Danes debut soot particle monitoring onboard ships

A Danish partnership has claimed the world’s first ship fitted with a new type of flue gas sensor that can measure emissions of soot particles also known as ‘black carbon’ in real time.

Uni-Tankers in collaboration with the Danish Technological Institute and emission control tech specialist Green Instruments have installed the sensor on board the 2006-built 6,900 dwt Falstria Swan in a first of many ships that could benefit from the new technology in the coming years.

“This type of equipment will be of great importance to the shipping industry when new requirements are introduced to reduce emissions of soot particles and is an important step in the efforts to make shipping climate neutral,” the release said.

The installation of the black carbon monitoring sensor, produced by Green Instruments, is part of Project Cleanship, which is being supported by funds from the Danish Environmental Protection Agency over a three-year period and also includes the Maersk Mc-Kinney Moller Centre for Zero Carbon Shipping, Danish Maritime and Danish Shipping.

”With the installation on the ship, we are now a big step closer to reducing black carbon emissions, the second largest maritime source of global warming after CO2. This is the first time ever that it is possible to accurately measure black carbon emissions in real time and under realistic conditions on a ship. This means that we have a much better understanding of how emissions in shipping can be reduced,” said Sonny Baekdahl Trudslev, development manager at Green Instruments.

Black carbon is among other things formed by incomplete combustion in ship engines, and considered as a significant risk after CO2 that causes a number of respiratory and cardiovascular diseases. The IMO and the EU are expected to adopt requirements for the shipping industry to reduce emissions of soot particles – including black carbon – which accounts for around 20% of the CO2-equivalent emissions from shipping.

“Without precise measurements, shipping companies navigate blindly, but now they will be able to see where they need to take action to reduce emissions of very harmful particles, and they can document their emissions. We can clearly see that there is a growing interest in this type of equipment, and we have already received several specific enquiries from shipping companies who want to hear more about the flue gas sensor,” added Trudslev.

In addition to black carbon emission studies, Project Cleanship also focuses on the effect of energy-saving measures and new fuel types to provide the shipping sector with more knowledge that can influence future investments in cleaner technology.