Kawasaki System Meets Tier III NOx Requirements Without Bunker Consumption Penalty

by Ship & Bunker News Team
Monday August 29, 2016

Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ltd. (Kawasaki) says it has completed sea trials on its Kawasaki Ecology & Economy System (K-ECOS), which uses technology including exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) and emulsion fuel to meet International Maritime Organization (IMO) Tier III NOx requirements, without an associated increase in bunker consumption, the Motorship reports.

For testing, the full system - which features EGR, emulsion fuel, water treatment, and a turbocharger cut-out system - was installed on the Kawasaki-MAN B&W 7S60ME-C8.2 main engine of Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Ltd. (K Line) car/truck carrier Drive Green Highway.

When fully active, the system was said to have a similar bunker consumption to that of the current engine while also meeting the Tier III NOx limit.

Turning off the EGR system achieved fuel savings of up to 4.8 percent at around 60 percent engine load, Kawasaki added.

The system's scrubber is also noted to have removed 97 percent of sulfur from the exhaust emissions.

With the sea trial successfully competed, the system will now be tested in service on Drive Green Highway over a two-year period.

Last September, Ship & Bunker reported that container carriers were accelerating newbuild orders as they raced to beat a January 1, 2016 deadline that imposed stricter NOx emission requirements on ships traveling in the North American Emission Control Area (ECA).