, are increasingly convinced that waste heat recovery systems have a vital part to play in effective energy management on a wide variety of vessels," concluded David.

In August, Harris Pye said it had seen a "marked increase" in interest for turnkey exhaust gas scrubber installations within the shipping industry in response to stricter environmental regulations, including ECAs and an impending 0.5 percent global sulfur cap on bunkers.