Danish firm rolls out energy-saving fuel supply system for methanol

Danish engineering company Eltronic FuelTech has launched a new system for supplying fuel from tanks to engines of methanol-powered ships. According to the company, the system can reduce costs and save energy for shipping companies while enhancing safety.

In the wake of the naming of Laura Maersk, A.P. Moller-Maersk’s first green methanol-powered containership, Eltronic FuelTech launched a new supply system called Low-flashpoint Fuel Supply system (LFSS) for this particular vessel.

Players in the shipping industry can now have an integrated fuel supply system from the fuel tank to the engine comprising a single supply system and fuel valve train which improves safety, cuts costs, and saves energy, the company claims.

“Embracing green methanol as a fuel has been increasing markedly in recent years, and with the new LFSS system, we can make a significant contribution to the green transition of the shipping industry. In the past, several suppliers were required to put together a complete fuel supply system all the way from the fuel tank to the engine, but the fact that we can now supply the entire system brings multiple benefits,” said Louise Andreasen, CEO at Eltronic FuelTech.

While most other supply systems on the market use two pumps to pump the methanol around, Eltronic FuelTech said it developed the LFSS with only one pump, thereby saving considerable energy. In addition, it is now possible to adjust the pump depending on the engine load, so that only the right amount of methanol is supplied to the engine, something which has not been possible until now, the company explained.

“This means that if a ship is sailing slowly, the pump automatically adjusts to the load, so that it only runs at 60% of full power for example. With other systems, unnecessarily large quantities of methanol are pumped around the system, which clearly affects electricity consumption, especially on large ships,” Andreasen stated.

“With the biggest engines on container ships, for example, the pumps usually use more than 100,000 kWh a year pumping the methanol from the fuel tanks to the engine. With our new supply system, we expect to be able to cut consumption by up to 40%.”

In addition to developing systems for a ship’s main engines, Eltronic FuelTech has also developed a compact combined system to supply the ship’s auxiliary engines with fuel from the tanks.