Asia/Pacific News
WinGD Trials Show VCR Tech Slashes Methane Emissions in Dual-Fuel Engines
Swiss engine manufacturer WinGD said its dual-fuel engines equipped with variable compression ratio (VCR) technology have achieved a 30% reduction in methane emissions during recent trials.
The shop tests were conducted at Mitsui E&S DU facilities in Japan, where the first WinGD dual-fuel engine with VCR technology is being built for NYK Lines, WinGD said in an email statement on Friday.
The six-cylinder, 62-bore engine with VCR technology cut methane emissions by 30% compared to the same engine without VCR, reducing total methane slip to 0.83% of gas consumption.
This is less than half the default slip level set by the EU and IMO for low-pressure dual-fuel engines. Even greater reductions are expected for larger bore engines.
In addition to reducing methane slip, the dual-fuel engine cuts LNG consumption by 5.8% in gas mode and reduces fuel use by 6.9% when running on conventional marine fuels.
Methane slip occurs when unburned methane escapes from an engine's combustion process into the atmosphere.
While LNG generates lower CO2 emissions than conventional marine fuels, it also leads to methane emissions, a greenhouse gas with a much higher global warming potential. This diminishes some of LNG's environmental advantages.
As a result, shipowners are turning to bio-LNG as a more sustainable alternative.
