EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION OF MARINE ENGINE EXHAUST EMISSIONS

ABSTRACT

The physicochemical process of formation of the four main pollutant emissions from diesel engines (carbon monoxide-CO, hydrocarbons-HC, particulate matter-PM and nitrogen oxides-NOx), quantities of produced exhaust emissions and their harmful impact are some of the most important factors for the establishment of stricter emission regulations and for improvement of marine engines. In this paper, the conducted experiment and analysis of exhaust emissions are explained. Experimental research provided on a four stroke main engine during a typical voyage of the ship shows that the quantity of NOx emissions is 3.42 g/kWh, which is lower than the permissible limit of 11.75 g/kWh. The engine complies with the International Maritime Organization (IMO) Class II emission limits; however, it does not comply with Class III emission limits. The results show that depending on the different operating conditions the concentration of CO₂ in exhaust gases varies from 3,2% to 6,6%, the content of CO varies from 170 ppm to 233 ppm and NO varies from 690 ppm to 1120 ppm. The necessity of implementing an onboard emission measurement method is emphasized. Recommendations are given on the possibility of improving the performance of the analyzed engine system.

KEYWORDS:

• Diesel engine
• marine propulsion
• exhaust emissions
• IMO regulations
• realistic sailing cycle

Acknowledgments

This work has been fully supported by the Croatian Science Foundation under the project IP.2020-02-6249

Manuscript highlights

• Analysis of the exhaust emission of marine diesel engine powering patrol ship.

• Conducted experiments on marine diesel engine during typical ship’s voyage.

• Explanation of the exhaust emission measurement methods and testing procedure based on realistic sailing cycle.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Croatian Science Foundation (Hrvatska Zaklada za Znanost) [IP.2020-02-6249].

Notes on contributors

Luka Mihanović

Luka Mihanović Ph.D., Assistant professor, ORCID:0000-0001-6082-4835, Navy captain, Head of Naval Studies, University of Split. Research interests and topics: new energy technologies, maintenance management, fault diagnosis, marine propulsion system optimization, modeling and simulation of the processes.

Maro Jelić

Maro Jelić, Full professor, Research interests and topics: Marine steam turbines, Alternative energy and propulsion for marine vessels, Marine vessels energy optimization, Environmental issues regarding marine propulsion.

Gojmir Radica

Gojmir Radica, Ph.D., Full professor, Chair for Heat engines, Head of Laboratory for Heat engines, Certified Energy Auditor, Training Manager for Energy audits and energy performance certification of buildings. Research interests and topics: New energy technologies, Modeling and optimizing ICE processes, Expert systems for Diagnosing and Optimization, Hybrid Energy Systems.

Nikola Račić

Prof. Nikola Račić, PhD., ORCID: 0000-0002-9089-089X, Employed at the University of Split - Faculty of Maritime Studies, Head of the Department of Marine Engineering. Research interests and topics: Marine engines 2-s & 4-s, modeling and simulation of marine power plants, reduction of gas emissions from ICE, optimization ICE processes.