In a world-first, Japanese ocean shipping giant “K” Line has installed a small carbon dioxide (CO2) capture plant aboard one of its coal carriers, the “Corona Utility,” as part of a trial.
Shipping Australia understands that the ship is en-route to Newcastle, Australia and is due just after the middle of August.
Initially, the commissioning and carbon capture performance of the small plant will be monitored by experts from Mitsubishi Shipbuilding. After that, until the end of the 2021 financial year, the ship’s crew will evaluate the operation, safety and stability of the plant and will conduct a variety of tests in order to commercialise the plant.
The shipping company announced it would deploy a marine-use demonstration carbon capture plant aboard a vessel in August last year. The demo-plant is based on an onshore plant design and the purpose of the two-year project is to verify the efficacy of capturing and storing CO2 from a vessel’s emissions.
“These demonstration tests are aimed at promoting the development of more compact equipment required by marine environments along with the development of system requirements necessary for stable continuous operation at sea,” the company says.
In a statement issued at the launch of the project, the company said that the project will provide insights into the design and technologies for capturing CO2 emissions and achieving zero emissions aboard vessels. It is envisaged that captured CO2 will be recycled and used for industrial purposes or used as raw material for the creation of synthetic fuels by combining carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide and hydrogen to make synthetic natural gas.
“K” Line has set itself a target of reducing its carbon emissions by 50% compared to emissions from 2008.
