Abstract
In this study, emission factors of both particle and gaseous phases are characterised on board two large cargo vessels operating on the east coast of Australia during manoeuvring conditions. In order to investigate the difference in particle number and mass size distributions, measurements were conducted on two 2-stroke engines of two vessels using Heavy Fuel Oil (HFO) with nearly the same sulphur content. Results showed that manoeuvring compared to ocean-going conditions resulted in higher emission factors for carbon monoxide (CO), carbon dioxide (CO2), unburnt hydrocarbon (HC), particulate matter (PM) and particle number (PN), which can have significant negative effects on human health and the environment in coastal and port areas. Importantly, a significant difference was observed in particle number size distributions between the two vessels. Those observed for Vessel II were mono-modal with the peak at 40–50 nm and dominated by ultrafine particles (D < 100 nm), while for Vessel I a bimodal distribution with a nucleation peak at around 20 nm and a major peak at larger diameter of 60 nm was observed. The difference in particle number size distributions between the two vessels may be due to the difference in sampling location and/or marine engine characteristics, including age and technology. The effects of fuel sulphur content on PN and PM emissions observed in this study are also compared with the results available from previous measurements in the literature. Engine load was also found to be an important influence on all emission factors.
Highlights
Compared to all other modes of transport, maritime transport is the optimum mode of transport in terms of cost effectiveness and lower environment emissions (Corbett, 2003)
The first manoeuvring condition consisted of the initial startup, manoeuvring when leaving the harbour, and acceleration out of the port area, while the second phase included deceleration and manoeuvring when approaching the harbour, and shut-down
Both particulate matter and gaseous emission concentrations of the first and second manoeuvring phases for two vessels are presented in the Supporting Information
Summary
Compared to all other modes of transport, maritime transport is the optimum mode of transport (per tonne cargo transfer) in terms of cost effectiveness and lower environment emissions (Corbett, 2003). The abovementioned impurity content in HFO combustion results in the emission of particles with higher toxicity risks (Di Natale and Carotenuto, 2015) This can make ship emission-related issues become more serious, in coastal areas (Mueller et al, 2011). HFO flowmeter data is reported to the company every day (called a ‘‘noon report’’) and feedback is given to the ship’s chief engineer when required to optimise fuel consumption Such advances in fuel consumption management help to reduce uncertainty of emission factors when on-board ship emission measurements were taken during each voyage. The different methods used for PM measurements from on-board, test-bed and ship plume studies are discussed
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