The HyMethShip Project. Innovative Emission Free Propulsion for Ships

Paper in proceeding, 2020

The HyMethShip project (Hydrogen-Methanol Ship Propulsion Using On-board Pre-combustion Carbon Capture) is a cooperative R&D project funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme.

The project aims to drastically reduce emissions while improving the efficiency of waterborne transport. The HyMethShip system will achieve a reduction in CO2 of more than 97% and practically eliminate SOx and PM emissions. NOx emissions will fall by over 80%. below the IMO Tier III limit. The energy efficiency of the HyMethShip system is expected to be more than 45% greater than the best available technology (renewable methanol as the fuel coupled with conventional post-combustion carbon capturing).

The HyMethShip system innovatively combines a membrane reactor, a CO2 capture system, a storage system for CO2 and methanol as well as a hydrogen-fueled combustion engine into one system. Methanol is reformed to hydrogen, which is then burned in a conventional reciprocating engine that has been upgraded to burn multiple fuel types and specially optimized for hydrogen use. The basic engine type is the same as the one currently used on the majority of ships. This project will develop this system further and integrate it into shipboard installations. The system will be developed, validated, and demonstrated on-shore on an engine in the range of 1 to 2 MW.

The project started in 2018 and will run for 3 years. The work is structured into 11 work packages that deal with the pre-combustion carbon capture system and the internal combustion engine as well as assess safety, economic and environmental factors and system integration. The consortium consists of 13 partners including a globally operating shipping company, a major shipyard, a ship classification society, research institutes and universities and equipment manufacturers.

The publication will present the structure of the work and preliminary results of the project.