Just as shipping found the SOx scrubber to offer an effective means of compliance with the IMO 2020 sulphur emissions cap, several branches of the industry are looking at a further advancement in scrubber (exhaust gas cleaning system) technology to address the IMO decarbonisation targets. 

The long-term solutions for decarbonising ocean shipping revolve around low-carbon or zero-carbon fuels, but it is generally accepted that these solutions will not be available at scale, and the technology is still maturing. So in the same way that the original scrubbers offered an available method to reduce sulphur emissions from the ship exhaust while burning the standard heavy fuel oils, the next generation of exhaust gas cleaning is looking to incorporate carbon capture, to remove CO2 from emissions to the atmosphere.

As some smaller-scale systems are entering the marketplace, we hear of the first full-scale onboard carbon capture and storage (OCCS) project about to get underway.

Dutch Value Group company Value Maritime has enjoyed some initial uptake of its Filtree system, an exhaust gas scrubber that includes an optional carbon capture module, suitable for smaller or medium sized vessels. The carbon capture module is able to remove a proportion of CO2 gas from the exhaust, which is then stored in a solvent in a ‘CO2 battery’ or onboard tank, for offloading onshore. The captured CO2 is then used in industries such as horticulture.