As a service to our customers, shipowners and anyone interested in the topic of emissions in the shipping industry, we post here “Exhaust Emission Abatement” , from the the American Bureau of Shipping — a comprehensive guide to marine exhaust gas scrubers, published in 2013. Marine exhaust gas scrubbers are the cost-efficient way to MARPOL compliance, without paying high prices of low-sulphur fuel.
From the foreword:
A number of techniques and design features are utilized by diesel engine manufacturers to reduce the primary exhaust NOx emissions, but to achieve compliance with the IMO Tier III limit (that is to be effective in NOx emission control areas from 1 January 2016), it is anticipated that the use of exhaust gas recirculation or selective catalytic reduction systems will be predominantly used.
The IMO limits SOx emissions by regulating the sulfur content of marine fuels, and it is anticipated that the reductions in the emission control area and global sulfur limits to 0.1% and 0.5%, that will be effective from 1 January 2015 and 1 January 2020 (subject to review in 2018) respectively, will promote increasing use of exhaust gas cleaning systems, such as SOx scrubbers.
Section 1, General, explains that:
This Guide is to be applied to exhaust emission abatement systems fitted to ABS classed vessels primarily covering SOx scrubbers, SCR systems, Exhaust Gas Recirculation (EGR) arrangements, and to Exhaust Emissions Monitoring Systems (EEMS) associated with the aforementioned emission abatement systems, or EEMS installed as an alternative Onboard NOx Verification Procedure in accordance with the Direct Measurement and Monitoring Method of the NOx Technical Code.
The applicable notation will be assigned to a vessel with an exhaust emission abatement system upon verification of compliance with both the ABS requirements and the applicable IMO Regulations and Guidelines.
Section 5, Objectives, states that:
The objective of this Guide is to provide criteria for the design, construction, installation, survey, and operation of machinery and equipment associated with exhaust emission abatement systems in order to minimize risks to the vessel, crew, and the environment. The intent is that these requirements supplement the statutory emissions performance testing, survey, and certification requirements of the aforementioned IMO Regulations and Guidelines.
You can read the guide below.
