Abstract
ABSTRACT This paper is to provide a guidance as to which scrubber system is applied for marine vessels in both environmental and economic perspectives. It performs a comparative analysis for two different types of wet scrubber systems: they are generally referred as“open loop” and “closed loop” systems. Those systems are evaluated via life cycle assessment technique, which is further used for evaluating the global warming, acidification and eutrophication potentials. The economic aspect of the scrubber installation will be estimated by establishing the payback time of the installation costs. Sensitivity analysis is performed to determine the effect of various economic scenarios on payback times. Research results reveal that the environmental impacts are higher for the closed loop scrubber than open loop scrubber. The open loop scrubber has a marginally shorter payback time under different scenarios; for No EGCS (MGO) case, it was revealed 3.2 years (with open loop) and 3.6 years (with closed loop), and for No EGCS (VLSFO + MGO) case, 5.4 years (with open loop) and 5.9 years (with closed loop).
Highlights
Since 1 Januaryst, 2020, IMO regulations only allow a maximum of 0.5 % sulphur content in ship fuels
The price difference between HFO and MGO, time spent in emission control areas and remaining lifetime of the ship are all deemed as fundamental factors to consider when contemplating a scrubber installation (Abadie, Goicoechea, and Galarraga 2017; Christensen, Jiang, and Kronbak 2014)
The first stage is related to the life cycle assessment (LCA), which will be done by collecting and analysing data associated with a scrubber installation onboard
Summary
Since 1 Januaryst, 2020, IMO regulations only allow a maximum of 0.5 % sulphur content in ship fuels. Even a stricter limit of maximum 0.1 % sulphur content has been applied to Emission Control Areas (ECA) since 2015 (IMO 2020). To comply with the current sulphur limits, there has been a remarkable increase of scrubber installations in the world merchant fleet (Kinch 2020). The price difference between HFO and MGO, time spent in emission control areas and remaining lifetime of the ship are all deemed as fundamental factors to consider when contemplating a scrubber installation (Abadie, Goicoechea, and Galarraga 2017; Christensen, Jiang, and Kronbak 2014). Gu and Wallace (2017) argue that some of the benefits of using scrubbers to comply with emission regulations are overrated. Their study indicates that if potential route optimisations (to mini mise time in ECAs) were to be included when consider ing a scrubber installation, the investment in a scrubber system may appear less profitable com pared to common scenarios presented in other studies
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callMore From: Journal of International Maritime Safety, Environmental Affairs, and Shipping
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
