Hyundai Merchant Marine (HMM) said on the 18th that it signed a business agreement with Samsung Heavy Industries and PANASIA, an eco-friendly equipment specialist, to conduct a ship demonstration of an ORC (Organic Rankine Cycle) waste heat recovery power generation system.
A waste heat recovery power generation system is a technology that produces electricity needed for ship operations by using waste heat generated from a ship engine. Existing technology using steam utilized high-temperature waste heat, but the ORC system uses an organic heat medium with a lower boiling point than water to produce electricity even from medium- and low-temperature waste heat.
Producing electricity using a waste heat recovery power generation system reduces the use of generators by that amount, which can reduce carbon emissions. For ships that use eco-friendly fuels such as liquefied natural gas (LNG; Liquefiend Natural Gas) and methanol, the high unit price of fuel also allows expected savings in operating costs.
Under the agreement, the three companies will form a joint working group and plan to conduct a sea trial by installing a 250 kW-class ORC waste heat recovery power generation system developed by Samsung Heavy Industries on a 16,000-TEU (1 TEU = one 20-foot container) class container ship operated by HMM.
Specifically, they will verify the effectiveness of the ORC waste heat recovery power generation system, review its technical and economic feasibility, and secure demonstration operation data. They expect that applying the ORC waste heat recovery power generation system will reduce 230 tons of fuel and 700 tons of greenhouse gases per year in carbon dioxide equivalent.
The signing ceremony was held on the 17th at the Samsung Heavy Industries Pangyo R&D Center, with about 20 officials from each company in attendance, including Kim Min-gang, head of HMM’s Marine Affairs Office, Lee Ho-gi, head of the Eco-friendly Research Center at Samsung Heavy Industries, and Lee Min-geol, CEO of PANASIA.
An HMM official said, “In line with global changes toward carbon neutrality by 2050, HMM has set an early achievement goal of ‘2045 Net-Zero,’ which is five years earlier,” and added, “To this end, we are actively pursuing not only securing ships that use eco-friendly fuels, but also the development and introduction of various technologies.”