New Technologies for Marine Diesel Engine Emission Control

Abstract

Atmospheric emissions of pollutants from marine diesel engines fuelled with heavy fuel oils contribute significantly to environmental pollution. To limit the presence of such pollutants in the environment, the International Maritime Organization recently introduced specific regulations to control SO₂, NO_x and particulate concentrations in exhaust gases. This paper is a short communication on two innovative techniques for marine diesel engine exhaust gas cleaning: the Electrostatic Seawater Scrubbing and the Electron Beam/Microwave Non-Thermal Plasma. These technologies are developed within the EFP7 DEECON (Innovative After-Treatment System for Marine Diesel Engines Emission Control) project and are able to provide State-of-the-Art removal of SO₂ and NO_x, together with a significant removal of Volatile Organic Compounds and Diesel Particulate Matter, which are among the most toxic pollutants emitted by ships and are currently excluded in the regulations due to the absence of reliable technologies for their removal. Preliminary experimental and modelling results on the treatment of model diesel exhaust gas are reported.